
Neighbours and Prisoner star Gerard Kennedy dies aged 93
The award-winning star was best known for his parts in a number of soap operas in his home country – including Neighbours, Prisoner and Blue Heelers.
A family friend confirmed in a statement: 'Vale Gerard Kennedy. 1932 – 2025. An iconic Australian actor of many decades.
'Well-remembered by Prisoner fans for his portrayal as terrorist Al in The Wentworth Siege episodes.'
The two-time Gold Logie winner also had parts in Underbelly, Division 4, The Flying Doctors and A Country Practice.
Born in Perth in 1932, he played six different characters in Crawford Productions television series Homicide, before finding fame in the Australian television spy drama Hunter. More Trending
His portrayal became so popular that his character, Kragg, became the central figure of the series following the departure of co-star Tony Ward.
Flying Doctors star Liz Burch has led tributes, sharing: 'Vale Gerard.'
Gerard joined the cast of Neighbours in 2002, playing Pat Scully – the father of regular face Joe (Shane Connor).
View More »
This is a developing story, more to follow.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Metro
2 hours ago
- Metro
UK viewers can now watch 'gripping' movie about jaw-dropping true story for free
A movie re-telling the incredible rescue of the Wild Boars junior football team from the Tham Luang cave in Thailand is now streaming for free. Released in 2022, Thirteen Lives was directed by Ron Howard and followed the efforts to save 12 teenage boys and their assistant coach after they ventured into a cave and were trapped by floodwaters in 2018. The group were stuck for two weeks, with an international rescue effort involving as many as 10,000 people including 100 divers, undertaken to save them. Some of those credited with helping to save the boys included British civilian divers – Rick Stanton and John Volanthen. In the movie they were played by Viggo Mortensen and Colin Farrell, with Joel Edgerton also playing Australian cave diver Richard Harris. The film – which holds an 85% rating on Rotten Tomatoes – was praised for its portrayal of 'courage and survival'. After initially being released on Amazon Prime, this week it was also added to BBC iPlayer. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video 'Thirteen Lives is an affecting look at one of the most incredible events of the past decade,' ScreenRant wrote in its review. 'A masterful piece of humanistic cinema that also doubles as a heart-stopping adventure,' FilmInk shared. 'Even now, years later, that level of teamwork is breathtaking, and Howard's choice to chronicle those efforts gives Thirteen Lives its own kind of staying power,' The Hollywood Reporter added. Another review said it was a 'riveting depiction of a daring, foolhardy, inspired rescue'. Meanwhile viewers said it was 'inspiring', 'deeply moving' and a 'powerful examination of true heroism'. Discussing the film at the time of its release, Mortensen and Farrell praised the 'selfless' and 'multifaceted' effort to rescue the boys, with the former also speaking about the 'crucial' need to have the divers on set to supervise. 'Whenever you're underwater [in] caves, it's dangerous,' he shared. 'So, I think all the actors, we listened very carefully to what they were showing and telling us and watched what they did very carefully and everybody worked hard. 'Everybody pulled together… and that reflected the real rescue and that it was a very selfless, team-oriented effort.' Meanwhile Farrell spoke about the movie being a 'great gift' for him to be a part of. 'I've done various things in my career but to be part of something that… in a time where the world seems to be living under greater and greater division, was really about these different people from different nationalities, different cultural backgrounds coming together for a common purpose, and one that was so terrifying, it was just a great gift,' he said. Over three days – between July 8 and 10, 2018 – all 12 boys and their coach Ekkaphon Kanthawong were rescued from the cave. However, despite the incredible result – two men had died while the rescue had been underway. Royal Thai Navy SEAL Saman Kunan, 37, died of asphyxiation during an attempted rescue on July 6 while returning to a staging base in the cave after delivering diving cylinders to the trapped group. More Trending The following year, in December 2019, rescue diver and Thai Navy SEAL Beirut Pakbara died of a blood infection contracted during the operation. The movie was dedicated to them both. Tragically the captain of the team, Duangphet Phromthep, died by suicide aged 17 in 2023 after moving to England on a football scholarship. Thirteen Lives is streaming on BBC iPlayer. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: The horrifying moment baby spiders swarm to eat their mother will make you scream MORE: MasterChef star 'edited out of BBC series' after asking for it to be axed MORE: BBC gameshow already has fans obsessed and declaring it 'the new Traitors'


Time Out
4 hours ago
- Time Out
How to get tickets for Kesha's Australian tour: pre-sale, prices, dates and more
Tik tok, the wait is over – Kesha is coming back to Australia for her first headline tour in more than a decade. The multi-platinum pop superstar will bring her party anthems to four Aussie cities in February 2026 (sorry, Sydney!), and each stop will be full of sequins, sass and a whole lot of bangers. With more than 3 billion streams, ten top-ten singles and two number-one albums, Kesha is officially in her comeback era. Her bold and bedazzled Tits Out Tour celebrates the release of her chart-topping album Period – and we're hoping the setlist will also feature 2000s classics like 'Tik Tok', 'Your Love Is My Drug' and 'Blow'. Here's everything you need to know about getting tickets to Kesha's 2025 Australian tour. When is Kesha's 2026 Australian tour? So far, Kesha's announced four Australian dates, including: Brisbane 's Riverstage – Thursday, February 19 Melbourne 's Margaret Court Arena – Sunday, February 22 Adelaide Entertainment Centre – Tuesday, February 24 Perth HPC – Thursday, February 26 It's a bit of a shock horror that the pop powerhouse isn't stopping in Sydney. But she did already perform a sold-out House of Kesha headline show there earlier this year. There's also speculation that Kesha's skipping Sydney as she might be heading there for Mardi Gras on February 28 (which happens to land just two days after she wraps up her Tits Out tour in Perth). When do Kesha Australia tickets go on sale? The general public sale kicks off on Friday, August 8 at 10am local time. Tickets will be available via Destroy All Lines here and XIII Touring here. Is there a Kesha Australia pre-sale? You have two golden chances to score early access tickets for Kesha's 2026 Australian tour. First up, the artist pre-sale will kick off on Tuesday, August 5 at 10am local time via Kesha's website – sign up here. Then the promoter pre-sale will drop the very next day on Wednesday, August 6 at 10am – you can register here. How much are Kesha tickets in Australia? General admission tickets range from $129.90 to $149.90. For the ultimate superfans, Kesha's Yippee-Ki-Yay VIP Package is up for grabs at $345 (GA) or $365 (premium seat) – complete with exclusive merch.


Daily Mirror
5 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Legendary jockey with over 2000 winners investigated over racist outburst in street
A video has emerged of veteran jockey Noel Callow, who has ridden over 2,000 winners, abusing pedestrians while riding a bike along the footpath A legendary jockey is the subject of another investigation after he was caught making a racist four-letter outburst in the street. Noel Callow, nicknamed 'the King', has ridden over 2,000 winners including five at Group 1 level earning over £20 million in Australia. He has also been at the centre of recent controversy having just completed a two month ban imposed after he was concussed in a fight with another jockey which was started by the 50-year-old in May this year. Australian racing outlet Racenet said it had confirmed video believed to have been taken last year was being reviewed by the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission. "A video was recently brought to the attention of the Commission," a QRIC spokesperson said. "It is presently the subject of an investigation." Racenet has seen two clips, including one in which Callow films an encounter with an indigeous man in which he is heard saying, "Have you showered? F*** you stink like f***." The man is heard telling him he has no job and sleeps on the street and after declining Callow's offer of some pizza, replies, 'I want a beer.' Callow says: "You want a beer … if you have a shower, I'll buy you a beer." The man responds: 'I don't have a shower. There's no shower in the friggin area." "Well jump in the f****** creek … for f***'s sake man," Callow says. Callow then begins to sing a famous anthem called Treaty, by the part-aboriginal group Yothi Yindi. In the shorter other clip Callow, who is carrying a whip, is riding his bike along the pavement, up behind pedestrians. "Look at these c****," Callow said, then after being warned by a pedestrian to "watch out where you're riding your bike", he fires back, '"Stop walking on the f—ing footpath, you f****** c**ns."