Mark Gottlieb

Mark Gottlieb
Neighbours character
Portrayed by	Bruce Samazan
Introduced by	Alan Coleman
Duration	1993–95
First appearance	13 August 1993
Last appearance	29 November 1995
Classification	Former, regular
Profile
Date of birth	6 September
Home	Sydney
Occupation	Chef Coffee Shop Manager
Family Father Dave Gottlieb Mother Sally Dawes Brothers Stephen Gottlieb Sisters Serendipity Gottlieb Other relatives Phoebe Gottlieb Hope Gottlieb

Mark Gottlieb (né Cosmic Gottlieb) is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Bruce Samazan. He made his first on-screen appearance on 13 August 1993 and he departed on 29 November 1995.

Casting

Samazan joined the cast of Neighbours in 1993 after three and a half years playing Police Constable Max Simmonds on E Street. In an interview with TV Soap, Samazan explained that his role on Neighbours was a great opportunity to play a "tough guy" rather than a pushover as his previous role had been. He said "After three-and-a-half years Max was starting to, er, well, not get boring, but, well, there were going to have to be some drastic changes to keep him interesting!."^[1]

Characterisation

Samazan described Mark as a a "bit of a pain" and went on to say "Mark's what you'd call the flirty-tirty type...I understand there are a few love triangles happening at Ramsay Street and Mark comes in and rocks the boat."^[1]

Storylines

Backstory

Born to Dave Gottlieb and Sally Dawes in their hippy commune, Mark, who was christened "Cosmic", was one of three children. As Mark grew, he followed in the footsteps of his brother Stephen (Lochie Daddo) and rejected their parents' ways. One night at a party Mark spiked Stephen's drink, leaving him unable to drive his fiance Libby home. Mark was also too drunk to drive and Libby had no choice but to take a cab which crashed, killing her instantly. Stephen blamed Mark for the accident and relations were frosty between the brothers. Mark fled to France to train as a chef and began working in many top hotels around the world.

1993–95

Mark arrives in Erinsborough and immediately takes a job at Lassister's Hotel posing as a french chef. Annalise Hartman (Kimberley Davies) soon uncovers the ruse and Mark asks her to keep quiet. It soon emerges that Mark is there to find Stephen to reconcile their differences. When Mark visits Stephen at his home in Ramsay Street, he is shocked to find him in a wheelchair following the explosion of the local pub The Waterhole. Stephen suffers a relapse triggered by Mark's arrival. Mark wants to make amends, but Stephen's wife, Phoebe (Simone Robertson) and friend Wayne Duncan (Jonathon Sammy-Lee) want him to stay away from Stephen, Mark is undeterred and eventually makes a breakthrough and Stephen forgives him. After Stephen and Phoebe leave the area to manage a record store in Ansons Corner, Mark moves into the house with Beth Brennan (Natalie Imbruglia).

Mark later finds himself the object centre of attraction to local women including Annalise, Gaby Willis (Rachel Blakely) and Lucy Robinson (Melissa Bell). In the end Mark decides that it is Annalise he wants and proceeds to woo her with grand gestures. Mark and Annalise soon become a couple and their relationship is fraught with many arguments. Soon Mark receives a letter from his mother who is dying of cancer and he finds this hard to take as he has not seen her or his father in a number of years. Mark visits the commune and clashes with his father, but soon relents and makes his peace with Sally on her deathbed. Annalise also attends and things between her and Mark are strengthened.

Mark later proposes to Annalise and she accepts, but on the day of the wedding, he jilts her and decides he wants to become a priest. This decision hurts Annalise and soon Mark begins alienating his friends when he becomes serious about his new life path and becomes sanctimonious. Things comes to a head when Mark slips and falls while cleaning Lou Carpenter's (Tom Oliver) gutters. Mark is left comatose for several weeks, but eventually regains consciousness, much to the relief of his sister, Serendipity (Raelee Hill) who has been by his bedside. After a brief memory loss, Mark begins having flashbacks to his pious behaviour prior to the fall and realises he had become an unlikeable person. Shortly after being released from hospital, Mark begins seeing Annalise's half-sister Joanna (Emma Harrison), but he ends things with her as he feels things are too weird as he was engaged to Annalise the previous year.

After realising being a chef is what he wants to do with his life, Mark is offered a job on hit television show Healthy, Wealthy and Wise based in Sydney. After encouragement from housemate Cody Willis (Peta Brady), Mark has one final breakfast at Number 30 and leaves for Sydney.

Reception

In 2009, website Hecklerspray created a list of the memorable Neighbours characters from 1994 to 1996.^[2] Mark was placed fifth in the list and they said "Joined the soap pretending to be a French chef to get a job at the coffee shop, Marcel Amadeu 'a votre service'. Mark had a religious conversion after nearly been killed by a kitchen knife accident, and in the end jilted strumpet Annalise to become a priest. He also changed the name of the café to The Holy Roll".^[2] During a feature on Neighbours actors turned pop stars the Daily Record did not remember the character, saying "Bruce played Mark Gottlieb – no, we didn't immediately remember him either".^[3]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Abraham, Terri (August 1993). "Brucie's Back". TV Soap (nextmedia). 
2. ^ ^{a b} "The Best Ever Mid-90s Neighbours Characters". Hecklerspray. 15 April 2009. http://www.hecklerspray.com/the-best-ever-mid-90s-neighbours-characters/200932420.php. Retrieved 12 July 2010. 
3. ^ Hepburn, Iain (2 July 2009). "Six of the best: Neighbours stars turned pop stars". Daily Record (Trinity Mirror). http://blogs.dailyrecord.co.uk/webeditor/2009/07/six-of-the-best-neighbours-sta.html. Retrieved 12 July 2010.