Bruce Spence

Bruce Robert Spence (born 17 September 1945 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a distinguished New Zealand‑born Australian actor and voice artist whose career has stretched from the early 1970s to the present day. Over more than fifty years he has amassed a repertoire of over one hundred film and television credits, demonstrating a versatility that ranges from gritty post‑apocalyptic villains to whimsical animated characters. After winning an Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor for the 1971 comedy Stork, he quickly became a recognizable presence in genre cinema, most famously piloting the gyrocopter in Mad Max 2 (1981) and returning as the eccentric pilot Jedediah in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985). His collaboration with visionary directors continued with Werner Herzog’s Where the Green Ants Dream (1984) and later with Peter Jackson, where he delivered a chilling performance as the Mouth of Sauron in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). In the same prolific year he appeared as the Trainman in The Matrix Revolutions, voiced Chum in Finding Nemo, and portrayed Baxter in Inspector Gadget 2. Beyond the silver screen, Spence has brought his talent to the stage, notably as the palaeontologist Huxley in the Australian live production of Walking with Dinosaurs: The Live Experience, where he narrated the actions of life‑size mechanical dinosaurs. His television work includes a memorable turn as the wizard Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander in the fantasy series Legend of the Seeker (2008‑2009) and a guest role as prison inmate George Corella in Rake (2014). More recently he inhabited the role of Tion Medon in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005) and Lord Rhoop in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010). In 2024, his contributions to the performing arts were honoured with the Equity Lifetime Achievement Award, cementing his legacy as an enduring and influential figure in both Australian and international entertainment. His enduring presence across mediums showcases an actor who continuously reinvents himself while maintaining the distinctive charisma that has defined his storied career.