Justin Melvey

Justin's Biography

Australian Justin Melvey's fast rising career might at first seem predictable... A handsome actor launched by a popular TV series... But little about Justin is predictable. As a former pr skier and model, it might have been expected that he would exude charm and sex appeal in his role as Harry on Australia's premier evening show, "Home and Away", but nobody could have predicted that he would earn the prestigious "Logie" (equivalent to the American Emmys) for Best New Talent on Australian television.

Also, no one could have predicated that he would leave the popular series to break new ground as a Shakespearean thespian in one of the leading roles in "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare", which opened at the Sydney Opera House. Justin took advantage of the opportunity to stretch his talents on stage and played Hamlet, MacBeth, King Lear, Titus and the 33 of Shakespeare's other leading men. Originally a hit play on the West End in London, Justin has just finished the national tour in Australia (late August 2001). In addition to his hilarious performance he gave in "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare", Justin has proven himself to be a very funny comedian in his improvisational comedy stint on Channel 10's "Good News Week", "The Great Debate" and at the "Fox Comedy Store" in Sydney.

In 2001 Justin landed a two-year contract in the leading role on NBC's number one daytime Drama, "Days of our Lives". His mysterious character "Dr Colin Murphy" worked for the legendary bad guy "Stephano Dimera". During Colin Murphy's time in Salem, he juggled many story lines with his cousins Bo and Sammy Brady, and his love, Jennifer Horton.

During his time on "Days of our Lives", Justin starred in a Showtime Movie of the Week, "Faultline", in a leading role with Doug Savant (Melrose Place, Desperate Housewives). Justin starred alongside Doug in this action-drama, which took place in the Florida Keys. His character, Frank Marshal, is the resort owner cuaght in a monstrous maze of events after being nearly buried by an earthquake.

In 2004, Justin returned to Australia to be a celebrity participant in the Network 7's top rated variety show "Dancing with the Stars" (Series one). Justin succeeded to the semi-finals scoring top "Tens" in the dances, the Tango and the Rumba and raised up to $20,000 for his charity Diabetes. During this same time, he also managed to fly between Sydney and Los Angeles to finish his contract on "Days of our Lives".

In 2005, Justin's next achievement was his popular role in the ABC Network hit daytime show "General Hospital", playing the boyfriend of GH's daytime princess Kelly Monaco's character, "Sami". Kelly's popularity soared from winning the American version of "Dancing with the Stars" and a story line ark was created which gave Justin the opportunity of performing the Rumba alongside Kelly.

In 2006, Justin made the bold move of accepting the offer to participate in the Celebrity Survivor on the island of Vanuatu, reflecting his motto of being up for any kind of challenge set before him. He succeeded beyond all expectations to make it into the final round of the hit Channel 7 show.

In 2008 - 2009, Justin starred in his own hit Prime Time TV series "The Phone" on Foxtel Australia. He plays a fictional character in action-packed, reality based drama. The series is a cross between "The Amazing Race" meets "Bourne Identity".

In Justin's words, "I'm very motivated, very career oriented and very ambitious". His first role as an actor began in the early nineties with the student film "The Promise Land". This lead to leading roles in the independent feature films, "Cloud 2000", "The Burning Boys", and the popular American Festival film "Mametville Murders". Soon after, he achieved a recurring role on the CBS daytime show, "The Young and the Restless".

Another great part to Justin's life is his dedication to extreme sports. "My passion started from my youth with out-of-bounds helicopter drop skiing in the Colorado Rockies." Snow skiing has been the most integral part of Justin's life since the age of three. By the age of 15 he was competing in the State Racing Team and ranked in the top 5 in Slalom in the Australian National Junior Championships. Having a passion for the moguls and the aerials, Justin was selected for the Australian National Freestyle Team where he traveled the world competing on the "World Cup Tour". He was 17 years old and achieved 2nd place in the National Championships that following year.

Martial Arts also attributes to Justin's discipline as an actor. At the age of 8, he began his training in the style of Shotokan Karate at a local surf club in Sydney. Not only did he earn his black belt 7 years later, but graded to 2nd Degree Black blet before he was 20 years old under the ruling of 6th Dan master from Japan, Sensei Takahashi (who is credited with the JKA, Japanese Karate Association of Australia). Justin competed on the NSW State fighting team for 3 years. With an ambition to achieve Karate Instructor status, Justin earned his Level 1 coaching credentials with the renowned Australian Institute of Sport.

Growing up by the beach, Justin has been surfing since a child and has completed some professional diving along the way, With his thrill for speed, he presently races his Suzuki 1000 Motorcycle around the track, enjoys bungee jumping from towers in Queensland and leaping out of hot air balloons in Steamboat Springs, CO. Justin is in the process of getting his Skydiving license.

Adding to his upbringing by the coast, Justin cherished his summer by proudly being a dedicated lifeguard for 10 years and hold Active Reserve status. This began as early as 5 years old while competing in local beach and surf swimming carnivals, which eventually led him to achieving his Surf Life Saving Qualifying Certificate, Bronze medallion and Advanced Resuscitation Ambulance Diploma.

Justin is also dedicated to another role that he plays with his for charity. He has helped to fund a children's hospital in Australia, has worked with the Leukemia and the Make A Wish Foundation, and every year since 2000, has traveled to Lake Tahoe to raise money for the Special Olympics. He takes great pleasure in sponsoring athletes with Down Syndrome so that they may reach the same personal sporting goals that Justin has so fortunately had the opportunity of succeeding in. Justin also travels to Vail, CO directly after this event to help raise money for the Vail Valley Foundation, having worked alongside Christopher Reeves, Bobby Kennedy, Jr. and stars from hit shows such as "The West Wing" and "Alias".

In July 2006, Justin embarked on a new US charity, "Big Brother, Big Sister", which takes him to Big Sky, Montana. Working with NFL stars, he assists in raising money for the goal of helping an unfortunate foster care child gain a new love for an older brother or sister.

Traveling the world, Justin has raised money for many charities, which fills a special place in his heart. The charity closest to his family is the Diabetes Association of Australia -NSW. This his success on "Dancing With The Stars" and "Celebrity Survivor", Justin has helped to assist the Diabetes Association of Australia -NSW in finding a cure. Diabetes affects over two million families in Australia, including his own.

Justin has taken a few predictable steps, but close analysis of these reveal that the only predictable part of this actor's career is his willingness to push the boundaries and to take risks no one would have expected.