Garry George McDonald AO (born 30 October 1948) is an Australian actor, satirist and comedian. In a career spanning five decades he has had many theatre, television and film roles, and has been listed as a National Living Treasure. He is best known as the seemingly naive celebrity interviewer Norman Gunston, through whom he pioneered the "ambush interviewer" technique since followed by many others. He received a Gold Logie award for the television Norman Gunston Show in which he developed the character. He is also famed for his role of the hapless Arthur Beare in the television sitcom Mother and Son. Appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2003 for service to the community in the mental health field and to the arts as an entertainer, he has also been a board member of the Australian mental health organisation Beyond Blue.

McDonald was born in Bondi, a beachside suburb of Sydney.^[1] He was educated at Cranbrook School. During his time at Cranbrook, McDonald developed an interest in acting and, despite family objections, went on to study at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), where he obtained a Diploma in Acting (misspelled "Actinig")^[2] in 1967.^[3][4]

Early in his career he met his wife, the actress Diane Craig, during a production of Let's Get A Divorce. They married in 1971^[10] They have two grown children and live in Berry on the New South Wales south coast.^[11][12]

Suffering from both depression and anxiety, McDonald talks openly about his condition. He is an ambassador and former board director of Beyond Blue, an Australian national depression initiative. He also serves as patron of the New South Wales branch of the Anxiety Disorders Foundation of Australia.^[13][14] McDonald is quoted in the press discussing a link between his own anxiety and that of his grandfather and mother.^[15]

McDonald's condition first came to the public's attention when he reached a crisis point after a short-lived attempt to revive the Gunston character in 1993. Then again in 1997, McDonald suffered a severe episode during the launch of a new series, Rip Snorters.^[16] McDonald's condition also caused him to withdraw from the 2003 production of Patrick Marber's Howard Katz.^[17]

In 2003, McDonald was appointed an officer of the Order of Australia for service to the community by raising awareness of mental health issues and the effects of anxiety disorders and depression on sufferers and carers, and to the arts as an entertainer.^[31]

His popularity among Australians is reflected his being listed, after public nomination and vote, as a National Living Treasure, someone who has made an outstanding contribution to Australian society in any field of human endeavour.^[32]

In 2015, he was a featured subject on the ABC documentary series Australian Story.^[33]

In 2020, he appeared on a stamp in the Australia Post Legends of Comedy series.^[34]

Two portraits of McDonald have won awards at the Archibald Prize. In 1999 a portrait by artist Deny Christian won the Packing Room Prize and, in 2006, Paul Jackson's All the world's a stage won the Peoples Choice Award.^[18] In 2016, yet another painting of McDonald was a finalist in the Archibald Prize by Kirsty Neilson entitled There's No Humour in Darkness.