Michael Preston (birth name: Jack Davies) was born on 14th May 1938 in Hackney, London, England. Initially he trained as a boxer but later embarked on a successful singing career where he had three Top 40 hits in the UK Singles Chart, including reaching #12 with his cover version of “Mr. Blue” in November 1959, before emigrating to Australia where he worked as a nightclub singer.
In was in Australia that Preston first became a TV host in 1968 on In Melbourne Tonight. This then led to his first ongoing starring role on television from 1972-1973 in Homicide as Sen. Det. Bob Delaney.
Preston then landed a recurring role in the soap opera Bellbird as Fr. John Kramer between 1974 and 1976. He later took a lead role in the prison-based soap opera Punishment (1981) but this series was short-lived. He appeared in Chopper Squad and The Last of the Knucklemen and featured as a guest celebrity on the game show The Celebrity Game in 1969 and went on to host the revival in 1976-1977.
Preston first hit the big screen in 1969 in the film Surabaya Conspiracy (1969); other film roles included playing Pappagallo in Mad Max 2 (1981) and Jared-Syn in Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn (1983).
In 1984 Preston would land the role of Alec Shaw in the television series Hot Pursuit as well as appear in The A-Team, Max Headroom, Airwolf, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Alien Nation, Ellen, Highlander: The Series, The NEW Mike Hammer, Five Mile Creek, Blade in Hong Kong, Shadowchasers, Hunter, Remington Steele, The Return of Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer, Fame, Max Headroom, Superboy, Renegade, Baywatch Nights, Steel, and Law and Order. He also voiced Harry the Hat in The Getaway video game in 2002.
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