McMahon was just 2 years old when his father William became prime minister; he was largely raised by a nanny in his early years, and was educated at the elite Sydney Grammar School. After a brief spell at university McMahon embarked on a modelling career.
He made his acting debut in 1989 in short-lived soap The Power, The Passion, before joining the cast of the far more successful Home And Away. McMahon then set off to make his name in the US, struggling for some years to gain regular work.
In 1993 another soap opera, Another World, came to his rescue: a year later he married Home And Away co-star Dannii Minogue, the first of his three marriages. Their relationship was strained by McMahon’s career starting to take off.
He secured main roles in successful TV series Profiler and Charmed before landing his career-defining role as playboy plastic surgeon Dr Christian Troy in Nip/Tuck. The show, which was the most successful cable TV show in the US at the time, made McMahon a star and reportedly a contender to become the next James Bond. He appeared in Runaways and FBI and its spinoffs, as well as moving into film. McMahon was best known as Marvel Comics villain Doctor Doom in two Fantastic Four films (2005) and also played opposite Sandra Bullock in Premonition and alongside Bruce Willis, in RED. McMahon died from cancer on July 2 aged 56. — Allied Media/agencies
