Shane Withington
Shane Withington (born 22 August, 1958)[1] has played lifeguard John Palmer since 2009. He was previously known for playing Brendan Jones on A Country Practice between 1981 and 1986.
Pre H&A Career[]
Shane was born in Toowoomba, Queensland. He made his TV debut on an episode of Glenview High in 1978. In 1981 he was cast as nurse Brendan Jones on A Country Practice and he went on to appear in over 350 episodes before leaving in 1986. Shane won a Logie in 1985 for this role. His character's relationship with environmentalist Molly (played by Anne Tenney) kept viewers enthralled but what nobody knew was that Shane and Anne had become a couple in real life. Something much easier to do in the 1980s of course! They are still married and have a grown-up daughter.
After A Country Practice, he appeared in Willing and Abel, The Flying Doctors, The Family Business, Roy's Raiders, Water Rats, Dog's Head Bay, Rain Shadow, the BBC drama Out of the Blue and Dive Olly Dive![2]
H&A[]
Shane in his lifeguard gear
In 2006, Shane appeared as a pilot called Colin Page in 7 episodes of Home and Away. In 2009 he was offered a 12 week role as John Palmer on H&A and that was extended. To date he has appeared in well over 1,500 episodes of the show. In a 2019 interview with New Idea magazine, he said that he sails to work[3]
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