Les Asmussen

Les Asmussen is a veteran Australian actor and presenter whose five-decade career spans theatre, television, film, and literary authorship. After early seasons with Queensland Theatre Company, Fortune Theatre (Canberra), and National Theatre (Perth), he established a reputation for standout character work in classics from Waiting for Godot to Cabaret, and for comedic turns that earned him the title “the last of the great pantomime Dames.”

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 Recent stage credits include the title role in Donald’s Inferno (2024), Sir Alix Mackay in James Graham’s Ink (New Theatre, 2024), Doctor Wilson in The Touch of Silk (Players in the Pub, 2024), and Frank in Chimerica (2022). Earlier highlights include the Australian premiere of Terrence McNally’s The Ritz, three seasons with Shakespeare Globe and a five-role tour-de-force in The Fabulous Punch & Judy Show at the Edinburgh Fringe.

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 On screen, Les is known for Water Rats (Nine), Hyde & Seek (Nine), Rake (ABC), and the true-crime drama Dead Heart: Murder in the Outback (Seven). He most recently played Sir Toby Belch in the live-streamed Twelfth Night (2021) and can be seen in the full-length ShortMax vertical feature, How to Become a Female Billionaire! (2025). A three-time host of the Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards (2018–2020) and the author of two books on cinema, Les continues to bring depth and wit to every project he joins.  Most recently Les has filmed the role of Benny in Spaceballs 2.