David Clencie

 ( Living People ) 

In 1983, Clencie appeared in the children's television series Home as Mike the stablehand, and guested in an episode of A Country Practice. He also starred in the short-lived soap opera Starting Out as student Ben McNamara. Clencie branded it the "lowlight" of his career at the time. After Starting Out was cancelled, Clencie left television for a time to appear in various theatre productions, including Michael Gow's The Kid, which he called a highlight of his career. He also worked in the art department of the Network Ten miniseries The Dunera Boys, became involved in music and joined a band. Clencie filmed a role in the Australian feature film Run Chrissie Run! in 1984, but it was not released until 1986.

In 1984, Clencie joined the cast of new soap opera Neighbours as teenager Danny Ramsay. He initially signed on for six months with a six month option. He admitted to being "tentative" about signing up for another long-running series. He also told Patrice Fidgeon of TV Week that he had to give up a role in a Anton Chekhov play when he joined Neighbours. However, he found his character interesting and thought he was "a bit different from all the others." Neighbours premiered on 18 March 1985, and Jacqueline Lee Lewis of The Sydney Morning Herald included Clencie in her list of younger actors "worth keeping an eye on." Neighbours was cancelled by Seven Network in its first year due to low ratings, but it was soon saved by rival network Ten. During the break between filming, Clencie began a relationship with his co-star Vikki Blanche and the couple lived together for six months.

Clencie filmed his final scenes for Neighbours in June 1986. The media speculated that he had been sacked from the role, but Clencie clarified in a TV Week interview that he and the producers had come to a mutual agreement that his character would be rested. He explained that he was offered three different contracts, but it was eventually agreed that he would take a break. Clencie admitted to having had "an unprofessional attitude in the past" and letting down the cast and crew, but he had changed his ways and it did not contribute to his departure. Clencie's workload had dropped from five episodes a week to two, as the show began focussing on other characters. He thought there was a lot of potential for Danny, but accepted that Neighbours had moved in a different direction. Clencie's final scenes aired in July 1986, as his character relocates to another town for work.

After leaving Neighbours, Clencie began a career in real estate. In 1987, he helped to sell his former co-star Stefan Dennis's Elwood house. He also became a voice-over artist for television commercials. Clencie later returned to acting with guest roles in television dramas, including Blue Heelers. In July 2005, he joined several former Neighbours cast members in reprising their roles for an appearance in the show's 20th anniversary episode. Clencie was highly critical of the serial's 2022 then-finale and the producers, accusing them of stealing a storyline idea for his character.