Gerard Kennedy (8 March 1932 – 21 April 2025) was an Australian double Gold Logie award-winning actor.
Kennedy started his career in theatre, before going on to appear in early television series, primarily with
Crawford Productions
Crawford Productions is an Australian Media (communication), media production company, focused on radio and television production. Founded in Melbourne by Hector Crawford and his sister, actress and voice artist Dorothy Crawford, the company, a ...
, with several roles in series ''
Homicide
Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person. A homicide requires only a Volition (psychology), volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from Accident, accidenta ...
'' and starring in the espionage series including ''
Hunter
Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, ...
police procedural
The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agency, law enforcement agencies ...
'' Division 4'' as Detective Frank Banner, which won him back-to-back Gold Logies. Kennedy also appeared in the cult series ''
Prisoner
A prisoner, also known as an inmate or detainee, is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement or captivity in a prison or physical restraint. The term usually applies to one serving a Sentence (law), se ...
'', '' The Flying Doctors'' and in crime series '' Underbelly'' and had numerous feature film roles during a career that spanned 50 years in the industry.}
Early life
Kennedy was born in
Perth, Western Australia
Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
, on 8 March 1932, the son of local actress and writer Phyllis Ophel.
Career
Kennedy played six different characters in guest appearances in
Crawford Productions
Crawford Productions is an Australian Media (communication), media production company, focused on radio and television production. Founded in Melbourne by Hector Crawford and his sister, actress and voice artist Dorothy Crawford, the company, a ...
television series ''
Homicide
Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person. A homicide requires only a Volition (psychology), volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from Accident, accidenta ...
'' and in 1967 he shot to fame as the
antagonist
An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.Tony Ward left the series. Kennedy won a TV Week
Logie Award
The TV Week Logie Awards (known colloquially as The Logies) is an annual ceremony celebrating and honouring the best shows and stars in Television in Australia, Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The eve ...
for "Best New Talent" for his portrayal of the character.
Kennedy followed this with a starring role in the police procedural television series, '' Division 4'', winning multiple Logie Awards—including two Gold Logies as most popular personality on Australian TV—for his work in the series. He consistently acted in Australian television and film productions since that time.
Later regular television series roles included '' Tandarra'' in 1976, '' Bellbird'' in 1977, 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 television roles included appearances in '' Carson's Law'', ''
Prisoner
A prisoner, also known as an inmate or detainee, is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement or captivity in a prison or physical restraint. The term usually applies to one serving a Sentence (law), se ...
Neighbours
''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...