Shane Withington

Withington is best known for roles in TV serials, with two famous character portrayals. These include his role as Brenden Jones, a farmer, nurse, and subsequently the Deputy Matron of the fictional Wandin Valley in the television series A Country Practice from 1982 until 1986. ^[1]

Withington first appeared in TV serial Home and Away as a guest character called Colin, before being given the permanent role of cranky but warm-hearted surf lifesaver and patrol officer John Palmer in 2009, initially as a 3-month stand-alone stint; he'd been in the role for ten years by 2019.^[2]

He has also featured in Willing and Abel, as Abel Moore, and the sitcom The Family Business.

He had a guest star appearance in the film Strange Bedfellows^[3] in 2004.

In 2008, he was in the BBC drama Out of the Blue, playing the detective in charge of investigating a murder.

Withington co-starred in the play The Boys Next Door in 1992.

Withington was born in Toowoomba, Queensland to a cowgirl mother, who was the daughter of a drover and an English father who worked in food processing and was a nightclub singer and champion first grade soccer player in Queensland.

After being expelled from school, Withington worked as a horsesman and jackaroo, before auditioning an acting scholarship with the Elizabethan Quest Scholarship at 16. He toured with the Twelfth Night Theatre. ^[4]

Withington lives in the Pittwater area of Sydney's Northern Beaches and led a community campaign to preserve the Currawong Workers' Holiday Camp.^[5]

Withington is married to actress Anne Tenney, who played his character's wife Molly Jones on A Country Practice.^[6]

• Shane Withington at IMDb