Gary Sweet (born 22 May 1957) is an Australian film and television actor known for his roles in Alexandra's Project (as Steve), Police Rescue (as Sergeant 'Mickey' McClintock), Cody (as Cody), Big Sky (as Chris Manning), Bodyline (as Donald Bradman), Stingers (as DI Luke Harris) and House Husbands (as Lewis Crabb). He finished in the top 3 of Network 10’s I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here 2026, losing out to Concetta Caristo.
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Early life
Sweet attended Brighton High School in Adelaide. He later obtained a teaching degree and took up drama while at Sturt Teachers' College.
Career
Film and television
Sweet's first role was in 1980 low-budget horror film Nightmares (also known as Stage Fright). In the early 1980s, he became recognisable through the ongoing role of Leslie 'Magpie' Maddern in the TV series The Sullivans, for which he won a Logie Award.
In 1984, Sweet had his first starring role as Donald Bradman in the miniseries Bodyline, the story of the 1932–33 Test cricket series between England and Australia, alongside Hugo Weaving.
Early films included a lead role in the 1985 film An Indecent Obsession, based on the novel of the same name by Colleen McCullough, as well as a role in 1987 war film The Lighthorsemen. He also starred in award-winning 1987 miniseries The Great Bookie Robbery, playing the role of Chico White.
From 1990 to 1996, Sweet starred in a leading role in the TV drama series Police Rescue as Sgt. Steve 'Mickey' McClintock. This role led him to win several major television awards, including an AFI Award for Best Lead Actor in a TV Drama (in 1991 and 1992), the Variety Club Heart Award for TV Actor of the Year (1993), and a TV Week Silver Logie Award for Most Popular Actor and Most Outstanding Actor (1994). During this period, Sweet also appeared in 1994 miniseries The Battlers, opposite Jaqueline McKenzie.
Sweet starred in Big Sky, and Dog's Head Bay. He took a continuing role in the police drama series Stingers until the show's conclusion in 2004. Other prominent television roles have included The Circuit, Rain Shadow (both 2007) and police drama Cops L.A.C.. In 2008, he narrated the documentary series Sudden Impact.
From 2012 until 2017, Sweet had a leading role in the drama/comedy House Husbands as Lewis Crabb. Nine Network had considered a potential spin-off centred around Sweet's character, but decided not to go ahead with it.
Sweet's notable film roles have included The Tracker (2002), Alexandra's Project (2003) and Gettin' Square (2003. He also appeared in the acclaimed independent drama film 2:37 (2006), with his son, as well as in a modern-day imagining of Macbeth (2006), alongside Sam Worthington.
Theatre
Sweet has also appeared in several stage productions, including The Club, and Tony McNamara's play The Recruit. He has appeared in the Frankie Valli-tribute musical Oh, What a Night, and in Trevor Ashley's musical comedy Little Orphan trAshley with Rhonda Burchmore.
Music
Sweet dabbled in the Australian music scene with limited success in the early 1990s. Sweet released a cover of Billy Thorpe's "Most People I Know (Think That I'm Crazy)" in 1994 through Polygram Records Australia. The single peaked at number 52 on the ARIA Charts, and spent seven weeks in the top 100.
Personal life
Sweet married actress Lenore Smith on 7 November 1981 in his parents' garden in Warradale. The couple had met in a lift at Crawford Productions a little over five months beforehand. They divorced in 1983. From 1987 to 1993, Sweet was married to lawyer Jill Miller. They have two children, including Frank Sweet who became an actor. Sweet married television presenter and former Commonwealth Games swimmer Johanna Griggs in 1995 and they had two children.
In 2013, Sweet was criticised by some women's magazines after he admitted that he was "a five or six out of 10 dad" to his children. Sweet has been in a relationship with former air hostess Nadia Dyall since 2011. They have two children. In March 2018, Sweet became a grandfather.
Gary Sweet is an ambassador and ex player for the Glenelg Tigers, an Australian rules football club who play in the South Australian National Football League. He is also a supporter of the Manly Sea Eagles rugby league club who play in the National Rugby League.
In 2004, Sweet become the public face of "The Performance Pack Initiative", an information campaign for men with impotence problems from Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline and Impotence Australia. Bans against direct advertising prescription medicines meant that Sweet was unable to directly mention the drug, Levitra, but this code was broken when Sweet mentioned Levitra on an Adelaide radio programme. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Media Watch reported that Sweet was being investigated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for possible breach of advertising codes.
On a 1 February 2026 episode of I’m a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, Sweet revealed that from birth, he was raised by his uncle and aunt, saying: "Phil and his wife were unable to have children. So when the baby was born, they (Bill and his wife) gave the baby to his younger brother, Phil. The baby was me… so my biological parents became my uncle and aunty, my sisters became my cousins… I've never, ever, ever told this story."
On 20 August 2026, Sweet was named in the cast of film Before You Leave.
Filmography
Music
Awards
Sweet has won several awards in his acting career, including two Logie Awards – one in 1982 for The Sullivans (Most Popular New Talent) and one in 1994 for Police Rescue (Most Popular Actor).
In 2011, Sweet was initiated into the Australian Film Walk of Fame on 13 March, as part of the closing night celebrations of the Australian Film Festival.
