Harold Hopkins (actor)

Harold Douglas Hopkins (6 March 1944 – 11 December 2011) was an Australian film and television actor.

Harold Hopkins
Born	Harold Douglas Hopkins 6 March 1944 Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
Died	11 December 2011 (aged 67) Wahroonga, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1967–2010

Early life

Hopkins was born in 1944 in Toowoomba, Queensland.[1] He attended Toowoomba Grammar School as a day boy in 1958 and 1959. During the 1960s, he worked as an apprentice carpenter, and was exposed to asbestos fibres without protective masks or clothing.[2] He and his twin brother John enrolled at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney, with Harold graduating in 1967.[3]

Harold Hopkins married twice. His second marriage was to Sue Collie, an actress he met in Melbourne in 1977, while starring in the original stage production of David Williamson's The Club at the MTC.

Career

Hopkins appeared in 16 films over the course of his career, including classic Australian films Don's Party, The Picture Show Man and Gallipoli. He was nominated for an Australian Film Institute Award in 1981 for his supporting role in The Club. Hopkins also appeared in more than 160 episodes of Australian television series such as Barrier Reef, Homicide, The Godfathers, Twenty Good Years, Sara Dane, A Nice Little Earner and Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities.[4] He also had a major co-starring role opposite Jeanie Drynan in the 1969 ABC drama "Pastures of the Blue Crane".

Hopkins' last audition was for a role in Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, although he knew he would not live to play the role.

He won a Penguin Award in 1974 for his portrayal of Percy Deane in John Power's docudrama Billy and Percy.

Death

In 2011, Hopkins was diagnosed with mesothelioma, believed to be due to his asbestos exposure in the 1960s. He died in a Sydney hospice in Wahroonga on 11 December 2011.[2]

Filmography

Film

• You Can't See 'round Corners (1969) – Soldier at dance (uncredited)
• Age of Consent (1969) – Ted Farrell
• Adam's Woman (1970) – Cosh
• Demonstrator (1971) – Malcolm
• Don's Party (1976) – Cooley / Susan's boyfriend
• The Picture Show Man (1977) – Larry Pym
• The Club (1980) – Danny Rowe
• Gallipoli (1981) – Les McCann
• The Highest Honor (1982) – Cpl. C.M. Stewart
• Monkey Grip (1982) – Willie
• Ginger Meggs (1982) – Mr. Fox
• Buddies (1983) – Johnny
• The Winds of Jarrah (1983) – Jack Farrell
• Stanley: Every Home Should Have One (1984) – Harry
• Fantasy Man (1984) – Nick Bailey
• The Year My Voice Broke (1987) – Tom Alcock
• Resistance (1992)
• Kin chan no Cinema Jack (1993) – Peach
• No Worries (1993) – John Burke
• Children of the Revolution (1996) – Police Commissioner
• Blackrock (1997) – Principal
• Joey (1997) – Kanga Catcher
• Our Lips Are Sealed (2000) – Shelby Shaw
• Courts mais GAY: Tome 5 (2003) – Dan (segment "Saturn's Return")
• The Clinic (2010) – Grave Digger (final film role)

Television

• Motel (1968) – Bruce Jackson
• Pastures of the Blue Crane (1969) – Perry the taxi driver
• Barrier Reef (1971–1972) – Steve Gabo
• The Young Doctors (1978) - Orderly Terry Cooper
• Sara Dane (1982) – Andrew McLeay
• Fields of Fire (1987) – Whacker
• The True Believers (1988) – Edgar Ross
• Big Ideas (1993, TV Movie) – Sam Stevens
• Heartland (1994, TV series) – Jim
• Blue Heelers (season 1) (1994) episode 36, Adverse Possession — Geoff Lovett
• Outriders (2001) – Hayden Simpson
• Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities (2009) – George Joseph

References

1. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/actor-harold-hopkins-dies-from-asbestos-related-cancer-mesothelioma/story-e6freuy9-1226219367990
2. AAP (11 December 2011). "Acting veteran dies from asbestos-related cancer". The Age. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
3. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/actor-harold-hopkins-dies-of-cancer-aged-67/story-fn7x8me2-1226219237717
4. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-11/australian-actor-harold-hopkins-dies-at-67/3724544

External links

• Harold Hopkins at IMDb