Cameron Peter Daddo (born 7 March 1965) is an Australian actor, musician presenter and radio host. He is known for hosting 1980s dating game show Perfect Match Australia and 2007 reality show Pirate Master on CBS, as well as playing Brian Peterson in American soap opera Models Inc. and Evan Slater in Australian soap opera Home and Away. He also starred in F/X: The Series, Hope Island, and She Spies.
Early life Daddo was born in Melbourne, Victoria, on 7 March 1965, to Peter and Bronwen Daddo. One of five children, he grew up on the Mornington Peninsula alongside older sister, Belinda, and three younger brothers, twins Andrew and Jamie, and Lochie. Andrew and Lochie are fellow actors and television presenters.
His father was transferred to the United States when Daddo was sixteen, and he subsequently studied two of his school years in New Jersey. At age eighteen, he returned to Australia, where he graduated from high school.
Daddo began playing piano when he was seven, and at the age of twelve, he taught himself how to play guitar. He also sang in school choirs. His first foray into entertainment began with busking in Melbourne with a friend from school. They went on to form 'The Nearly Smooth Guys', and played in clubs around town. This led to Daddo participating in the Australian version of television show Star Search, making it to the finale and winning the Spokesmodel category.
After scoring a modeling contract, Daddo spent two years filming television advertisements as well as modelling in Japan and Europe.
Career
Acting and presenting Daddo's first television role was as host of a children's show called Off the Dish. He soon hosted The Cameron Daddo Cartoon Show, before replacing Greg Evans as the host of dating game show Perfect Match Australia from 1987 to 1988. He was 21 years old, which made him the youngest host of an Australian game show.
Following his hosting roles, Daddo turned his hand to acting, with a role in 1989 miniseries, The Heroes. The same year, he scored the lead role of Huck Finn in the stage musical Big River. Daddo's performance won him a Mo Award, and a Variety Theatre Performer of the Year accolade. The production ran for 15 months with over 1,000 shows.
Daddo next appeared in the 1990 telemovie series Bony, playing a detective and the fictional grandson of Napoleon Bonaparte, the protagonist in 29 detective novels by Arthur Upfield. His character was said to be a white man raised by Aboriginal people. An Aboriginal uncle serves as his mentor. The role won him a People's Choice Award for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series.
In 1992, Daddo won the Logie Award for Most Popular Actor in a Telemovie or Miniseries, for his appearance in the miniseries Golden Fiddles.Logie Awards official site , retrieved 15 March 2008 He won again in 1993 for his portrayal of bicycle champion Don Walker in Tracks of Glory.TV Week official site , retrieved 15 March 2008
Daddo often found himself making it to the final two for potentially career-defining roles – including the lead in Baz Luhrmann's 1992 film Strictly Ballroom, which ultimately went to Paul Mercurio – but missing out. Wanting to further his career, he moved to Los Angeles in 1992 to pursue acting in Hollywood. He was cast in the role of photographer Brian Peterson in the Aaron Spelling Melrose Place spin-off Models Inc., which was cancelled after the first season. He next made a one-off guest appearance in a 1993 episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.
In 1996, Daddo played Rollie Tyler in F/X: The Series, the character played by Bryan Brown in the film version. He also appeared in the PAX TV network's Hope Island from 1999 to 2000. In 2000, he appeared in Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story as American writer, Jack Garrison.
In 2002, Daddo played Darryl Wright, a lead guest character in the episode "Monk and the Earthquake" in the first season of television series Monk. He next appeared as Samuel Clemens in the 2003 television pilot Riverworld, based on the sci-fi novels of the same name. He also played the role of Quentin Cross in the second season of She Spies from 2003 to 2004.
Daddo also had roles in David Lynch's 2006 film Inland Empire, playing Devon Berk's manager and comedy film Big Momma's House 2. In 2007, he hosted the Mark Burnett reality show Pirate Master on CBS, and appeared in the movie Drifter. In 2009, he played the role of Vice President Mitchell Hayworth on 24. He also appeared in episodes of The Mentalist, Nikita, CSI and NCIS.
Daddo starred as the interviewer in an Australian adult romance feature film, SIX LOVERS, which finished production in 2010 and was released in 2012. In 2014, he appeared in the Australian Theatre Company's Los Angeles production of Holding the Man opposite Nate Jones, Roxane Wilson and Adam J. Yeend.
Daddo participated as the subject on a 2011 episode of Who Do You Think You Are?, travelling to the Channel Islands to trace his ancestry.
In 2012, Daddo returned to the Australian stage for the first time in 20 years as Professor Callahan in the Australian production of Legally Blonde. He was cast in the role of Captain Georg Von Trapp in the 2016 Australian tour of the London Palladium production of The Sound of Music opposite Amy Lehpamer in the role of Maria.
Daddo next participated in the 2018 second season of Filthy Rich and Homeless, an SBS documentary series where high-profile Australians hoping to enact positive change swapped their privileged lives to experience homeless life on the streets of Sydney.
From May to June 2020, Daddo appeared in Home and Away as Evan Slater, the estranged father of Ryder Jackson (played by Lukas Radovich).
In 2022, Daddo co-hosted the fifth season of the travel series Luxury Escapes. The same year, he appeared as a 'wildcard' contestant on the Australian series of Dancing with the Stars, but was eliminated in the first episode, when he failed to impress the judges with his tango, scoring 23 out of 40.
Daddo most recently appeared opposite Rebecca Gibney in Sydney Theatre Company's 2025 production of Circle Mirror Transformation.
Music Daddo is also a musician, having played in the bands 'The Nearly Smooth Guys' (prior to his acting career) and 'Baby James'. His debut album as a solo artist, "A Long Goodbye", featured Keith Urban on back-up vocals and guitars and reached #2 on the Australian country music charts in 1992.
In 2012, Daddo released the album Ten Songs – and Change. He released another album, Songs from the Shed in 2016, featuring a song called “Steve McQueen”, after having stayed at actor McQueen's house in Palm Springs. In 2020, he released the EP Son and Moon, the title track of which was featured in the television series Home and Away, during his tenure on the show.
As of 2021, Daddo was fronting a new band, 'Cam Daddo and the Paisley Prophets', who perform around Sydney.
Daddo has also written a one-man musical, House Devil, Street Angel.
Radio In October 2012, Daddo joined smoothfm as Sunday Mornings host in the 8am to 10am timeslot. In March 2013, Daddo became the host of Mellow Music, airing nightly, from 8pm to midnight, on smoothfm.
In 2022, Daddo collaborated with Nova to launch the podcast series So You Want to Make a TV Show with brother Andrew Daddo, which detailed the creative process behind making scripted television.
Daddo and his wife Alison Brahe have hosted Separate Bathrooms and Other Handy Marriage Tips since 2019, an Acast podcast in which they chat about the journey of their 30-year marriage. As of 2025, the podcast relaunched with Nova Podcasts under the new name of The Heart of It.
Personal life Daddo met model (and frequent Dolly cover girl) Alison Brahe in 1991 and they married the following year, when Daddo was 26. The couple relocated to Los Angeles in 1992, where they lived for 25 years and had three children. Daddo returned to Australia with his family in 2017, as acting work dried up in Hollywood.
Daddo is an advocate for men's mental health, and set up the charity 'My Men's Team', which offers support to men experiencing adversity.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes Ref. 2001 Anthrax Sgt Craig Anderson Feature film 2003 Stealing Candy Eddie Feature film 2004 Pterodactyl Professor Michael Lovecraft Feature film 2005 Confession Father Michael Kelly Feature film Six Months Later John Short film 2006 Big Momma's House 2 Casal Feature film Chloe's Prayer Peter Quinlan Feature film Inland Empire Feature film 2007 Hacia la oscuridad (aka Towards Darkness) Feature film 2008 Forced Attrition Limo driver Short film Drifter Martin Feature film 2009 The Perfect Sleep Rogozhin Feature film Passengers Tom Feature film 2010 Wild Things: Foursome Ted Wheetly Feature film On a Roll Frank Jones Short film 2012 Outback (aka The Koala Kid or Koala Johnny) Additional voices Animated film Mayhem Rodney Fulbright Short film Six Lovers Interviewer Feature film 2013 Sugar Mr Hill Short film Nerve Darren Anderson Feature film 2014 A Fine Step Mason Scott Feature film 2015 Elle Dad Short film Brentwood Strangler Bruce Black Short film 2017 Blackmail Troy Feature film It's Gawd! Chad Feature film 2018 Con Man Bank executive Feature film 2022 How to Please a Woman Adrian Feature film
Television Year Title Role Notes Ref. 1989 The Heroes Joe Jones Miniseries 1990 G.P. Dr Chris Carroll 1 episode Bony David 'Bony' Bonaparte TV movie 1992 Golden Fiddles Norman Balfour Miniseries, 2 episodes Cluedo Roger Plum 1 episode Tracks of Glory Walker Miniseries, 2 episodes Bony Detective David 'Bony' Bonaparte 13 episodes 1993 Between Love and Hate Alec TV movie The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles Jack Anders 1 episode The Making of Nothing Bruce Stoltz TV movie 1994–1995 Models Inc. Brian Petersen 29 episodes 1996 Strangers Alan 1 episode 1996–1998 F/X: The Series Roland 'Rollie' Tyler 39 episodes 1999 Witch Hunt David Overton TV movie 1999–2000 Hope Island Daniel Cooper 22 episodes 2000 Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story Jack Garrison Miniseries, 2 episodes Celebrity Kevin TV movie Mentors Black Bart 1 episode Andromeda Rafe Valentine 1 episode The West Wing Aide #2 1 episode 2001 Earth: Final Conflict Jeff Marlowe 1 episode The Outer Limits Alexander Landau 1 episode Zebra Lounge Alan Barnett TV movie 2002 Drive Time Murders Dick Dashton TV movie Monk Darryl Wright Season 1, episode: "Monk and the Earthquake" 2003 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Hotel manager 1 episode A.U.S.A. Joe 2 episodes Riverworld Samuel L. 'Sam' Clemens TV pilot The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie Jim 2003–2004 She Spies Quentin Cross 20 episodes 2004 Summerland Bryant 1 episode CSI: Miami Stanley Hemming 1 episode 2005 Category 7: The End of the World Ross Duffy 2 episodes 2006 Boston Legal Sean Wilkes 2 episodes 2008 Her Only Child (aka Maternal Obsession) Larry Nowack TV movie Scorched David Langmore TV movie A Kiss at Midnight Josh Sherman TV movie 2009 Without a Trace Richard Connelly 1 episode 24 Vice President Mitchell Hayworth 2 episodes Eleventh Hour Ray Wynne 1 episode The Storm Miniseries, 1 episode 2010 NCIS Dan Mayfield 1 episode Human Target Captain Mike Harmen 1 episode 2011 The Mentalist David Vance 1 episode Leverage John Drexel Season 4, episode: "The Long Way Down Job" Rizzoli & Isles Robert Cranston 1 episode Oliver's Ghost Doug McCaffrey TV movie 2012 Nikita President Charles Grayson 2 episodes Packed to the Rafters Adam Goodman 8 episodes Beaconsfield Matthew Gill TV movie 2014 The Doctor Blake Mysteries Howard McArthur 1 episode NCIS: Los Angeles Charles Anderson 2 episodes 2015 Stitchers Joe Parks 1 episode Romantically Speaking Henry TV movie 2020 Home and Away Evan Slater / Owen Davidson 34 episodes 2024 Last Days of the Space Age Gavin 1 episode
Television – other