Ivar Kants (born 19 July 1949), commonly credited as Ivor Kants or Ivar Kanz, is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

actor of Latvian descent who has played numerous roles in film, television and theatre.

Early life

Ivar Kants was born on July 19, 1949, in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. Both his parents were originally from Latvia, but they immigrated to Australia before he was born. Ivar left home at 19 to enrol in

National Institute of Dramatic Art The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian educational institution for the performing arts based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, it offers bachelor's, master's and vocational degrees in subjects including acting ...

(NIDA) in Sydney, and graduated with a degree in performing arts (acting) in 1970.

Career

Film & television

Kants has appeared in many soap operas and tv drama series, including ''

A Country Practice ''A Country Practice'' is an Australian television soap opera/serial which was broadcast on the Seven Network from 18 November 1981 until 22 November 1993, and subsequently on Network Ten from 13 April 1994 to 5 November 1994. Altogether, 14 ...

'', '' G.P.'', '' All Saints'', '' Water Rats'', and ''

Blue Heelers ''Blue Heelers'' is an Australian police drama series that was produced by Southern Star Group and ran for twelve years on the Seven Network, from 1994 to 2006. Although based around the policing of the town, the series generally depicted th ...

''. He portrayed the role of Ken Garrett in the

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

The Restless Years ''The Restless Years'' is an Australian soap opera which followed the lives of several Sydney school-leavers and the drama and relationships faced by young adults. It was created by Reg Watson and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation for N ...

'' (1979) and starred as Father Menotti, a caring inner-city parish priest in the 1980–81 TV series '' Menotti''. A more prominent role was as school principal

Barry Hyde Barry Hyde may refer to: *Barry Hyde, vocalist and guitar player in the English band The Futureheads The Futureheads are an English post-punk band from Sunderland, formed in 2000. The band consists of Ross Millard (vocals and guitar), David " ...

, a regular in ''

Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip to Kangaroo Point, N ...

''. He has also appeared in ''

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 ...

'', ''

Heartbreak High ''Heartbreak High'' is an Australian television programme created by Michael Jenkins and Ben Gannon that ran from 1994 to 1996 on Network Ten and 1997 to 1999 on ABC, for seven series. It was also partially funded from 1996 by BBC2, with som ...

'' and in the

TV movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a terrest ...

'' The Plumber''. His ability to tell a story is supported by the many narrations he has recorded for SBS and the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

. He narrated the '' Hairy Maclary'' audiobook series released by

ABC for Kids ABC Kids is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's part-time channel, broadcasting shows between the hours of 4am and 7:30pm for children 6 years old and younger, including an upper preschool audience. It shares the same Bandwidth (signal pro ...

Theatre

In addition to his on-screen work, Kants has also had an illustrious theatre career, with his many roles in

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

plays colouring his vocal work.

Personal life

Ivar has been married to Jenny Kants since 1970. They have four children, including his daughter Sarah Kants (born 1974), who is an actress.

Filmography

Films

Television

Stage

https://shanahan.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/KANTS-Ivar-260218.pdf

Accolades

Kants was nominated for Best Actor at the 1984 AFI Awards for '' Silver City''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kants, Ivar 1949 births Living people Australian male television actors Australian people of Latvian descent Male actors from Adelaide