Ben Mingay (born 1979) is an Australian actor and singer, perhaps best known for having played Buzz Graham in the series Packed to the Rafters and Rob Duffy in Wonderland.[1] He played the role of Billy in the stage version of Dirty Dancing in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.[2] Mingay together with Michael Falzon, Luke Kennedy, and Matt Lee appeared in the Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2014.[3] In 2015, Mingay joined the cast of soap opera Home and Away in the recurring role of Trystan Powell.
Background
Growing up in Elermore Vale, New South Wales on the outskirts of Newcastle, Mingay went to boarding school, The Armidale School, from age 12.[4] His mother suggested he do the school play to occupy his spare time. He thought it was for losers, but agreed to do it for her.[4] He had to perform a song and discovered that he had a bass baritone voice. Mingay studied opera voice at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.[2][5]
He plays both piano and acoustic guitar.[2] He is also a fire breather and a stunt driver.[5] He was married to actress Kirby Burgess, but they divorced after two years.[4]
Career
In 2004 he appeared as a guest on the police series Blue Heelers where he played Troy Baxter.[6] That same year he starred as Jim Beatson on the medical series All Saints.
Mingay in 2012
In 2013, Mingay scored his first major role on television when he joined the main cast of the sixth season of Australian series Packed to the Rafters. He played the young electrician Fergus "Buzz" Graham,[5] father of Jackson Graham (Narek Arman) and employee of Dave Rafter (Erik Thomson). Mingay's Graham enters into a relationship with Emma Mackey (Zoe Cramond) until the series finale on 2 July of that year.[7] That same year, Mingay joined the main cast of Wonderland in the role of Rob Duffy.[8]
Mingay performed in the new cabaret act Swing on This at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival on 7 June 2014 with a cast that included Luke Kennedy, Michael Falzon, and Matt Lee. Festival artistic director, and singer in her own right, Kate Ceberano appeared as a special guest.[9] Following Adelaide Cabaret Festival, they performed as the headline act at both the official black tie launch of the refurbished Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre on 25 July and at the community concert[10] the next evening, again playing to a full house.
Mingay has performed at several concerts including the charity benefit Pants Off for Beyond Blue,[12] a concert involving several performers each singing in their underwear.
His professional opera debut came in 2024 in the role of Papageno in an English-language production Mozart's The Magic Flute for Opera Australia at the Sydney Opera House.[13] He had sung in this opera before in a school production in 2000.[14]
Mingay in 2019 appeared in ABC series Frayed, Mingay would reprise his role from the first season in the second series of the show that aired in 2021[15][16] In February 2021, Mingay was announced as part of the cast for the first series of Foxtel legal drama The Twelve.[17]
Training
1997 – Higher School Certificate (The Armidale School) – Ranked top 10% of State in Music[2]
1998 – NIDA: workshop stage, acting and improvisation skills
1999–2000 – Awarded the Florence Austral Scholarship for Voice from the Newcastle Conservatorium of Music
1999–2001 – Newcastle Conservatorium – vocal coach: Christopher Allan[13]
2000–2003 – Classical training at Sydney Conservatorium of Music
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