Max Cullen

Acting

Max Cullen

Born

1940-04-29 (86)

Place of birth

Wellington, New South Wales, Australia

Known for

Acting

Credits

68 titles

Max Cullen (born 29 April 1940) is an Australian stage and screen actor. He has appeared in many Australian films and television series but is best known for his role in the film Spider and Rose and the television series The Flying Doctors, Secret Valley and Love My Way.

Known for

McLeod's Daughters poster
7.2

When Jack McLeod passes away, his two daughters inherit Drovers Run, a vast cattle ranch in the Australian outback. Ultimately, Tess and Claire decide to run the ranch together, with their housekeeper, Meg, her teenage daughter, Jodi, and a local girl, Becky. Their lives are hard and the obstacles many, but the rewards are every bit as grand as the wild open land they've inherited.

McLeod's Daughters

2001

The Flying Doctors poster
6.6

The Flying Doctors is an Australian drama series produced by Crawford Productions that revolved around the everyday lifesaving efforts of the real Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. It was initially a 1985 mini-series based in the fictional outback town of Cooper's Crossing starring Andrew McFarlane as the newly arrived Dr. Tom Callaghan. The success of the mini series led to its return the following year as an on-going series with McFarlane being joined by a new doctor, Chris Randall, played by Liz Burch. McFarlane left during the first season and actor Robert Grubb came in as new doctor Geoff Standish. The series' episodes were mostly self-contained but also featured ongoing storylines, such as Dr. Standish's romance with Sister Kate Wellings. Other major characters included pilot Sam Patterson, mechanic Emma Plimpton, local policeman Sgt. Jack Carruthers and Vic and Nancy Buckley, who ran the local pub/hotel, The Majestic. Andrew McFarlane also later returned to the series, resuming his role as Dr. Callaghan. The popular series ran for nine seasons and was successfully screened internationally.

The Flying Doctors

1986

Police Rescue poster
6.7

Police Rescue was an Australian television series The series dealt with the New South Wales Police Rescue Squad based in Sydney and their work attending to various incidents from road accidents to train crashes.

Police Rescue

1991

Rafferty's Rules poster
8.0

Rafferty's Rules was an Australian television drama series which ran from 1987 to 1990 on the Seven Network. Rafferty's Rules was one of the first programs undertaken by the Seven Network's then new in-house drama unit, going into production in May 1985 as "a 15-part courtroom drama". The program had started out as a pilot episode, recorded in early 1984 with the actor Chris Haywood in the lead role. When the pilot episode was remounted later in 1984, Chris Haywood wasn't available and the lead role was re-cast to John Wood. This second recording was eventually broadcast as the program's first episode.

Rafferty's Rules

1987

The Great Gatsby poster
7.3

Nick Carraway arrives in New York in 1922, an era of loose morals, glittering jazz and bootleg kings. Chasing his own American Dream, Nick encounters the mysterious millionaire Gatsby and his bewitching cousin Daisy. Soon, Nick is drawn into the captivating world of the super-rich, their illusions, loves and deceits. Bearing witness to this new world, Nick pens a tale of impossible love, incorruptible dreams and unforgettable tragedy -- mirroring our own times and struggles.​

The Great Gatsby

2013

Skippy the Bush Kangaroo poster
6.2

Skippy the Bush Kangaroo is an Australian television series telling the adventures of a young boy and his intelligent pet kangaroo, and the various visitors to the fictional Waratah National Park in Duffys Forest, near Sydney, New South Wales.

Skippy the Bush Kangaroo

1968

Film credits

2010s · 7 titles

The Great Gatsby poster
7.3

Nick Carraway arrives in New York in 1922, an era of loose morals, glittering jazz and bootleg kings. Chasing his own American Dream, Nick encounters the mysterious millionaire Gatsby and his bewitching cousin Daisy. Soon, Nick is drawn into the captivating world of the super-rich, their illusions, loves and deceits. Bearing witness to this new world, Nick pens a tale of impossible love, incorruptible dreams and unforgettable tragedy -- mirroring our own times and struggles.​

The Great Gatsby

2013

Goldstone poster
6.0

Indigenous Detective Jay Swan arrives in the frontier town of Goldstone on a missing persons inquiry. What seems like a simple investigation unearths an intricate web of crime, corruption, human trafficking, and coordinated exploitation of indigenous people’s land. Jay must bury his differences with young local cop Josh, so together they can bring justice to Goldstone.

Goldstone

2016

Acute Misfortune poster
4.0

The film adaptation of Erik Jensen's award-winning biography of Adam Cullen is the story of the biographer and his subject, as it descends into a dependent and abusive relationship.

Acute Misfortune

2018

Riot poster
6.4

A look at the 1970s Gay Rights Movement in Australia through the eyes of dedicated activist Lance Gowland. As Lance deals with his sexuality, he must also juggle work, family and relationships.

Riot

2018

Anyone You Want poster
1.0

A young businessman befriends a troubled homeless girl on the streets of Sydney and is drawn into her secret fantasy world. Over a lost weekend they try out new personalities - from hippies to grunting cavemen. But as these games bring them closer together they are forced to confront the frightening reality of each other's lives.

Anyone You Want

2010

No artwork available
NR

Santa Claus must train a shy little boy to replace him as he reluctantly retires.

Santa's Apprentice

2013

Broke poster
5.7

A disgraced sports star and gambling addict attempts to turn his life around with the support of his number one fan.

Broke

2016

2000s · 6 titles

1990s · 10 titles

Kiss or Kill poster
4.5

Two lovers, Nikki and Al, have a scam in which Nikki allows herself to be picked up by older men, drugs them, and, with Al's help, robs them. After accidentally killing one of her victims with an overdose, Nikki and Al are on the run.

Kiss or Kill

1997

Mad Bomber in Love poster
10.0

A no-budget grunge classic about the nightmares of shared accommodation with an urban terrorist as your new flatmate.

Mad Bomber in Love

1992

Greenkeeping poster
6.5

An ex-convict pays for his wife's marijuana by keeping the green at a lawn-bowling club

Greenkeeping

1992

In a Savage Land poster
4.8

Two anthropologists married to each other go to an island off of Papua New Guinea for field research in pre-World War II. Eventually the war breaks out and many lives are disrupted and complicated.

In a Savage Land

1999

Billy's Holiday poster
9.0

This movie is all about a normal guy called Billy Apples. He is a social drinker and sometimes lead singer of a band. While he is doing all of this, he still manages to bring up his teenage daughter. One night while sitting at home Billy finds that he has a talent! He finds that he is able to sing like his idol, 50's singer Billie Holiday. From there he is going places, from huge live performances to even cutting a hit record, but in the end he must make a choice between the life he has, and the life he once knew. Written by Graham Wilson Jr

Billy's Holiday

1995

Spider and Rose poster
6.3

A young ambulance driver befriends an elderly woman.

Spider and Rose

1994

The Returning poster
7.5

A successful city lawyer abandons his practice and heads out to the country. There he comes upon a stately, but neglected, homestead. He moves in, and during his first night a beautiful ghostly woman makes love to him, in his sleep. Soon his dreams become more engrossing than his everyday world and girlfriend. Gradually he unravels the tragedy of his spirit lovers' past. To respond to her call, he needs to embrace the hearafter.

The Returning

1990

Rough Diamonds poster
10.0

In Queensland's outback, a single mother from Brisbane, who's tired of her old life as a singer, bonds with a handsome truck driver, who can also sing but would rather be a cattle breeder, over their love for country music.

Rough Diamonds

1995

Federation poster
NR

An epic tale about the making of Australia. This tells the stories of the founding fathers and of the people in six separate colonies in the decades leading to Federation. It's a tale of winners and losers, of great debates which unified the country, of the struggle not just to make an Australian nation, but to create Australian democracy.

Federation

1999

No artwork available
7.0

Comedy about two Australian garbage collectors starring Los Trios Ringbarkus.

Garbo

1992

1980s · 15 titles

The Return of Captain Invincible poster
6.2

In WWII, Captain Invincible used his superpowers against the Nazis and was hailed as a hero. But when he was accused of treason, he retired to Australia in disgrace. Cut to the present, when a US super secret super weapon is stolen and he's asked to come back to the States in order to help stop evil and restore his sterling reputation. Unfortunately, Captain Invincible is a drunk now...

The Return of Captain Invincible

1983

Midnite Spares poster
6.3

After discovering that a group of car thieves may have something to do with his father's untimely death, Steve pursues the criminals and attempts to capture them as well as prove his prowess as a racecar driver.

Midnite Spares

1983

Incident at Raven's Gate poster
6.2

Ex-con Eddie Cleary gets a job working on his older brother's isolated farm. It's not long before bizarre things start happening--dead birds falling out of the sky, family pets attacking their owners, strange apparitions beginning to appear, and people who had been "normal" suddenly going insane.

Incident at Raven's Gate

1989

Vietnam poster
7.6

The trials and tribulations of the Goddard family after the entry of Australia into the Vietnam War.

Vietnam

1987

Starstruck poster
5.4

A Sydney teen tries to make it as a rock singer, with help from her odd 14-year-old cousin.

Starstruck

1982

Hoodwink poster
4.9

Hoodwink is based on the true story of an Australian con artist who briefly won the hearts of the media (if not the authorities). John Hargreaves stars as a criminal serving time in a New South Wales prison. He's not partial to the physical labor required of the convicts, so he hits upon a labor-saving plan. Hargreaves pretends to be totally blind, thus lightening his work load....and carries off the hoax for years.

Hoodwink

1981

Call Me Mr. Brown poster
7.0

Based on the 1971 true story known as "The Great Plane Robbery", this tele-movie tells the story of Peter Macari alias Mr. Brown. Under a grand extortion scam, he steals $500,000 in cash from Australian airlines company Qantas. This begins the start of a major international manhunt to catch a thief who is now living the high life from the spoils of his heist.

Call Me Mr. Brown

1985

Boundaries of the Heart poster
10.0

A small desert town in western Australia is the scene of several love affairs in this romantic drama. Forty-year-old Stella (Wendy Hughes) works at her father's hotel and bar. She receives annual New Year's marriage proposals from rodeo rider Andy Ford (John Hargreaves), who talks himself into asking her one more time. Stella's father Billy (Norman Kaye) is a former cricket star whose career ended early when he was involved in a sex scandal. She spends the night with vacationing Arthur (Michael Siberry) when his car breaks down. Andy elects not to pop the question to Stella in lieu of her one-night stand with the stranger. When Billy elects to marry June Thompson (Julie Nihill), the local gossipmongers have a field day recalling the woman's promiscuous past.

Boundaries of the Heart

1988

Stanley: Every Home Should Have One poster
6.5

Stanley Dunstan is a young eccentric. The son and heir to a family fortune has eluded all attempts by his father to make him "normal", and escapes from attempts to incarcerate him in the family sanatorium. Stanley retreats to prove he can become "normal" on his own, and does so by tracking down Australia's most "normal" family with whom he moves in and on whom he models his behaviour. Stars Graham Kennedy, Nell Campbell, Peter Bensley and Michael Craig.

Stanley: Every Home Should Have One

1984

Luigi’s Ladies poster
5.0

Shaken by the stockmarket crash of ’87 … plus a few other distractions like attempted murder, flirtatious affairs and a lunatic, knife wielding chef … their friendship is put to the test! But, rest assured, these resilient women-of-the-world will pull through and enjoy many more entrées together at Luigi’s!

Luigi’s Ladies

1989

Running on Empty poster
5.3

Mike loves his fast cars and his hot women. When he fancies the girlfriend of the local street racing king, Fox, he gets way in over his head in racing for his girl, his money and his life. Through racing, sex, nightclubs and small road trips the film depicts what it was like to be a teenager in Australia in the 1980's.

Running on Empty

1982

Hard Knocks poster
7.0

A young girl with a background of urban poverty and juvenile crime, attempts to become a fashion model. The hypocrisy and double standards of society are juxtaposed against the confusion and frustration she feels as she struggles to become part of a community that has no place for her.

Hard Knocks

1980

Cornflakes for tea poster
NR

3 young children living in commission flats in Melbourne are left to try and fend for themselves, after their alcoholic Dad leaves them.

Cornflakes for tea

1981

Freedom poster
6.0

Ron, a young man in his late teens or early 20s, but emotionally younger, has no visible, employable assets, yet rails at his status in life -- blaming everyone for the fact that his dreams are not coming true.

Freedom

1982

No artwork available
8.0

A drama about forbidden love and war.

Outbreak of Hostilities

1985

1970s · 8 titles

My Brilliant Career poster
6.2

A young woman who is determined to maintain her independence finds herself at odds with her family who wants her to tame her wild side and get married.

My Brilliant Career

1979

The Odd Angry Shot poster
6.1

A group of Australian SAS regiment soldiers are deployed to Vietnam around 1967/8 and encounter the realities of war, from the numbing boredom of camp life and long range patrols, raids and ambushes where nothing happens, to the the terror of enduring mortar barrages from an unseen enemy. Men die and are crippled in combat by firefights and booby traps, soldiers kill and capture the enemy, gather intelligence and retake ground only to cede it again whilst battling against the bureaucracy and obstinacy of the conventional military hierarchy. In the end they return to civilization, forever changed by their experiences but glad to return to the life they once knew.

The Odd Angry Shot

1979

Summerfield poster
6.4

When teacher Simon arrives in a small, secluded village to take over the local school, he is surprised to discover that his predecessor has disappeared without a trace - and that nobody seems too concerned about it. As Simon probes deeper into the disappearance, the inhabitants of a forbidding estate called "Summerfield" take on more and more significance.

Summerfield

1977

Sunday Too Far Away poster
6.5

The harsh, competitive world of Australian sheep-shearers provides the setting for this powerful film. Foley and 'Black Arthur' do battle for the position of 'top shearer' amid the boozy world of men isolated from civilisation. After weeks of work they are confronted with non-union labour undercutting them - a situation which leads to a violent conclusion.

Sunday Too Far Away

1975

Cass poster
7.0

Torn by the conflict between society and her own life, as well as her failing marriage and love for another woman, Cass desperately tried to pull together the pieces of her shattered life.

Cass

1978

Where Dead Men Lie poster
NR

Where Dead Men Lie is a short drama based on a "script" written by Henry Lawson in 1896 in the earliest days of moving pictures. Anticipating the development of dramatic cinema, Lawson wrote his story, The Australian Cinematograph, with clear directions for the camera.

Where Dead Men Lie

1971

No artwork available
7.0

Clyde is a typical junior clerk in a public service office. He watches the budding friendship between two co-workers and he turns it into the permanent office joke. At the same time he plays out his own neurotic relationship with a bored and frustrated secretary. The cruel mass victimisation of the young lovers is carried to the annual office picnic. Office tensions are changed by the unfamiliar surroundings where the disappearance of the two lovers forces Clyde to re-examine his own shallow emotional development.

The Office Picnic

1972

No artwork available
9.0

This musical tells the story of the 1854 Eureka Stockade rebellion by the gold miners in Ballarat. It was adapted from a play by novelist Kenneth Cooke.

Stockade

1971

Series credits

McLeod's Daughters poster
7.2

When Jack McLeod passes away, his two daughters inherit Drovers Run, a vast cattle ranch in the Australian outback. Ultimately, Tess and Claire decide to run the ranch together, with their housekeeper, Meg, her teenage daughter, Jodi, and a local girl, Becky. Their lives are hard and the obstacles many, but the rewards are every bit as grand as the wild open land they've inherited.

McLeod's Daughters

2001

The Flying Doctors poster
6.6

The Flying Doctors is an Australian drama series produced by Crawford Productions that revolved around the everyday lifesaving efforts of the real Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. It was initially a 1985 mini-series based in the fictional outback town of Cooper's Crossing starring Andrew McFarlane as the newly arrived Dr. Tom Callaghan. The success of the mini series led to its return the following year as an on-going series with McFarlane being joined by a new doctor, Chris Randall, played by Liz Burch. McFarlane left during the first season and actor Robert Grubb came in as new doctor Geoff Standish. The series' episodes were mostly self-contained but also featured ongoing storylines, such as Dr. Standish's romance with Sister Kate Wellings. Other major characters included pilot Sam Patterson, mechanic Emma Plimpton, local policeman Sgt. Jack Carruthers and Vic and Nancy Buckley, who ran the local pub/hotel, The Majestic. Andrew McFarlane also later returned to the series, resuming his role as Dr. Callaghan. The popular series ran for nine seasons and was successfully screened internationally.

The Flying Doctors

1986

The Flying Doctors poster
6.6

The Flying Doctors is an Australian drama series produced by Crawford Productions that revolved around the everyday lifesaving efforts of the real Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. It was initially a 1985 mini-series based in the fictional outback town of Cooper's Crossing starring Andrew McFarlane as the newly arrived Dr. Tom Callaghan. The success of the mini series led to its return the following year as an on-going series with McFarlane being joined by a new doctor, Chris Randall, played by Liz Burch. McFarlane left during the first season and actor Robert Grubb came in as new doctor Geoff Standish. The series' episodes were mostly self-contained but also featured ongoing storylines, such as Dr. Standish's romance with Sister Kate Wellings. Other major characters included pilot Sam Patterson, mechanic Emma Plimpton, local policeman Sgt. Jack Carruthers and Vic and Nancy Buckley, who ran the local pub/hotel, The Majestic. Andrew McFarlane also later returned to the series, resuming his role as Dr. Callaghan. The popular series ran for nine seasons and was successfully screened internationally.

The Flying Doctors

1986

Police Rescue poster
6.7

Police Rescue was an Australian television series The series dealt with the New South Wales Police Rescue Squad based in Sydney and their work attending to various incidents from road accidents to train crashes.

Police Rescue

1991

Rafferty's Rules poster
8.0

Rafferty's Rules was an Australian television drama series which ran from 1987 to 1990 on the Seven Network. Rafferty's Rules was one of the first programs undertaken by the Seven Network's then new in-house drama unit, going into production in May 1985 as "a 15-part courtroom drama". The program had started out as a pilot episode, recorded in early 1984 with the actor Chris Haywood in the lead role. When the pilot episode was remounted later in 1984, Chris Haywood wasn't available and the lead role was re-cast to John Wood. This second recording was eventually broadcast as the program's first episode.

Rafferty's Rules

1987

Skippy the Bush Kangaroo poster
6.2

Skippy the Bush Kangaroo is an Australian television series telling the adventures of a young boy and his intelligent pet kangaroo, and the various visitors to the fictional Waratah National Park in Duffys Forest, near Sydney, New South Wales.

Skippy the Bush Kangaroo

1968

Doctor Doctor poster
7.4

The story of Hugh Knight, a rising heart surgeon who is gifted, charming and infallible. He is a hedonist who, due to his sheer talent, believes he can live outside the rules. His "work hard, play harder" philosophy is about to come back and bite him.

Doctor Doctor

2016

Faraway Downs poster
6.9

The story of an English aristocrat, Lady Sarah Ashley, who inherits a large cattle ranch in Australia after her husband dies. When Australian cattle barons plot to take her land, she joins forces with a cattle drover to protect her ranch.

Faraway Downs

2023

Bodyline poster
7.6

Dramatization of the 1932/33 Test cricket series between England and Australia. Played in Australia, the series gained notoriety in Australian and worldwide cricketing history for the fact that the English team (headed by captain Douglas Jardine) applied a bowling technique called "leg theory", or more commonly, Bodyline. This technique involved bowlers bowling the ball directly at the batsman's body, and resulted in many of the Australian team receiving numerous bruises and injuries, with batsman Bert Oldfield sustaining a cracked skull. The series generated much anger and resentment towards the English team within Australia and seriously damaged Anglo-Australian cricketing relations at the time.

Bodyline

1984

Old School poster
7.6

Ted McCabe, a retired cop, and Lennie Cahill a retired crim, get together to solve crimes, unravel scams and make some cash, while avoiding the wrath of the police and the underworld.

Old School

2014

Love My Way poster
7.5

An exploration of the love that binds us, the relationships that define us and the dreams of grown ups.

Love My Way

2004

Bluey poster
6.4

At Melbourne's Russell Street Police Headquarters, Sgt. "Bluey" Hills, unable to work within the existing police squads, oversees Department B. They're assigned cases other departments could not readily solve by conventional means, with Hills applying his unconventional methods to bring about their resolution. Bluey's investigations are supported by newly assigned Gary Dawson, long-time cohort Monica Rourke, and undercover officer Reg Truscott, who spends his time ostensibly working as a small-time burglar, and supplying Bluey with information on the activities of local criminals.

Bluey

1976

Spyforce poster
6.0

Spyforce was an Australian TV series produced from 1971 to 1973, based upon the adventures of Australian Military Intelligence operatives in the South West Pacific during World War II. It was produced by the Nine Network in conjunction with Paramount Pictures. The series centres on the action and adventures of lead actor Jack Thompson's character Erskine, and his main support character, Peter Sumner's Gunthar Haber. It was the first lead role for Jack Thompson. The two are part of an elite unit of special operatives, the Special Intelligence Unit, and their adventures are loosely based upon those of the real Services Reconnaissance Department who often operated behind Japanese-held lines during the war. Unlike most previous war films, Spyforce deliberately steered away from the notion that the United States was solely responsible for Japan's defeat, and highlights the important role Australian forces played in the defeat of the Imperial Japanese Army. Producer Roger Mirams was also careful to avoid stereotypes of the genre, and tired formulas for the battle scenes. The idea appealed to American producers Paramount Pictures, who backed creator Roger Mirams to begin production without having seen a script. He made the pilot episode, "Spy Catcher", which impressed Paramount, and the Nine Network immediately bought the local rights. The first episode aired in Sydney on 8 August 1971, and the rest of Australia on 26 August 1971. It was originally intended to produce 26 episodes, but following the success of the first series, Mirams held talks with both Nine Network and Paramount Pictures, who backed him for a second series. In all 42 episodes were produced. The series was last aired on Australian television in Adelaide on 21 September 1976, but has been re-run several times since.

Spyforce

1971

Rush poster
6.0

Rush was an Australian television series produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation between 1974 and 1976. The first 13 episodes were produced in 1974 and filmed in black and white. In 1976, 13 more episodes were produced, in colour, in conjunction with French production company Antenne 2. Each series featured a different cast with the exception of John Waters.

Rush

1974

No artwork available
7.5

The Damnation of Harvey McHugh is a television miniseries made by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The series consists of 12 episodes and was first broadcast on the ABC in 1994.

The Damnation of Harvey McHugh

1994

Secret Valley poster
7.2

Secret Valley was a fictitious children's holiday camp in Bildarra which had been transformed from a run down ghost town into a resort. The children who worked and visited the camp often found themselves in battle against a gang of "bad" kids - Spider McGlurk and his gang from "Spider Cave". These battles usually featured flour bombs and other food related missiles and everyone inevitably ended up in a big mess.

Secret Valley

1982

Kings in Grass Castles poster
9.0

The life of an Irish immigrant family in Australia in the second half of the 19th century. Based on a 1959 book of history by Dame Mary Durack.

Kings in Grass Castles

1998

Grim Pickings poster
7.5

Grim Pickings is a 1989 Australian mini series shot in the Adelaide Hills about a family who makes its annual pilgrimmage to an elderly aunt's orchard to help with the apple harvest.

Grim Pickings

1989

Act of Betrayal poster
8.0

An IRA informer and his family are given new identities and new lives in Australia but the IRA are still determined to track them down.

Act of Betrayal

1988

Scales of Justice poster
7.0

Scales of Justice is a three-part Australian drama miniseries, made in 1983 by director Michael Jenkins. It was one of the most controversial Australian mini-series ever produced, examining corruption in all levels of law enforcement.

Scales of Justice

1983