Dennis was born in Tawonga, Victoria but his family moved to Queensland for 12 years, where he did most of his schooling. He started showing his genuine interest in music and acting at the age of seven and was eleven years old when he started in amateur theatre in Queensland. His debut with this first theatre company was in Oliver!. Also, at this time he and his brother formed a vocal duo and performed on many occasions. They played at weddings, charity events, and some large concerts.
By the age of 14, Dennis was convinced he wanted to go into the entertainment business. He understood the pitfalls associated with choosing the career of an entertainer, so he decided to get a trade behind him to support him through the times when he might be out of work. He left school at 15 and took an apprenticeship as a chef. On completion of his chef's certificate, he moved from the Gold Coast to Melbourne. In the following five years, he worked hard gaining knowledge and experience.
Dennis started out in guest roles on programmes such as Cop Shop, Skyways, Carson's Law, Young Ramsay, Prisoner, Home, The Henderson Kids, The Sullivans, The Young Doctors and many others.[2] Dennis has a number of credits to his name. He had a major role in The Henderson Kids, a co-lead in an ABC children's show called Infinity Limited, and he co-starred in The Flying Doctors mini-series. In 1984, he auditioned for the roles of Shane Ramsay and Des Clarke in a new soap opera, Neighbours where he was later cast as Paul Robinson instead.[3][4] Through the role in Neighbours came opportunities like appearing at the Royal Variety Performance along with other cast members.
In 1989, Dennis started a side-line music career, and released the single "Don't It Make You Feel Good", which reached No. 16 in the UK Singles Chart,[12] in May of that year. He released a second single, "This Love Affair", which reached No. 67 in the UK in October 1989 Credited for playing Shayne Berkley in Prisoner episode 76 and Peter Richards in episodes 227-234.
Dennis also played lawyer Michael Armstrong in Wentworth.
In 2022 Dennis would wrap up his long running role as Paul after it was announced that Neighbours was ending. It was revealed in November of 2022, that Dennis alongside co-stars Jackie Woodburne, Alan Fletcher and Ryan Moloney they would reprise their iconic roles in a massive production deal between Fremantle and Amazon.
Trivia[]
- Dennis is one of thirteen actors who appeared in both Prisoner and Wentworth. The other twelve are Alex Menglet, Andrea Swifte, Anne Charleston, Debra Lawrence, Gloria Ajenstat, Maria Mercedes, Neil Melville, Peter O'Brien, Shane Connors, Sigrid Thornton, Steve Bastoni and Tina Bursill.
- Stefan is more known for playing his current long standing role as Paul Robinson on Neighbours a role he has been playing on and off for 35 years. He once left the show for 11 years while he was trying to find other work, he returned to the show in the early 2000s and claimed he would never leave the show again.