Vernon Wells (actor)

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Vernon Wells
Vernon Wells, 2015.jpg
Wells in 2015
Born
Vernon George Wells

(1945-12-31) 31 December 1945 (age 75)
Rushworth, Victoria, Australia
Other namesVernon G. Wells
OccupationActor
Years active1967–present
Spouse(s)Grace H. Kono-Wells[citation needed]
Websitevernongwells.com

Vernon George Wells (born 31 December 1945) is an Australian character actor.[1] He began appearing on Australian television shows in the mid-1970s, such as Homicide, Matlock Police and All the Rivers Run. He is best known to international audiences for his role of Wez in the 1981 science fiction action film Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior[2] and Bennett in the military action film Commando.[3]

After Mad Max 2, Wells began appearing in Hollywood films, such as science fiction comedies Weird Science (1985)[1] and Innerspace (1987). In the 2000s, Wells acted in the television series Power Rangers Time Force portraying the series' main villain Ransik.

Early life[]

Wells was born in Rushworth, Victoria, the son of Eva Maude (née Jackson) and Michael Wells.[4] At the age of 14 he was part of a music band, then upon graduating high school, went to University and attained a degree in Telecommunications.[citation needed]

Career[]

1970s[]

Wells worked in a quarry, then as a salesman, and then in theatre and rock bands. In the 1970s, he was selected by casting agents to appear in a theatre play, and he started to appear in Australian TV commercials, print advertisements, local Australian TV shows such as Homicide and Matlock Police and historical TV mini-series like Against The Wind, Sara Dane and All The Rivers Run.

His first cinema appearance was a minor role in Felicity (1979), a low-budget, erotic fantasy film.

1980s[]

Wells was cast as the homicidal biker Wez, in Mad Max 2 (1981),[2] filmed around Silverton near Broken Hill in outback New South Wales, Australia. It is the role for which he is probably best known to international audiences, as Wells portrays a psychotic, post-apocalyptic henchman who relentlessly pursues hero Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson), before meeting a spectacular death at the film's finale.

Hollywood beckoned for Wells, and he spoofed his mad biker role in the popular 1985 teen comedy Weird Science,[1] written and directed by John Hughes and produced by Joel Silver. Wells so impressed Silver with his work in that film that he was immediately secured for the role of Bennett opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando (1985). When first approached for the role in Commando, Wells was in Australia working on the feature film, Fortress, based on the real-life Faraday School kidnapping, in a starring role opposite Rachel Ward. Wells appeared as Roo Marcus in Last Man Standing (1987).

1990s and 2000s[]

In 1992, Wells appeared in one of the few roles in which he is not cast as a villain, in the short-lived 1992 television comedy series The Amazing Live Sea Monkeys. The show was about a professor who accidentally enlarged three Sea-Monkeys to human-size, and then had to deal with their comical ineptness in the world. In 1993, Wells starred in the science fiction film Fortress with Christopher Lambert (no connection to the previous movie of the same name).

Many of Wells's roles 1990s and 2000s portrayed villains, as in the films Circuitry Man (1990), (1997), Starforce (2000) and Power Rangers Time Force (2001). In the Power Rangers episodes, he played the role of Ransik, a mutant crime lord from the year 3000 who travels back in time to take over the world. In 2002, he reprised this role for the Power Rangers Wild Force/Time Force two-part team-up episode "Reinforcements from the Future". Wells starred in the 2009 horror film Silent Night, Zombie Night.[5]

Selected filmography[]

  • Mad Max 2 (1981) as Wez
  • Weird Science (1985) as Lord General
  • Commando (1985) as Bennett
  • Fortress (1985) as Dabby Duck
  • MacGyver (1985) as Catlin
  • Coming of Age (1986) as Chuck Proby (Donald)
  • Hunter (1986) as Sonny Zajak
  • Innerspace (1987) as Mr. Igoe
  • Last Man Standing (1987) as Roo Marcus
  • P.I. Private Investigations (1987) as Detective North
  • Sunset (1988) as Houseman
  • MacGyver (1988) as Paul Donnay
  • American Eagle (1989) as Johnny Burke
  • Circuitry Man (1990) as Plughead
  • The Shrimp on the Barbie (1990) as Bruce
  • Fortress (1992) as Maddox
  • Ultimatum (1994) as Gerard Richter
  • Plughead Rewired: Circuitry Man II (1994) as Plughead
  • Manosaurus (1994) as Professor Sorenson
  • Space Truckers (1996) as Mr. Cutt
  • Billy Frankenstein (1998) as Otto von Sloane
  • Power Rangers Time Force (2001, TV Series) as Ransik
  • Power Rangers Wild Force (2002, TV Series) as Ransik
  • Beneath Loch Ness (2001) as Constable
  • Curse of the Forty-Niner (2003) as Jeremiah Stone
  • Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) as Acme VP, Child Labor
  • Devil's Knight (2003) as Frank
  • King of the Ants (2003) as Beckett
  • Chastity (2005) as Trucker
  • The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (2006) as Dr. Dennis Lanyon
  • Tru Loved (2007) as Coach Wesley
  • Green Street 2: Stand Your Ground (2009) as Tankersley Governor
  • The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie (2010) as Scott the Network Head
  • Silent Night, Zombie Night (2011) as Paul Irwin
  • Jurassic Attack (2013) as Agent Grimaldi
  • Throwback (2014) as Detective McNab
  • Jurassic City (2014) as Agent LaFranco
  • Relentless Justice (2015) as Mayor Jason Macendale
  • Timber the Treasure Dog (2016) as Wolf (Voice)
  • The Perfect Weapon (2016) as The Interrogator
  • Death House (2017) as Nela
  • Landfall (2017) as Wexler
  • Der Vertrag (2017) as Cooper Ryan (Television film)
  • Trouble Is My Business (2018) as Detective Barry Tate
  • Lilith (2018) as Phillip
  • Loss Prevention (2018) as CEO Reginald Bachman
  • Glass Jaw (2018) as Happy
  • The City of Gold (2018) as The Inquisitor
  • Impact Event (2018) as Ed
  • Crossbreed (2019) as Murphy
  • The Silent Natural (2019) as Sarah's Father
  • Eason's Gold (2019) as Eason
  • Slayer: The Repentless Killogy (2019) as Prison Guard #1
  • Zombies V the C.W.A. (2019) as Narrator (Short)
  • Emerald Run (2020) as Dodson
  • No Chance (2020) as Barrett Transformed
  • Debt Collectors (2020) as Cyrus Skinner
  • Kill Giggles (2020) as Malcolm Fossor (Giggles)
  • Await the Dawn (2020) as Zed
  • Maverick N Grundy (2020) as Wesley
  • Camp Twilight (2020) as Detective Bennett
  • Charlie's Christmas Wish (2020) as Hank Wentworth
  • Starspawn: Overture (2020) as Randolph Sutton (Short)
  • Social Distance (2020) as Gil Oldman Jr.
  • Red Snow (2021) as Julius King
  • Frost (2021) as Grant

Video games[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Vernon Wells". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2014. Archived from the original on 28 October 2014.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Robert Firsching (2014). "The Road Warrior". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on 29 March 2014.
  3. ^ Bruckner, D. J. R. (4 October 1985). "Commando (1985) FILM: SCHWARZENGGER, 'COMMANDO'". The New York Times.
  4. ^ Vernon Wells Biography (1945–)
  5. ^ "Silent Night, Zombie Night's December 19th Screening With Director and Stars". DreadCentral.
  6. ^ http://www.twitch.tv/deusex/v/10035820

External links[]

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