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Once described early in his career as Australia's version of 1950's Hollywood action star Jeff Chandler, sharing his rugged looks and intense performances, Gerard began in theater before moving to television playing memorable villains in Homicide (1964). This led to his breakthrough role as enemy espionage agent Kragg in Hunter (1967), the arch nemesis of the title character played by Tony Ward. The Kragg role proved so popular with audiences that the producers surprisingly had the character change sides to become Hunter's ally. Following Ward's departure from the series, Gerard assumed the lead role, before he was given his own show, playing reliable Detective Frank Banner in Division 4 (1969). This role would last six years and earn him many awards, including two gold Logies as most popular personality on Australian television.

Following his long period playing Banner, Gerard had lead roles in many successful series and mini-series, including Tandarra (1976), Against the Wind (1978), and The Last Outlaw (1980). Much preferring to be part of an ensemble cast rather than as the star, he then took roles in established series, such as the airport manager in Skyways (1979), and later as the dependable Luke Mitchell in The Flying Doctors (1986). Continuing his long acting career in both movies and television, one of Gerard's more recent roles was as a memorable gangland patriarch in the controversial mini series Underbelly (2008). But he will always be identified for his realistic portrayals of idealist agent Kragg, and dedicated cop Frank Banner, roles that made him a reluctant television celebrity, rather than the versatile character actor he had intended to become.

Frank Thring was born on 11 May 1926 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He was an actor, known for Ben-Hur (1959), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) and The Vikings (1958). He was married to Joan Cunliffe. He died on 29 December 1994 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Andy Whitfield was born on 17 October 1971 in Amlwch, Anglesey, Wales, UK. He was an actor, known for Spartacus (2010), Gabriel (2007) and The Clinic (2010). He was married to Vashti Whitfield. He died on 11 September 2011 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

This gorgeous blonde was born Elaine Sterling on May 18, 1928 and raised in St. Louis before beginning her career as a face and hand model for cosmetic ads. She moved briefly to NYC before transporting herself to Hollywood, wherein she earned an MGM contract. She decorated a number of the studio's big musical pictures at that time under her real name, including bits in Easter Parade (1948) and Neptune's Daughter (1949) but found little room for advancement. Leaving MGM, she changed her moniker to Sara Shane and signed a one-year contract with Universal-International, where she was glimpsed in such films as Sign of the Pagan (1954) and Magnificent Obsession (1954). During this time, she married William Hollingsworth. They divorced after eight years of marriage in 1957.

Her parts got bigger on the screen once she left to freelance but the pictures, themselves, were not necessarily of a higher grade. Three Bad Sisters (1956), The King and Four Queens (1956) with Clark Gable, and Affair in Havana (1957), at the very least, put her in the featured role bracket. From there, she moved directly into TV roles and worked throughout much the late 1950s/early 1960s on such programs as Dragnet (1951), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955), The Outer Limits (1963) and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964). Her film career peaked when she was chosen to play the Jane-like role, opposite muscleman Gordon Scott's vine swinger, in Tarzan's Greatest Adventure (1959), one of the better entries in the series.

Never connecting strongly with the whirlwind social circle, she left the Hollywood limelight and retired from show biz in her late 30s. She turned to writing and began to devote herself to the study of pharmaceuticals. She wrote two books, 'Zulma' and 'Take Control of Your Health and Escape the Sickness Industry', the first was a work of fiction and the second was a book promoting healthy living. To escape the pollution of Los Angeles, she moved to Australia where she still lives on her 5 acre home.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre was born on 9 August 1983 in Sacramento, California, USA. She is known for Ghislaine Maxwell: Filthy Rich (2022), Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich (2020) and ITV Lunchtime News (1972). She was married to Robert Giuffre. She died on 25 April 2025 in Neergabby, Western Australia, Australia.

Robert Murray Helpmann was born in Mount Gambier, Australia, as the eldest of three children born to stock and station agent James Murray Helpman and Mary Gardiner.

After the family moved to Adelaide in 1914, Helpmann was educated at Prince Alfred's College, but he soon left school at the age of 14 to focus on dance, specifically ballet. He was taught ballet by Nora Stewart. Helpmann first danced solo at the Theatre Royal in Adelaide in "The Ugly Duckling" in 1922. In 1926, he was trained by Alexis Dolinoff, the leading male dancer for Anna Pavlova, whom Helpmann soon became an apprentice for. The next year, in 1927, he joined J. C. Williamson Ltd. as their star dancer.

Helpmann went on to become the principal dancer at Sadlers Wells Ballet from 1933 to 1950. World renowned as a dancer and choreographer, amongst his other achievements he was the director of the Australian Ballet Company. He directed the world tour of Margot Fonteyn in 1963.

Towards the end of his life, Helpmann was living in Balmoral, a suburb of Mosman, in Sydney, Australia. On September 28, 1986, Helpmann died in the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, at the age of 77, from emphysema, having been a lifelong smoker.

His father was a well-to-do builder. Barry was a highly intelligent boy who attended Melbourne University. There, he began acting in revues and doing impersonations. He moved to London in 1959 and began his professional performing career on the West End and Broadway stages as Mr Sowerby in Oliver!, and in Peter Cook's Establishment nightclub. He has created numerous characters including Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson.

Hugh Keays-Byrne was born in 1947 in Kashmir, India. In 1973, he moved to Australia, where he began an acting career. He is a well respected theater, film and TV actor in Australia. Hugh became noticed after roles in Stone (1974), Mad Dog Morgan (1976) and The Trespassers (1976). He landed his first leading role in TV film The Death Train (1978), and year later he became internationally well-known for his role of Toecutter in highly praised apocalyptic SF film Mad Max (1979).

Hugh has continued to work on TV, usually in smaller parts, and he is known for his performance as Mr. Stubb in the mini-TV series Moby Dick (1998) and TV series "Farscape".

Everyone knows (or should know) Lois Maxwell as the one and only "Miss Moneypenny," but there's much more to her acting career than that. She started out against her parents' will, and without their knowledge, in a Canadian children's radio program, credited as "Robin Wells." Before the age of 15 she left for England with the Canadian army's Entertainment Corps and managed (after her age had been discovered) to get herself enrolled in The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where she met and became friends with Roger Moore. Her movie career started with a Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger production, A Matter of Life and Death (1946). After having won The Most Promising Newcomer Golden Globe Award in 1947, she went to Hollywood and made six films before she decided to try her luck in Italy. She had to leave Italy to go to England when her husband became ill, and since then she has had roles in a number of movies besides the first 14 Bond movies. In 1989 she retired.

A powerful screen presence, Richard Norton wins the applause of international audiences with his engaging ability to play either the hero or the heavy. Rare versatility and focused work ethic have enabled him to build an expanding library of almost 100 film and television titles. The disciplines that brought Norton success originated in his hometown of Croydon, Australia, and his early fascination with martial arts. By age 17 he was a karate black belt working security for nightclubs and serving as chief instructor to 500 karate schools nationwide. He landed a job as bodyguard to The Rolling Stones during the band's Australian tour and experienced his first brush with the demands of global celebrity. Norton trained with Mick Jagger in 4:00 a.m. workouts after concerts. His competency attracted a dazzling roster of other rock star clientèle including James Taylor, ABBA, Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie and Linda Ronstadt, who invited him to California as her bodyguard. Before Aussies invaded Hollywood in posses, Norton ventured there alone. A friendship with Chuck Norris brought him work in motion pictures. Norris cast Norton as the lethal Kyo, a masked ninja, in The Octagon (1980), and their grueling final combat endures as a classic cinematic fight scene. Director Robert Clouse chose Norton to be one of the ensemble heroes in Force: Five (1981), an international hit, and the young martial artist's career in movies took off. His reputation for stellar performances emerged largely from high-energy Hong Kong films directed by Sammo Kam-Bo Hung and starring Jackie Chan in the mid-'80s. Muscular charisma made Norton the perfect Anglo bad boy for Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars (1985) and Millionaires' Express (1986). Taking the hits of his screen adversaries in those films earned Norton more Hong Kong work and, notably, Chan's abiding respect. Richard calls Jackie "the maestro of martial arts movies." Jackie has returned the compliment by recruiting Norton as one of just two Western actors to perform in several of his Hong Kong-based productions, including the comedic cult favorite Madam City Hunter (1993) and the darker Mr. Nice Guy (1997), directed by Hung. Hung encouraged Norton to play the "Guy" nemesis, a well-heeled gangster, with eccentric edginess. Norton embraced the direction and delivered one of the best co-starring performances in all of Chan's films. The success of Norton's Hong Kong work made him an established star in action films and a frequent cover subject for global martial arts and movie magazines. His collaborations with Cynthia Rothrock catapulted them to a level of fame that inspired a British magazine to deem them the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers of martial arts movies. The recurring partners produced two Rage and Honor (1992) movies, besides co-starring in China O'Brien (1990) and Lady Dragon (1992), among other titles. They reunited for Redemption (2002) with 'Don 'The Dragon' Wilson'. Norton nurtured his leading man status in crime dramas, MIA pictures and futuristic adventures that often featured his real-life training partners in supporting roles, such as Chuck Jeffreys in Rage (1993) and Benny Urquidez in The Fighter (1989). With standout performances in The Sword of Bushido (1990) and Under the Gun (1995), Norton displayed his attraction to heroes with dimensions, even flaws, that force them into action. His style of action incorporates the humor essential to humanizing a hero. It is the dark comedy in Mind Games (2003), directed by Adrian Carr, that enables Norton to triumph in another well-textured role as a suspicious Texan, demonstrating that he takes risks as an actor who ventures beyond action genres. Norton's credits behind the camera have become as diverse as his screen roles. Apart from acting and producing, he is a sought-after stunt/fight coordinator, choreographing action in films such as Nomad: The Warrior (2005), produced by Milos Forman, and Devil's Pond (2003), with Tara Reid and Kip Pardue. Despite a busy career, he continues to achieve black belts in the martial arts, always a motivating force for Norton's accomplishments

The future movie bad man was born in Drummoyne, a suburb of Sydney, Australia, and got his career start as an interviewer on the government's radio station. Pate also worked on the Australian stage and in Down Under movies before relocating to the U.S. in the early 1950s to appear in Universal's "Thunder on the Hill, " the film version of a Charlotte Hastings play ("Bonaventure") in which he had appeared. Pate acted in many American films and TV series, then returned to Australia in the late '60s and worked (again) in that country's film industry; he co-starred in his own Aussie TV series, "Matlock Police". Pate also began working behind the camera; one of his best-known writing-producing-directing credits is "Tim", the story of the relationship between an older woman (Piper Laurie) and a mentally challenged young man (Mel Gibson).

Diane Cilento was an Australian actress from Queensland. She had partial Italian descent. She was once nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. For a theatrical role as Helen of Troy, Cilento was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play.

In 1932, Cilento was born in Brisbane, Queensland's state capital, to a relatively affluent family. Her maternal grandfather was the prominent merchant Charles Thomas McGlew (1870-1931), founder of the Liberty Motor Oil Company. Cliento's father was the medical practitioner Raphael "Ray" Cilento (1893-1985). He became famous as the director of the Australian Institute of Tropical Medicine, the director of the Commonwealth Government's Division of Tropical Hygiene, the Director-General of Health and Medical Services, the president of the Queensland's Medical Board, a high-ranking member of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, the Director for Refugees and Displaced Persons, and director of disaster relief in Palestine. Raphael spend much of his career combating malaria and other tropical diseases.

Cilento's mother was the medical practitioner and medical journalist Phyllis Cilento (née McGlew, 1894 - 1987). Phylis became famous for advocating family planning, contraception, and the legalization of abortion in Australia. She wrote many books on health matters. Her medical research involved the use of Vitamin E in therapy, and as a method for preventing blood clots.

Cilento was the fifth of six children born to her famous parents. Four or her siblings followed their parents' footsteps as medical practitioners. Cilento's most famous sibling was the professional painter and print-maker Margaret Cilento (1923-2006). Margaret's works are preserved in both the National Gallery of Victoria and the National Gallery of Australia.

Cilento was expelled from school while living in Australia. She then studied abroad, spending part of her school years in the U.S. state of New York. She decided to follow an acting career and won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), located in London. She settled in England during the early 1950s.

Following her graduation from RADA, Cilento started a career as a theatrical actress. She was eventually offered a five-year contract by the British film producer Alexander Korda (1893-1956), and took the offer. She started out with several small roles in film. Her first leading role was playing British governess Ruth Elton in the romantic drama "Passage Home" (1955). In the film, Elton rejects a marriage proposal from Captain Lucky Ryland (played by Peter Finch), who she barely knows. Ryland then tries to rape her. She eventually marries another man, but she is secretly in love with her would-be rapist.

During the late 1950s, Cilento found steady work in British films. She played the only woman in a love triangle in the circus-themed "The Woman for Joe" (1955). She played the between maid in the castaway-themed "The Admirable Crichton" (1957), an adaptation of a play by J. M. Barrie (1860-1937). She played a free-thinker in the romantic comedy "The Truth About Women" (1957),concerning the memories of an old man. She also had a role in the aviation disaster film "Jet Storm" (1959), in which a man has placed a bomb on a passenger airplane.

In the early 1960s, Cilento continued to have notable roles. She played the female lead Denise Colby in the psychological thriller "The Full Treatment" (1960). In the film Denise's husband struggles with mood swings and the dark impulse to kill his wife, which makes him fear for his sanity. The film was one of the murder-themed films produced by Hammer Film Productions.

Cilento played the supporting role of a murder suspect's wife in the thriller film "The Naked Edge" (1961). The film is mainly remembered as the last film role for protagonist Gary Cooper (1901-1961), who died of prostate cancer following the film's completion. Cilento played the murder victim Liane Dane in the crime film "I Thank a Fool" (1962), where a female doctor is suspected of killing her own patient.

Cilento played the most acclaimed role of her career as Molly Seagrim in the comedy film "Tom Jones" (1963), the title character's first love. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, but the award was instead won by rival actress Margaret Rutherford (1892 - 1972).

Cilento next played one of the murder suspects in the crime film "The Third Secret" (1964). In the film a well-known psychoanalyst is found murdered within his own residence, and a number of his patients are suspected of killing him. The main plot twist is that the victim was killed by someone much closer to him than his patients.

Cilento also played the prostitute Cyrenne in the comedy-drama film "Rattle of a Simple Man" (1964). The film concerns the efforts of 39-year-old virgin man to finally have sex. She next played the Italian noblewoman Contessina Antonia Romola de' Medici in the historical film "The Agony and the Ecstasy" (1965), a fictionalized version of the life of the artist Michelangelo (1475-1564). The film was critically acclaimed and nominated for awards, but under-performed at the box office. The struggling studio 20th Century Fox reportedly lost over 5 million dollars due to this box office flop.

Cilento had the supporting role of the caretaker Jessie in the revisionist Western film "Hombre" (1967). The film depicted the relations between the Apache and the white men in 19th-century Arizona. The film earned 12 million dollars in the worldwide box office, one of the greatest hits in its year for release.

Cilento's last film role in the 1960s was the photographer Reingard in the film "Negatives" (1968). The film concerned a couple who liked to role-play as part of their erotic fantasies, however they chose to play the role of famous murderer Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen (1862-1910) and his lover. This film is remembered as the directorial debut of Hungarian expatriate Peter Medak (1937-), who later had a lengthy career.

Cilento gained her first regular television role when cast as Lady Sarah Bellasize in the prison-themed television series "Rogues' Gallery" (1968-1969). It depicted life in the famous Newgate Prison (1188 -1902) of London during the 18th century. The series lasted 2 seasons and a total of 10 episodes.

Following a hiatus in her film career, Cilento returned in the dystopian science fiction film "Z.P.G." ( "Zero Population Growth", 1972). The film depicted a future Earth suffering from overpopulation and environmental destruction. The world's government has decreed than no new child must be born over the next 30 years, but a couple decide to illegally procreate. Cilento played the supporting role of Edna Borden. Borden offers to help conceal the new baby from the world, while she actually wants to keep it for herself. The film's was well received in its time, and lead actress Geraldine Chaplin (1944-) won an award for this role.

Cilento played the role of the famous German test pilot Hanna Reitsch (1912-1979) in the historical film "Hitler: The Last Ten Days". (1973) The film depicted the last few days in the life of Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), based on the eye-witness account of Gerhard Boldt (1918 - 1981). The authenticity of the source book has since been questioned.

Cilento had a supporting role in the classic horror film "The Wicker Man" (1973), concerning a neo-pagan cult which practices Celtic paganism. The film was based on a novel by David Pinner (1940-). The film won the 1978 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film, and has often been listed among the best British films. It was one of the most acclaimed films of Cilento's career.

The lesser known film "The Tiger Lily" (1975) included Cilento's last film role in the 1970s. She gained another regular role in the television series "Tycoon" (1978), which only lasted a single season and a total of 13 episodes.

Her film career was in decline during the 1980s, and Cilento chose to return to her native Queensland. She settled in the small town of Mossman, named after the Mossman River which flows though it. She built the outdoor theater Karnak in the local rain-forest, which she operated for the rest of her life. She used the theater as a venue for experimental drama.

In 2001, Cilento was awarded with Australian's Centenary Medal for her services to theater. In 2007, Cilento published her autobiography "My Nine Lives". In her last years she was suffering from cancer. In 2011, she died due to this disease while hospitalized in the Cairns Base Hospital. The hospital was the largest major hospital in Far North Queensland. Cilento was 79-years-old at the time of her death.

Cilento was survived by her daughter Giovanna Volpe and her son Jason Connery (1963-), her only heirs. A collection of items from her personal estate was donated by her heirs to the Queensland University of Technology. The collection reportedly included "hundreds of books, memorabilia, posters, furniture". Also included were original scripts which Cilento had inherited from her last husband, the playwright Anthony Shaffer. Original scripts by both Cilento and Shaffer have been digitized, and made available to scholars through the University's digital collections.

David Gulpilil is a legendary Yolngu actor, a First Nations person of Northern Australia, born around 1953. The local missionaries gave him his birthdate of July 1, 1953, just as they gave him his Christian name David, although he admits he liked that name from the start. His last name, Gulpilil, was a totem, the kingfisher. He'd never seen a white person until he was 8 when he visited the mission school, but he never really allowed them to teach him anything.

In 1969, the British film director Nicolas Roeg, scouting locations in the Outback, appeared at a mission in the north and asked if anyone knew a boy who can throw a spear, who can hunt, and who can dance, and everyone pointed at David.

David's easy smile made him a natural, and it quickly became obvious that he was unlike anyone the white man had met in the outback. He was not reserved or suspicious of strangers, and carried song on his lips and rhythm in his legs. David Gulpilil was fearless.

Looking back over his career, he tells us in the documentary, My Name is Gulpilil (2021), filmed while dying of terminal lung cancer, that he never acted, that acting wasn't something he had to do because it was natural. "I know how to walk across the land in front of a camera, because I belong there," Standing on stage, before a camera, or before the Queen of England, David felt comfortable in his own skin whether it was barely dressed in a loin cloth, or stuffed into the white man's dinner jacket.

Roeg quickly cast the charismatic Gulpilil in Walkabout (1971), a film based upon Donald G Payne's 1959 novel about a boy who cheerfully leads children to safety. Without really knowing it, Roeg broke new ground in Australian cinema, and redefined the way that Indigenous people were represented in Australian cinema. The film was an international success everywhere but in Australia, where First Nation peoples had been previously portrayed only by white people wearing blackface. And to top it off, the film broke cultural barriers, presenting on the wide screen a sexually attractive young Black man.

David Gulpilli was, overnight, hurled in to high society as an instant, international celebrity and presented before Queen Elizabeth, who found him quite charming and humorous. She in turn introduced David to John Lennon and that was just the beginning. Before long he was soon shaking hands with Muhammad Ali, Marlon Brando, Bruce Lee, Jimi Hendrix, and Bob Marley, who would help contribute to David's downfall. David taught Bob Marley to play the didgeridoo. Marley taught David to smoke ganja. But it was while filming Mad Dog Morgan (1976) that he got his crash course in hellraising by Dennis Hopper. Later in his one-man stage show he'd say, "If you're working with people like Dennis Hopper and [John] Meillon, well, you gotta learn all about drinking and drugs."

David enjoyed being in front of the camera, and he well knew the importance of his work because it was history and it would "remember to generation to generation," shining a spotlight on his people who had been murdered, exploited, and corralled into camps. The collective history of his people meant everything to him and these films, he claimed, "Won't rub it out."

He was a dancer, a singer, an artist, and a story teller, and fell lovingly into the role of ambassador of his culture to the white man's world, which ironically would eventually divorce him from his culture, as he took to drink and drugs and wound up in trouble with the law, racking up four drink-driving arrests, and one drunken escapade that landed him in jail again, but this time for assaulting his wife. As he admitted in his biopic, "Left side, my country. Right side, white man's world. This one tiptoe in caviar and champagne, this one in the dirt of my Dreamtime."

When he'd been discovered, he spoke no English, though he knew a few dialects of the First People's language, and he was such a quick learner. He began picking up English while just listening during the making of the film, Walkabout, and afterwards as he travelled about the world.

In his one man show, "Gulpilli," he tells the story of trying to use a knife and fork while sitting next to the queen. He cut and cut but couldn't get any meat as he just moved the plate around the table. He gave up and finally picked it up with his hands. Whether true or not, he tells how the Royal Family joined in, eating their meat as he did.

After his sudden fame in Walkabout, David found his way onto Australian television in episodes of Boney (1972), Homicide (1964), Rush (1974), The Timeless Land (1980), and more, and even got a bit part in The Right Stuff (1983).

He was quickly recognized as the most renowned tribal dancer in Australia, and he choreographed the traditional First People's dance in Crocodile Dundee (1986). His love of dance inspired him to organize dancing troupes and musicians that won the Darwin Australia Day Eisteddfod dance competition four times.

His breakthrough role came in the mid-seventies with Storm Boy (1976), one of David's personal favorites, followed up by a lead role in The Last Wave (1977). In fact, his last appearance as an actor was in the remake of Storm Boy (2019), playing the father of Fingerbone Bill, the character he'd played in the original version.

Despite his fame, his earnings were never substantial and he was subjected to racism from agents and film crews. He was often homeless, sleeping in parks. He wound up living in a corrugated iron hut in the community of Raminginig that had no electricity or running water, where he hunted kangaroos, cooking bush meat over an open fire. "I was brought up in a tin shed. I wandered all over the world - Paris, New York - now I'm back in a tin shed," Gulpilil said.

Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002) is the story of Australia's Lost Generations, in which mixed race First Nation children were removed from their families and placed in church-run missions in order to breed the "black" out of them and integrate them into society. Many of the children ran away from these camps and trackers were sent out after them. David Gulpilil played the formidable tracker in Rabbit-Proof Fence, and that led to a leading role in The Tracker (2002), directed by Rolf de Heer. David referred to this role as the best performance in his career. He won best actor at the Australian Film Institute Awards, the Inside Film Awards, and the Film Critics' Circle Awards.

He teamed up with Rolf de Herr a few more times, but their most unique production was the first film scripted entirely in the Yolngu language, called Ten Canoes (2006). Gulpilil narrated the film and it won a Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. It was after this time that David's life took a downhill turn and landed him in prison because of his drinking and assaulting his then partner Miriam Ashley. After his release he went into treatment and got sober.

Clean and sober he went to work again with Rolf de Herr and co-wrote the film Charlie's Country (2013), the true to life story of an ageing man who yearned to return to his cultural roots. Gulpilil gave the performance of his career, winning four best actor awards, including best actor at the Cannes Film Festival. At the Australian Film Critics Association Awards, he shared with Rolf de Heer the best screenplay award.

Released six months before his passing, My Name is Gulpilil (2021) is, as David put it, the story of his story. Though very ill, David gives us insight into his charismatic life and charm as we witness the full spectrum of his talents. We see him dancing, singing, celebrating, and even painting. One of his paintings, "King brown snake with blue tongue lizard at Gulparil waterhole" hangs in The Art Gallery Of South Australia. He spins wool from his hair, something his ancestors handed down that his father taught him. He takes us for a walk through his land, along the rivers, in the shadows of the mountains, and knowing he's dying, he admits he really doesn't yet grasp it, but tells us, "I'm walking like across the desert of the country, a long, long way. Until the time comes . . . for me."

Jon Blake was driving home late on December 1, 1986, after the final day's filming of The Lighthorsemen (1987) when his station wagon, swerving to avoid a car stopped on the wrong side of the road with its lights off, struck another vehicle. He sustained permanent brain damage and existed in a locked-in state until his death.

Blake's mother (as his legal guardian) sued the man whose car was stopped on the wrong side of the road on Blake's behalf. On December 5, 1995, the New South Wales Supreme Court ruled that Blake should be compensated for the loss of potential earnings as a star in the United States. After taking evidence from actors, directors, and film critics who indicated his career could have been as big as Mel Gibson's, the court awarded him $32 million in damages. This was later reduced to $7 million after the defence appealed.

Blake was cared for by his mother Mascot and a team of nurses at his mother's home in Sydney until her death in 2007. Blake's son Dustin then took over as his primary caregiver. They relocated to a house on the New South Wales Central Coast in the months before Blake's death.

Wendy Hughes was an accomplished actress who had won over 13 major awards. She had been called "one of the world's great actresses" with "the beauty and talent to become an international star". Hughes was born in Melbourne and studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art. She has two children, Charlotte (17) and Jay (13).

Bill Hunter was one of Australia's acting legends, having worked with almost every notable Australian director and actor of the last thirty years - evidence of his genuine popularity among the public and acting fraternity alike.

He started out in Australian television in the '60s (a hotbed of well written and directed drama), and rapidly became a favorite of directors during the boom in the Australian movie industry in the '70s. He has often played the strong, opinionated, stereotypically gruff Australian who ultimately betrays a softer heart.

Some of his notable movie roles include the Australian officer Major Barton, who will only ask his troops to do as he would, in Gallipoli (1981), Peter Weir's groundbreaking movie starring the young Mel Gibson; the meddling Barry Fife in Strictly Ballroom (1992), Baz Luhrmann's first international hit; scheming politician and failure as a father and husband Bill Heslop in Muriel's Wedding (1994), P.J. Hogan's first international hit; the lovable country battler in the international megahit The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), starring Terence Stamp, Guy Pearce, and Hugo Weaving.

Steve Irwin was born in 1962 to parents Lyn and Bob Irwin, who were animal naturalists. He shared the love for animals all his life, stemming from being raised at the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park. There, he partook in daily duties of animal feeding and care. He quickly established himself with the Queenland's government on the process of the country's Crocodile Relocation Program, in which the reptiles could be transferred and relocated to proper localties in the most absolute humane, non-tranquilizing manner. He frequently implements the non-tranquilizing factor in his televison show The Crocodile Hunter's Croc Files (1999). Steve married fellow naturalist, Terri Irwin (Baines) in 1992. She joined him in his adventures and efforts in almost every episode of his show. They had one daughter, Bindi Sue Irwin, who was born July 24, 1998. He died in September 2006 following an attack by a stingray, off the Great Barrier Reef.

The British character actor Laurence Naismith was a Merchant Marine seaman before becoming an actor. He made his London stage debut in 1927 in the chorus of the musical "Oh, Boy." Three years later, he joined the Bristol Repertory and remained with them until the outbreak of World War II. After serving nine years in the Royal Artillery (with the final rank of Acting Battery Commander), Naismith returned to the stage and also made his film debut. His seafaring background came in handy in a number of film roles, including the steamboat captain in Mogambo (1953), Dr. Hawkins in Boy on a Dolphin (1957), the captain of the Titanic in A Night to Remember (1958), and the First Sea Lord in Sink the Bismarck! (1960). Naismith also made numerous television appearances, including the recurring roles of Judge Fulton on The Persuaders! (1971) and Father Harris on Oh, Father! (1973).

John Bluthal (born 28 March 1929) is a British film and television actor and voice artist, mostly in comedy. He is best known for his work with Spike Milligan, and for his roles in the TV series Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width and The Vicar of Dibley. He has also worked in the United States and Australia, in numerous productions.

He moved to England in 1959 and appeared in Citizen James for BBC television, and in the long-running UK TV series Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width in which he played Manny Cohen, a Jewish tailor in business with an Irishman in London. Also in the early 1960s, he provided the voice for Commander Zero in the television puppet series Fireball XL5. He appeared in the role of Fagin in the musical Oliver! at New Theatre, London. He has made dozens of film and TV shows since moving to England.

Bluthal also worked with Spike Milligan over several years, appearing with him in a 1958 Australian television special, The Gladys Half-Hour. He appeared as several characters in Milligan and John Antrobus' stage play The Bed-Sitting Room, which opened at the Mermaid Theatre on 31 January 1963. He also worked with Milligan on the television series Q and its radio counterpart The Milligna Show. He previously worked with Milligan in the radio comedy series The Idiot Weekly and The Omar Khayyam Show. Bluthal is a man of many voices, like Milligan's former radio colleague Peter Sellers, and he was used somewhat like Sellers in Milligan's later work.

Some of his other television appearances include: the Sykes and a... episode "Sykes and a Bath", broadcast on 25 January 1961, 'Allo 'Allo!, Hancock, Minder, The Saint (TV series) episode "The Happy Suicide", The Avengers, Rumpole of the Bailey, Jonathan Creek, Lovejoy, Bergerac, and Inspector Morse, as well as appearing as Major Cheeseburger in The Goodies' episode "Clown Virus". He also appeared on the Australian comedy/satire series The Mavis Bramston Show and as "Enzo Pacelli" in the ABC-TV comedy television series Home Sweet Home.

Bluthal also appeared as Leonid Krassin in episodes of the Thames TV series Reilly, Ace of Spies.

In 1975, Bluthal took the part of Richard Armitage, described as "an Orthodox London Jew", in The Melting Pot. This was a sitcom written by Spike Milligan and Neil Shand, which was canceled by the BBC after just one episode had been broadcast. Bluthal also appeared as "Chalky", a hospital patient, in the episode "I Gotta Horse" of the comedy television series Doctor Down Under (the Australian series of the British comedy television series Doctor in the House, which also starred Robin Nedwell as Dr. Duncan Waring and Geoffrey Davies as Dr. Dick Stuart-Clark).

His films appearances include: The Knack ...and How to Get It (1965), three Carry On films, two of the Doctor films, and also The Beatles' films A Hard Day's Night (1964) and Help! (1965), three roles in Casino Royale (1967), and two of the Pink Panther films. Bluthal also played several characters in The Great McGonagall (1974), by Spike Milligan and Joseph McGrath, based on the life of William McGonagall. He portrayed an Egyptologist in the year 1914 for the first part of the film The Fifth Element (1997) and Uncle Karl in Dark City (1998). He also appeared in the comedy Beware of Greeks Bearing Guns (2000).

His work with the National Theatre London included roles in Tales from Hollywood, Entertaining Strangers, Antony and Cleopatra, Yonaadab, The Tempest, Winters Tale, and Cymbeline.

He appeared in an early episode of One Foot In The Grave. His later television appearances have been in the sitcom The Vicar of Dibley as the fastidious minutes-taker Frank Pickle and as the caretaker Rocko in Spirited. He also appeared in the 2004 film Love's Brother and in the 2016 film Hail, Caesar!.

Gary Olsen was born on 3 November 1957 in Westminster, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Outland (1981), Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982) and The Day of the Triffids (1981). He was married to Jane Anthony and Candy Davis. He died on 12 September 2000 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

John Meillon was born on 1 May 1934 in Mosman, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He was an actor and writer, known for Crocodile Dundee II (1988), Crocodile Dundee (1986) and Walkabout (1971). He was married to Bunny Gibson and June Salter. He died on 10 August 1989 in Neutral Bay, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

In the 1950s, Bill Kerr was one of Tony Hancock's regular sidekicks in the popular radio series 'Hancock's Half Hour'. In the first series he was smarter than Tony, but as the series progressed he became more and more stupid and childlike, regularly calling Tony 'Tubb'. Despite remaining on the radio series throughout its six year run, when the TV series began he was not required.

Ronald Falk was born on 23 August 1935 in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. He was an actor and producer, known for Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002), Secret City (2016) and Jack Irish (2016). He died on 27 June 2016 in Australia.

Bryan studied drama at RADA and soon made an impression on TV in the footballing drama "United" and on film working for Hammer studios in "Quatermass And The Pit" and "The Witches". Perhaps his most major film role is the duplicitous Councillor Harris in "The Long Good Friday". Bryan emigrated to Australia in 1983, and continued to act in various film & TV projects, dividing his time between Australia and his native Britain before his death.

Arkie Whiteley was born on 6 November 1964 in London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Road Warrior (1981), The Killing of Angel Street (1981) and A Town Like Alice (1981). She was married to Jim Elliott and Christopher Kuhn. She died on 19 December 2001 in Palm Beach, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.