Mike Preston Has Died – PopCulture.com
Actor Mike Preston, known for his iconic role in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, has passed away.
Preston was 93. A cause of death has not been made public.
Variety reported on Tuesday that Preston’s wife, Josie Preston, confirmed that the actor died in Floridia in early June.
Preston, born Jack Davis in London, England, had a successful music career before transitioning into acting. He had numerous Top 40 hits on the UK Singles charts and eventually took his singing talents to Australia where he worked as a nightclub singer throughout most of the 1960’s.
By the late ‘60s, Preston had moved into TV and film roles. He appeared in more than 40 episodes as “Detective Bob Delaney” in the Australian police drama, Homicide. His TV roles increased from there and he was a regular on the small screen for more than three decades.
Some notable shows in which Preston appeared were Fame, Renegade, Chopper Squad, Ellen, Law & Order, Highlander, and Hot Pursuit.
In addition to TV and music, Preston was a well-known film actor. He played “Pappagallo” in The Road Warrior, a sequel to Mad Max that starred Mel Gibson. The film was an international success and nominated for several awards. The Road Warrior captured the award for Best International Film at the 10th Saturn Awards. Preston is the second actor from the film to pass away this month. In early July, Kjell Nilsson died at 76.
Preston turned his success in the Mad Max sequel into several other film roles including Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn, The Last of the Knucklemen, TV movie, Perry Mason: The Case of the Lady in the Lake, and plenty more.
Though Preston had unofficially retired from acting for quite some time, he lent his voice to the 2002 video game, The Getaway.
