Obituary: Harold Hopkins

Australian acting veteran Harold Hopkins has died in a Sydney hospital from the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma.

The 67-year-old actor was diagnosed several months ago and is believed to have contracted the cancer from his first job after finishing high school, where he worked with asbestos sheeting as an apprentice carpenter in Queensland in the early 1960s.

Hopkins’ acting career began in the late 1960s on the Seven Network’s daytime drama Motel (a series that also starred a young Jack Thompson). 

Early TV roles also included Skippy The Bush Kangaroo, Riptide, Delta and Barrier Reef.  He had an ongoing role in the comedy-drama The Godfathers and its spin-off series The People Next Door.

Other TV credits included Certain Women, Silent Number, Matlock Police, Homicide, Division 4, Rush, The Lost Islands and the lead male role in the 1979 series Twenty Good Years (pictured with co-star Anne Pendlebury).

He went on to appear in mini-series including Sara Dane, The Dirtwater Dynasty, True Believers, The Last Bastion, Winners, Shadows Of The Heart and Brides Of Christ.

More recent appearances have included Grass Roots, State Coroner, Blue Heelers, White Collar Blue, The Secret Life Of Us, Wildside, The Strip, All Saints and Underbelly: A Tale Of Two Cities.

Film credits have included Don’s Party, The Club, The Picture Show Man, Buddies, Monkey Grip and The Year My Voice Broke.

Harold Hopkins is survived by his twin brother, John, and five other siblings, Naomi, Michael, Gregory, Margaret and Suzanne.

Source: News.com.au, IMDB, The Age, ABC, TV Eye

Ray Barrett

Veteran Australian film and television actor Ray Barrett has died in a Queensland hospital after suffering a brain haemorrhage.  He was 82.

Starting his career in Brisbane radio at 16, Barrett moved to Sydney in his early 20s and then took his career abroad.  A ten-month stint in the early British TV series Emergency Ward 10 led to other roles in series including The Troubleshooters, The Avengers, Doctor Who, Z Cars, The Saint and even as a voice artist on The Thunderbirds and Stingray.

Returning to Australia in the 1970s, Barrett became a familiar face with appearances in films including Don’s Party, The Chant Of Jimmie Blacksmith, Goodbye Paradise, Hotel Sorrento and the 1995 remake of Dad And Dave: On Our Selection.

Television appearances included Golden Soak, The Timeless Land, Sporting Chance, Five Mile Creek, Waterfront, The Flying Doctors, GP, Medivac, All Saints, White Collar Blue and mini-series After The Deluge.

Barrett also had an ongoing role in the ABC drama series Something In The Air.

His last acting credit was in the film Australia.

Source: The Age, IMDB