Philip Quast

Philip Mark Quast (born 30 July 1957) is an Australian actor and singer. He has won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical three times, the most of any actor to date. He is perhaps best known for his role as Inspector Javert in the stage musical Les Misérables and in the Les Misérables: The Dream Cast in Concert. He is also well known for numerous theatre roles, including Georges Seurat in Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George and Emile de Becque in Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific. He is also known for appearances in film and for his roles in television shows such as Ultraviolet, Brides of Christ, and Play School. 2Early life Quast, one of three children, was born in 1957 in Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia. His family lived and worked on a mixed but predominately turkey farm. 2Career He graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1979 and began his career in the resident acting company of the State Theatre Company of South Australia. In the early 80's he appeared in plays such as The Mystery Plays of Wakefield, Three Sisters, On The Wallaby, Pericles, A Month in the Country, As You Like It, Pygmalion, A Hard God, No End of Blame, The Threepenny Opera, Shark Infested Waters, Candide with Nimrod Theatre Company, and a musical adaption of Carmen which he debuted with the Melbourne Theatre Company.In 1981, Philip also began appearing as a presenter on the Australian children's show Play School, a program he would return to on-and-off again for 17 years. He shot to prominence in 1987 when he appeared as Javert in the original Australian production of Les Misérable