Terence Donovan (born 28th October 1942) is a British-born actor who played the villainous Al Simpson in 1990. A veteran of Australian film and TV, Terence is probably best known for his long stint as Doug Willis[1] in Neighbours(1990-2016)[1].
Terence is the father of Australian actor and singer Jason Donovan[2] and grandfather to former Neighbours actress Jenna Donovan.
Pre Home And Away career[]
Terence Donovan was born in Staines, Middlesex, England.[3] He migrated with his brothers to Australia in the 1950s. He had some minor acting roles on Australian TV before returning to his native Britain. There, he had roles in the cult TV shows The Prisoner and Man with a Suitcase. He made an uncredited appearance as a policeman in the musical Oliver! (he can be seen fleetingly during the "Consider Yourself" sequence). Back in Australia he continued working as an actor. From 1969-1975 he played Detective Mick Peters on Division 4. In 1979 he returned to playing a policeman, clocking up more than 160 appearances as Detective Mick Cameron on Cop Shop. In 1985 he appeared in 6 episodes of Prisoner. Later that year, and into 1986, he appeared in Sons and Daughters. He also appeared in E Street, The Flying Doctors, GP, Mission: Impossible and had a third stint on A Country Practice.
Home And Away 1990[]
Al Simpson
Terence appeared on Home and Away for 24 episodes between January and March 1990. Although Al's stay in Summer Bay was short in the grand scale of things, it was long enough to cause headaches for his adoptive daughter Bobby Simpson and for Donald Fisher. He tried to frame Donald for the 1981 murder of Shane Wilson but was eventually caught out and arrested. His daughter Sophie, who he had treated quite badly, was fostered by Tom and Pippa Fletcher after his arrest. As fans of the Early Years will know, Sophie became a prominent character for the next 3 years.
After Home And Away[]
Shortly afterwards, Terence joined the cast of Neighbours. He played Doug Willis from July 1990 until September 1994. He reprised his role in 2014 and remained on the show until his character was killed off in 2016. During his second stint on Neighbours, his daughter-in-law Terese was played by Rebekah Elmaloglou. She, of course, had played his on-screen daughter Sophie on Home and Away.
Terence in the 2022 Neighbours finale
When not appearing on Neighbours, Terence continued to appear on TV. He was seen on Heartbreak High, Blue Heelers and MDA, amongst other shows. Although Terence hasn't appeared in many roles in recent years [2], he made a surprise return to Neighbours during its "finale" in 2022. He was seen briefly sitting with Harold and Madge during Susan Kennedy's final voiceover.
Memorable info[]
Terence is just one generation of the Donovan family to have appeared on Neighbours. His son Jason became a household name in the late 1980s after appearing as Scott Robinson on the show. In 2020, Jason's daughter Jemma joined the cast [3].