Neville Anderson known professionally as Andy Anderson and also billed as Andy James, is a New Zealand-born Australian musician and actor. As a musician he is best known as the lead singer of 1960s Australian band The Missing Links, and as an actor he is well known for his roles on both Australian and New Zealand television.
Anderson who was born in Naenae, Lower Hutt, near Wellington performed in several well-known Australian rockbands of the 1960s, before moving professionally in to television, in 1965 he joined the second lineup of famed Sydneygarage punk group the Missing Links as lead vocalist, and he performed on the group's only album. After the demise of the Links, he moved to Melbourne and joined another radical punk-R&B outfit, Running Jumping Standing Still, which also included lead guitaristDoug Ford, who subsequently joined the Masters Apprentices. Anderson was well known for his outrageous stage performances but his wild lifestyle at the time took a heavy toll and in late 1966 he was hospitalised after suffering a brain haemorrhage onstage at Melbourne's Thumpin' Tum discothèque. After his recovery, Anderson formed two short-lived Melbourne bands, Andy James Asylum, followed by Mother Superior, before moving back to Sydney, where he joined the cast of the Australian production of Hair for a short time during 1970. This was followed by an 18-month stint with Sydney club band Southern Comfort, with co-vocalist Bobbi Marchini.
Film and television
After moving overseas for some time Anderson returned to Australia and began performing regularly on Australian TV from the mid-1970s, with appearances in The Sullivans, Gloss, Prisoner, Fire and a starring role in the talking-dog sitcom The Bob Morrison Show as Steve Morrison. Guest appearances on television include: The Flying Doctors, A Country Practice, ', ', Heartbreak High, Water Rats, All Saints, Blue Heelers, Neighbours and Stingers. He had a prominent featured role as detective Lochie Renford in the first season of the acclaimed ABC-TV police series Phoenix. In 2012 he had a recurring featured role as Vince, the minder of drug lord Harry Montebello, in the ABC-TV crime drama series The Straits. On film, he is known for playing the role as John Livingston in the film and also starred in House of Wax and Tracker.
Selected filmography
Music
Anderson returned to music in the 2000s, recording an album called If I'd Known I'd Live This Long..., and he participated in a reunion of Southern Comfort in Sydney in 2003.
