After troubled youth, Brian Wenzel's early Adelaide acting leads to long television role as the model policeman

Brian Wenzel with Lorrae Desmond, his television wife in the long-running television series, A Country Practice.

Brian Wenzel, best known for his role as police sergeant Frank Gilroy throughout the 1981-1993 run of Australian television series A County Practice, learnt his early acting through Adelaide’s repertory theatre company and Therry Dramatic Society.

One of his family’s eight children growing up in the Adelaide suburbs of Mile End, Torrensville and Thebarton, Wenzel had an unsettled early life, spending time in remand homes run by organisations including the Christian Brothers and Salvation Army. He ran away several times and, at 14, joined the circus as a pony groom and dog trainer.

His first acting role with Adelaide Repertory came at 17 in comedy. He started acting professionally in 1945.

Wenzel appeared in a string of Crawford Productions television drama series: Division 4, Matlock Police, Homicide, The Young Doctors, Cop Shop and ABC television’s Certain Women. It was the Certain Women role that won him the part of policeman Frank Gilroy in A Country Practice. He was so popular with New South Wales police for his Sergeant Gilroy that he was presented with a leather police jacket from commissioner John Avery.

Wenzel also had the guest role of NSW police officer in the series Home Sweet Home with John Bluthall. He also had a guest role on the soap Neighbours and appeared in Marshall Law in 2002. He was a cast member of Rove McManus’s show Rove Live in 2009.

Menzel’s many Australian film roles included Alison’s birthday, The odd angry shot and Caddie.

On stage, he was in David Williamson's Travelling North in 2000.