Mark Mitchell

Mark Mitchell - also known as ‘Con the Fruiterer' Australia’s gentleman of comedy, Mark Mitchell is one of Australia’s finest and funniest performers.

Mark taught middle and senior English for 5 years before deciding to follow his heart into performance.

Australia’s gentleman of comedy, Mark Mitchell is one of Asutralia’s finest and funniest performers. Trained as a teacher of English - B.A. (Melb) Dip.Ed (S C V Rusden) - Mark taught middle and senior English for 5 years before deciding to follow his heart into performance. His entry into the entertainment world, dressed as the Devil, required him to deliver singing telegrams! Oddly enough this venture lasted only two weeks. Deciding that he was ready for stand-up comedy, Mark soon realized that perhaps stand-up comedy was not ready for him, but he persevered with it for almost six years before concluding that the corporate sector offered more intriguing opportunities for comedic addresses around focused themes.
Along the path to his first television commitments, Mark auditioned for a commercial but was unsuccessful. Curious, he decided to explore the world of advertising from within and sent a letter off to the ten agencies he'd hear d about. He received four offers and took the one with the agency that had previously rejected him.
Working in advertising and copywriting led Mark to his first television exposure in a late night sketch comedy program on Channel 7 called "THE ELEVENTH HOUR". The cast of Eleventh Hour also included Ian McFadyen, Steve Vizard, Maryanne Fahey, Glenn Robbins and Kim Gyngell.
Not long after the ELEVENTH HOUR Mark appeared in various television dramas including "THE PETROV AFFAIR", "THE SWORD OF HONOUR" and "WILLING & ABEL". The huge success of "THE COMEDY COMPANY" during the late 1980s brought Mark Mitchell, larger than life, into the homes of all Australians. His character portrayal of a Greek fruiterer named CON endeared him not only to many Australians, but also to the Greek community. So celebrated was CON THE FRUITERER that he became the first comedy character to don Melbourne's KING OF MOOMBA crown.
Mark's gift and love of character acting led him to secure television roles as: 'Mr Fish' in the popular children's series Lift Off , 1 & 2 (AB C TV); also for AB C TV, Mr Gribble in Round the Twist Series 2,3 & 4,and Otto Von Meister in The Genie From Downunder ; and he played David Lange in the New Zealand telemovie Fallout.
With these successes, Mark soon found himself in demand from both local and international film and telemovie producers: The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas, Like Mother Like Son, Blond, On the Beach, Backlands/Abscheid in Den Tod ; Pig's Breakfast, Anzacs, Child Star, Ground Zero and Inspector Gadget 2.
A tireless performer, Mark (as well as Con the Fruiterer) is popularly engaged as guest speaker and Master of Ceremonies for corporate events. He has had the pleasure of working for companies such as Telstra, The Master Building Association, IBM, Mars Confectionery, Tag Heuer, United Distillers, Scienceworks Museum, Harvey Norman, National Australia Bank, Microsoft, Swift & Moore, Tattersalls, Mercedes Benz, as well as various education sectors and sporting clubs.
Mark's first foray into musical theatre was performing the role of Mr Bumble in the Cameron Mackintosh musical, OLIVER (2002/2003). In August 2004, he commenced a national tour in the one-man comedy show "Defending the Caveman", written by US performer/comedian Rob Becker and produced by Ross Mollison.
Most recently, Mark provided the voice of Buck Cluck, father of the title character, in Walt Disney Pictures' new computer animated film, "Chicken Little" (released 2006).
Mark is one of the outstanding talents this country has to offer. Whether as a Guest Speaker or MC, in character or as himself, Mark has the expertise, skill & dedication to bring that special something to every performance.