Cleaver greene biography of rory

When Rake first hit our screens in 2010, it signalled a shift in Australian television.

Kate box children

Based loosely on the life of barrister Charles Waterstreet (now a Sydney Morning Herald columnist), Rake’s lead character Cleaver Greene (Richard Roxburgh) is an unscrupulous, misanthropic but undeniably endearing scoundrel – one Australian television needs and deserves.

While critic David Dale noted in the Sydney Morning Herald that the show isn’t always a ratings winner (not that surprising, given our collective love affair with reality TV), it consistently presents a smart take on Australian cultural life.

Commentary on Rake from the likes of Lauren Carrol Harris, Karl Quinn, and Debi Enker suggests that the show has gradually nudged its way into Australian pop culture.

The show routinely parodies Australian law and politics, as well as Australian media. In an episode right before last week’s federal election, Cleaver announced he was running against his sister for the Senate, with a campai