Bill Hunter

In Strictly Ballroom (1992), Bill Hunter's dance federation president Barry Fife has a toupee and the manner of a man who expects to be obeyed. Hunter makes that authority ridiculous without losing the force of it. His gravelly voice helps: even a pompous fool can sound as though he knows what he is talking about. The breakthrough roles in Newsfront (1978) and Gallipoli (1981) had made room for tenderness beneath the gruffness; the 1990s brought his comic bullies forward.

Muriel's Wedding (1994) gives him Bill Heslop, Muriel's bullying father, and makes good use of his comic timing. P.J. Hogan's film is funny and painful about loneliness, with Toni Collette keeping its heroine from becoming an object of pity. Hunter's contribution matters because a father this overbearing helps explain why acceptance can mean so much. We found him uncomfortable to laugh at: the father's bullying remains unpleasant even when Hunter makes his self-importance funny. Hogan's comedy is blunt in places, and Hunter's broad comic authority belongs to that approach.

In The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), Bob Spart, the sensitive outback mechanic, gives the same performer a different job. Stephan Elliott uses him as a straight man amid the drag performers, allowing his familiar gruffness to suggest dependability rather than intimidation. The warmth is convincing because Hunter does not need to abandon the plain, no-nonsense manner that serves his bullies. Some of the film's jokes strain and its sentiment can be overdone, but Bob's gentleness is a good reason to forgive it.

Hunter's familiar manner is also the reason to be selective. Repeated casting as the gruff Australian bloke became a limitation later in his career. We need the character to offer something beyond the pleasure of recognising the actor, as Bill Heslop and Bob both do. Watch the two 1994 films together, with Priscilla second if a little kindness would be welcome.