Ian Rawlings

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Ian Rawlings
Born (1959-03-09) 9 March 1959
Whyalla, South Australia, Australia
OccupationActor
Years active1982−2023
Known forWayne Hamilton in Sons and Daughters
Philip Martin in Neighbours
SpouseLee Dowling (1984−present)
Children2

Ian Rawlings (born 9 March 1959) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his long-running roles in soap operas Sons and Daughters and Neighbours. He also appeared in the short-lived serial The Power, The Passion.

Early life

Rawlings was born on 9 March 1959,[1] in Whyalla, South Australia.[2] He has four brothers and a sister.[2] Rawlings played Australian rules football for Whyalla in the South Australian northern league.[2] He developed a keen interest in betting on horse racing after his father and grandfather took him to the races in Adelaide when he was eight years old.[3] He also developed an interest in greyhound racing when he was 14, and went onto own and train a number of dogs along with his siblings.[2] He was only interested in racing and training the dogs and not the gambling side of the sport.[2]

Rawlings worked as a storeman in Adelaide for a computer company, before becoming a model when he was 18.[4] He also worked loading trucks at a large freight company,[3] and as a tow-truck driver.[5]

Career

Rawlings had little acting experience when he signed for the Grundy Organisation in 1981 to play Wayne Hamilton in Sons and Daughters.[6] He had spent two years trying to secure substantial acting work, and appeared in several amateur productions and as an extra in films produced by the South Australian Film Corporation.[5] He was initially contracted for 15 weeks.[6] In 1985, Rawlings also portrayed his character's look-alike Gary Evans.[6] That same year, he won the Logie Award for Best Supporting Actor in A Series.[6] Rawlings continued in the role of Wayne for the show's entire 1982–1987 run.[7] Ahead of production ending in March 1987, Rawlings formed his own production company, after completing a producers course at the Australian Film and Television School.[8]

In 1989, Rawlings appeared in the short-lived Seven Network soap opera The Power, The Passion as Ryan McAllister.[3] After The Power, The Passion was cancelled, Rawlings took on a job as a salesman at the freight company he previously worked for prior to his acting career taking off.[3] He said it was a "natural place to go back to" with no acting work forthcoming. He found that being well known to the public helped him with sales.[3]

In 1992, Rawlings had a guest role as Marcus Stone in the Network Ten soap opera Neighbours.[9] A few months later, he joined the main cast as Philip Martin, taking over the role from Christopher Milne.[3] Rawlings played Philip until 1999.[10] He briefly reprised this role in episodes commemorating the programme's 20th anniversary in 2005.[11] Rawlings reprised the role for the Neighbours vs Time Travel webseries in 2017.[12] Rawlings made a cameo appearance in the final episode of Neighbours in mid-2022,[13] and again in late 2023, when the series was picked up once again.[14]

Rawlings struggled to find work after leaving Neighbours, and launched his own entertainment business Trivial Fun and Games for clubs and hotels.[15] He made guest appearances in Stingers and MDA in 2003.[15] In 2019, Rawlings was working as a bingo caller at the Werribee Rotary Club.[16]

Personal life

Rawlings met his wife, model Lee Dowling, while he was performing at an opening ceremony for a chicken takeaway shop.[3] He proposed after six weeks,[3] and they married four months later in September 1984 on the Isle of Capri. Several of his Sons and Daughters co-stars were in attendance, along with his brother and Dowling's daughter from her marriage to Garry Dowling.[17] Rawlings and Dowling also have one child together, a daughter.[15]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1982–1987 Sons and Daughters Wayne Hamilton / Gary Evans Series regular
1989 The Power, The Passion Ryan McAlistor Series regular
1990 Mission: Impossible Gibbs Episode: "Cargo Cult"
1992 Neighbours Marcus Stone Guest
1992–1999, 2005, 2022, 2023 Neighbours Philip Martin Series regular
1999 Night Fever Contestant Episode: "Millennium Eve Special"
2000 It's Anybody's Guess Contestant
2000 Blue Heelers Matthew Quinn Episode: "Life Class"
2003 Stingers Tyrone Pattison Episode: "New Blood"
2003 Blue Heelers Dennis Morgan Episode: "Every Man and His Ute"
2003 MDA Paul Rees Episode: "Bigger Fish to Fry"
2006 Temptation Contestant Episode: "Superchallenge: Heat 3"
2006 Where Are They Now? Guest
2017 Neighbours vs Time Travel Philip Webseries

References

  1. "Profile – Ian Rawlings". Inside Soap. No. 26. October 1994. pp. 36–37.
  2. Beck, Chris (21 May 1983). "Ian goes to the dogs". TV Week. p. 69.
  3. "Quit acting to become a salesman". The Weekly News. 21 February 1998. Retrieved 24 April 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. Pogorelske, Paulyne (11 December 1982). "Self-confessed ladies' man". TV Week. pp. 2–3.
  5. "Newcomers feature in Nine's new show". TV Week. 7 November 1981. p. 47.
  6. "Ian's wicked, winning ways". TV Week. 4 May 1985. p. 97.
  7. Mercado, Andrew (2004). Super Aussie Soaps: Behind The Scenes of Australia's Best Loved TV Shows. Pluto Press Australia. p. 181. ISBN 1-86403-191-3.
  8. Cook, Stephen (20 December 1986). "Kids' stuff". TV Week. p. 14.
  9. Davey, Tim (29 September 1993). "Tim's TV chat". Bristol Evening Post. Retrieved 24 April 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. "Soaps in crisis". The Sunday Mail. Brisbane, Australia. 28 November 1999. p. 7.
  11. Bell, Adam; Koch, Phillip (17 July 2005). "When good friends step back in time". The Sunday Mail. Brisbane, Australia. p. 4.
  12. Dainty, Sophie (31 October 2017). "Neighbours brings back Philip Martin and Stingray Timmins for Halloween time-travelling series". Digital Spy. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
  13. Gracie, Elizabeth (7 February 2023). "Where are the cast of Sons & Daughters now?". Woman's Day. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
  14. Hibbs, James (6 November 2023). "Neighbours confirms major cast returns with teaser for flashback week". Radio Times. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
  15. Brygel, Jackie; Gray, Sigourney (1–7 January 2005). "Former residents". TV Week. No. 1. p. 20.
  16. Macaulay, Charlene (27 February 2019). "Eyes down for serious fun". Star Weekly. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
  17. Cook, Stephen (27 October 1984). "Wedding fever – two stars say 'I do'". TV Week. pp. 6–7.