Dean Stanley Geyer (born 20 March 1986) is a South African Australian singer-songwriter, actor and martial artist who finished third in the 2006 season of the talent show television series Australian Idol, and has had a notable role in the Australian soap opera Neighbours as Ty Harper. He joined the cast of the US show Glee in the 4th season as NYADA Junior Brody Weston and appeared in Terra Nova as Mark Reynolds.

Early life Geyer was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, as the oldest of three children. His father, Keith Geyer, is a sensei in JKA Karate who appeared in two South African films, Kill or Be Killed and Kill and Kill Again. He has two younger sisters, Jess Geyer (now Jess Burns) and Tatum Geyer (now Tatum Prins), who share his interest in martial arts. Geyer's interest in music started early in his childhood. He learned to play the guitar, and wrote his first song entitled "Change" which was based on his move from South Africa to Australia. During his schooling life in Melbourne, Australia, he attended Melbourne High School – a selective-entry, all boys' school in South Yarra, Victoria. At his Australian Idol audition, he played a self-composed song called "Nice to Meet You".

In 2004, Geyer formed a band called "Third Edge" and recorded his original music at Studio 52. Studio 52 then permitted Geyer and his band to perform at the Kool Skools awards night, but they only received a nomination.

Dean is a Christian and has been open about this calling in his life especially during his Australian Idol days.

Career Geyer auditioned for the fourth series of Australian Idol in his Australian hometown of Melbourne. After singing Marc Cohn's "Walking In Memphis", Geyer played a self-composed piece called "Nice to Meet You". This song was praised by the three judges, who unanimously voted to send him through to the Top 100.

Geyer survived the culling rounds in Sydney, where the Top 100 are reduced to the Top 24. He sang "I Don't Wanna Be" by Gavin DeGraw for his elimination performance, and later performed the U2 smash hit "Beautiful Day" with Chris Murphy. They became close friends and impressed the judges with their voices and their camaraderie. Geyer was the first contestant who was accepted by Idol into the top 100. On 28 May, Geyer was the second contestant voted into the top 12.

Geyer's performance of Ryan Cabrera's "On the Way Down" on 15 October received a "touchdown" from judge Mark Holden. His Disco performance in the Final 8 of "Turn the Beat Around" included a front handspring by Geyer off the side of the stage and a backflip at the end of his performance. In the weeks leading up to the final of Australian Idol 2006, Geyer was selected by both Mark Holden and former Idol judge Ian Dickson as their favourites for winning the competition.

On 12 November, Geyer received a second Touchdown from Mark Holden after his performance of Edwin McCain's "I'll Be". Although Geyer was one of the most popular characters in the behind-the-scenes interviews on Idol Backstage, he was eliminated from the show on 13 November after receiving the lowest number of votes from home viewers losing out to runner-up Jessica Mauboy and eventual winner, Damien Leith.

2006–09: Rush and Neighbours Within weeks of the Australian Idol fourth-season finale Geyer signed a multiple album recording-contract with Sony BMG Australia. Geyer worked with Grammy Award nominated Music Producer Greg Wells and co-wrote eight of the thirteen tracks on his debut album. In March 2007 Geyer performed at the Celebrity Grand Prix in Melbourne in which the singles was unreleased at the time. In April that same year Geyer released his debut single If You Don't Mean It which peaked on the ARIA Charts at No. 10.Sony BMG News "If You Don't Mean It" Retrieved on 9 April 2007 The album, recorded in early February, was released on 26 May 2007– Australia – CD Releases . On 26 May 2007 Geyer released his long-anticipated debut album Rush which debuted and peaked at No. 7 on the ARIA Charts and received mixed reviews from critics. Despite a successful first week the album quickly dropped out of the charts due to little promotion and no planned second single. Geyer was to support Young Divas on their nationwide Australian tour but dropped out to instead promote Rush in several in-store appearances and signings. Later that year Geyer supported ARIA Award-Winning Duo The Veronicas on their Hook Me Up Australian Tour. In March 2008 Geyer portrayed the role of then fiancée Lisa Origliasso in the duo's music video This Love. That same year Sony BMG dropped Geyer due to the under-performance of Rush.

In November 2007, Jonathon Moran from The Daily Telegraph reported Geyer had joined the cast of long-running soap opera Neighbours. Geyer portrayed the role of Ty Harper an aspiring musician who had dropped out of law-school and moved to Erinsborough. Geyer worked with Neighbours drama coach Mike Bishop for four months to help prepare himself for the role and he took vocal lessons to work with his South African accent. On 27 March 2008, Geyer made his on-screen debut to mixed reviews from critics. Geyer notably performed a duet with co-star Caitlin Stasey titled "Unforgettable", which peaked at No. 40 on the ARIA Downloads Chart. In November 2008 after eight-months on Neighbours Geyer announced he was leaving the series to revamp his music career. The following month Geyer filmed his final scenes which aired in April 2009.

2010–present: International career and acting roles In October 2010, it was announced Geyer would make his film debut in Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown the sequel to the 2008 film Never Back Down. Geyer portrays the role of Mike Stokes a former high school wrestler who competes in MMA. Filming began in September 2010 in Louisiana on a budget of $3 million. The film was shot over the course of four weeks with the rehearsals commencing over two weeks. In April 2011, the film premiered the ActionFest film festival. The film was released Straight-to-DVD in September that same year to mixed reviews from critics. In July 2011, Geyer made his American television debut on the VH1 Drama television series Single Ladies. In 2012, Geyer maintained a major-recurring role on the Fox Network Steven Spielberg produced science fiction drama television series Terra Nova.

In July 2012, Geyer was announced to have been cast in a recurring role in the fourth season of the Fox musical comedy drama television series Glee. Geyer portrayed the role of Brody Weston an upperclassman who becomes involved with the series protagonist Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) who both attend NYADA. Geyer made his first appearance on Glee in the series premiere episode "The New Rachel" which aired on 13 September 2012 to over 7.41 million viewers.

In 2015, Geyer played Daniel in the Georgian film, Landmine Goes Click, opposite Sterling Knight and Spencer Locke. He will also star in the films, Rehearsal, with Bruce Greenwood, Don't Wake Mommy and The Sand, all of which were released in 2015. Geyer was also in production for the TV crime-drama, Shades of Blue, starring Jennifer Lopez. He appeared in 3 episodes.

In 2020, Geyer began releasing new music again, for the first time in over a decade.

In 2023, Geyer was cast in the Zoey 101 reboot, Zoey 102. The film released on July 27, 2023 on Paramount+.

Personal life In 2007, Geyer began a relationship with Lisa Origliasso of Australian duo The Veronicas whom he met at the 2007 ARIA Awards. In April 2008, Origliasso publicly announced that she and Geyer were engaged. However, the engagement was later called off due to work commitments.

In 2010, he began dating American actress Jillian Murray. They announced their engagement on 18 December 2016. They were married on 14 September 2017. On April 2026, the couple were expecting their first child together, and on July 4, they welcomed a boy.

Discography Albums Rush (2007)

Singles Year Title Peak chart positions Album AUS"Dean Geyer chart peaks". Australian-charts. Retrieved 11 June 2007. 2007 "If You Don't Mean It" 10 Rush 2008 "Unforgettable" — rowspan="4" 2020 "The Pretender" — "Living Skeleton" — "Runaway" —

Notes

Filmography +Film Year Title Role Notes 2011 Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown Mike Stokes Film debut 2015 Landmine Goes Click Daniel 2015 The Sand Jonah 2015 Don't Wake Mommy Brad 2016 Rehearsal Blaise Remington 2017 Once Upon A Date Josh Dunbrook TV movie 2020 A Ring for Christmas Gabe Hudson 2023 Zoey 102 Todd +Television Year Title Role Notes 2006 Australian Idol Contestant (Himself) Season 4; 3rd place 2007 Saturday Disney Himself Episodes: "Environmental Superheroes", "Keep Australia Beautiful" 2008–2009 Neighbours Ty Harper Main cast; 120 episodes 2011 Single Ladies Gabe Episode: "Everything Ain't What It Seems" 2011 Terra Nova Mark Reynolds Recurring; 12 episodes 2012–2013 Glee Brody Weston Recurring role (season 4); 14 episodes 2015 Casual James Episodes: "Friends", "Animals", "..." 2016 Shades of Blue Nick Davis Episode: "Pilot" 2016 I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! Contestant (Himself) Season 2, placed 9th/12 2021 Christmas in the Pines Mark Television film2026 9-1-1 (TV series) Zane Williams Episode: “Secrets”

Awards Year Result Award Category Nominated work 2004 TREV Awards (Tertiary Recreation Entertainment Victoria) Best Acoustic Act James Dean (Dean Geyer's Band) 2009 Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards Fave Hottie 2009 Logie Awards of 2009 Most Popular New Male Talent Neighbours

Countdown Year Countdown Position 2006 TV Guide Australia's "Hottest Guys on Television" No. 2 2006 POPrepublic.tvm "Male Hottie of 2006" No. 2

Musical influences He has stated that his two music idols are Bon Jovi and Marc Cohn.

Bibliography Contributor

References

External links

DeanGeyer.com – original site