Gerard Kennedy (actor)
Australian actor (1932–2025) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gerard Kennedy (8 March 1932 – 21 April 2025) was an Australian double Gold Logie award-winning actor.
Gerard Kennedy | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born | 8 March 1932 Perth, Western Australia, Australia |
| Died | 21 April 2025 (aged 93) Gosford, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1965–2015 |
| Known for | Hunter, Division 4 |
| Notable work | |
| Awards |
|
Kennedy started his career in theatre, before going on to appear in early television series, primarily with Crawford Productions, with several roles in series Homicide and starring in the espionage series including Hunter as Kragg.
He shot to fame, however, starring with Ted Hamilton and Terence Donovan in the police procedural Division 4 as Detective Frank Banner, which won him back-to-back Gold Logies.[1] Kennedy also appeared in the cult series Prisoner, The Flying Doctors and in crime series Underbelly and had numerous feature film roles during a career that spanned 50 years in the industry.[2]
Early Life
Kennedy was born in Perth, Western Australia, on 8 March 1932, the son of local actress and writer Phyllis Ophel.[3]
Career
Summarize
Perspective
Kennedy played six different characters in guest appearances in Crawford Productions television series Homicide and in 1967 he shot to fame as the antagonist in the Australian television spy drama Hunter, becoming so popular that his character changed sides, eventually becoming the main character after lead actor Tony Ward left the series. Kennedy won a TV Week Logie Award for "Best New Talent" for his portrayal of the character.[4]
Kennedy followed this with a starring role in the police procedural television series, Division 4,[5][6] winning multiple Logie Awards—including two Gold Logies as most popular personality on Australian TV—for his work in the series.[7][8] He consistently acted in Australian television and film productions since that time.
Later regular television series roles included Tandarra in 1976, Bellbird in 1977,[9] the miniseries Against the Wind in 1978, Skyways from 1979–1981, Golden Pennies in 1985, and The Flying Doctors between 1986 and 1989 (non-consecutive episodes).
Guest TV roles included appearances in Carson's Law, Prisoner, A Country Practice, Blue Heelers, City Homicide, The Saddle Club, and Neighbours. In 2008, he played Graham "The Munster" Kinniburgh in Underbelly[10] and in Fat Tony & Co..
Kennedy's final credit was in the TV series Glitch in 2015.[3]
Later years and death
Kennedy resided in a nursing care facility on the New South Wales, Central Coast, where he died on 21 April 2025, aged 93.[3]
Filmography
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2025) |
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Eliza Fraser | Martin Cameron | Feature film |
| 1977 | Raw Deal | Palmer | Feature film |
| 1977 | The Mango Tree | Preacher Jones | Feature film |
| 1978 | Newsfront | Frank Maguire | Feature film |
| 1978 | The Irishman | Chad Ingram | Feature film |
| 1979 | The Last of the Knucklemen | Tarzan | Feature film |
| 1980 | Fatty Finn | Tiger Murphy | Feature film |
| 1982 | The Plains of Heaven | Lenko | Feature film |
| 1987 | The Lighthorsemen | Ismet Bey | Feature film |
| 1987 | Running from the Guns | Big Jim | Feature film |
| 1992 | Garbo | Trevor | Feature film |
| 1993 | Body Melt | Detective Sam Phillips | Feature film |
| 1994 | Ebbtide | Fredericks | Direct-to-video film |
| 1996 | Inner Sanctuary | Father Kelly | |
| 2002 | Blood Crime | Kaiwanasha | TV film |
| 2005 | Plains Empty | Old Fella | Short film |
| 2007 | Lucky Miles | Kangaroo Shooter | Feature film |
| 2013 | Wolf Creek 2 | Jack | Feature film |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Homicide | 6 guest characters | 6 episodes |
| 1967 | Hunter | Kragg | 65 episodes |
| 1974 | Rush | Jim Dawson | 1 episode |
| 1969–75 | Division 4 | Senior Detective / Detective Sgt. Frank Banner | 301 episodes |
| 1976 | Cash and Company | Ryler | 1 episode |
| 1976 | King's Men | 1 episode | |
| 1976 | Tandarra | Ryler | 13 episodes |
| 1976 | Power Without Glory | Dick Bradley | 4 episodes |
| 1977 | Bellbird | Edward Grey | 3 episodes |
| 1977 | Bluey | Doug Stewart | 1 episode |
| 1978 | Case for the Defence | Jack | 1 episode |
| 1978 | Against the Wind | Dinny O’Byrne | 7 episodes |
| 1979–82 | Skyways | Gary Doolan | TV series |
| 1980 | The Last Outlaw | Harry Power | 4 episodes |
| 1981 | Bellamy | Blake | 1 episode |
| 1982 | 1915 | Dent | Miniseries, 1 episode |
| 1983 | The Coral Island | Bloody Bill | 4 episodes |
| 1983 | Carson's Law | James Dolman | 8 episodes |
| 1979–83 | Cop Shop | Franky Brady | 3 episodes |
| 1984 | Five Mile Creek | Mr O'Bannion | 1 episode |
| 1984 | Special Squad | Harry Tait | 1 episode |
| 1985 | Prisoner | Al | 4 episodes |
| 1985 | Golden Pennies | Uriah Lovejoy | 8 episodes |
| 1986 | Studio 86 | Minas | 1 episode |
| 1988 | Emma: Queen of the South Seas | Captain Rabardy | 2 episodes |
| 1988–90 | Mission: Impossible | Karmak / Greg Usher | 2 episodes |
| 1986–89 | The Flying Doctors | Luke Mitchell / Les Foster | 32 episodes |
| 1990 | Col'n Carpenter | Dwayne | 1 episode |
| 1984–90 | A Country Practice | Theo Kourous / Bruce Walters | 4 episodes |
| 1991 | Acropolis Now | Savas | 1 episode |
| 1992 | Boys from the Bush | Jokey Jones | 1 episode |
| 1992 | Bligh | Father O'Brien | 1 episode |
| 1994 | Frontline | Ian Farmer, Station Manager | 5 episodes |
| 1999 | Thunderstone | Dr. Pretorius | 26 episodes |
| 2000 | The Lost World | Old Sigurd | 1 episode |
| 1994–2001 | Blue Heelers | Various | 5 episodes |
| 2001 | Pizza | Agent Dave | 1 episode |
| 2002 | Stingers | Franco Corelli | 1 episode |
| 2002 | Beastmaster | Nessis | 1 episode |
| 2002 | Neighbours | Pat Scully | 14 episodes |
| 2004 | All Saints | Neville West | 1 episode |
| 2005 | Scooter: Secret Agent | Baxter | 1 episode |
| 2005 | Dramatically Black | Old Fella | 1 episode |
| 2008 | Underbelly | Graham "The Munster" Kinniburgh | 7 episodes |
| 2010 | City Homicide | Guest role | TV series |
| 2012 | Conspiracy 365 | Bart Ormond | 2 episodes |
| 2014 | Fat Tony & Co. | Graham "The Munster" Kinniburgh | 3 episodes |
| 2015 | Glitch | Leon Massola | 2 episodes |
Awards
| This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2025) |
| Year | Association | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Logie Awards | George Wallace Memorial Logie for Best New Talent | Hunter | Won |
| 1969 | Penguin Award | Best Actor | Division 4 | Won |
| 1970 | Penguin Awards | Leading Talent in a Drama Series | Division 4 | Won |
| 1971 | Logie Awards | Gold Logie | Division 4 | Won |
| 1971 | Logie Awards | Best Actor | Division 4 | Won |
| 1972 | Logie Awards | Gold Logie | Division 4 | Won |
| 1972 | Logie Awards | Best Actor | Division 4 | Won |
| 1973 | Logie Awards | Best Actor | Division 4 | Won |
| 1979 | Australian TV and Film Award | Best Actor in a TV series | Against the Wind | Won |
| 1987 | Penguin Award | Best Performance by an Actor in a Series/Serial | The Flying Doctors | Won |
References
External links
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