Kenneth Shorter (1945 – November 2024) was an Australian actor. Shorter's career spanned theatre, television and film, but he was best known for starring opposite

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

in a film adaptation of ''

Ned Kelly Edward Kelly (December 185411 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader, bank robber and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing armour of the Kelly gang, a suit of bulletproof ...

'' (1970), as the title character in the cult biker film ''

Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

'' (1974) and in American fantasy film ''

Dragonslayer A dragonslayer is a person or being that slays dragons. Dragonslayers and the creatures they hunt have been popular in traditional stories from around the world: they are a type of story classified as type 300 in the Aarne–Thompson classifica ...

'' (1981).

Early life

Shorter was born in 1945, and worked as a police officer and truck driver before becoming an actor.

Career

In 1967, he commenced playing the character of Frankie McCoy on the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

series '' You Can't See 'Round Corners''. He later reprised the role for the 1969 theatrical film adaption. It was announced in 1969 that Shorter had been cast as

Aaron Sherritt Aaron Sherritt (August 1854 – 26 June 1880) was an associate of the gang of outlaws led by Ned Kelly in Victoria, Australia. Personal life Aaron Sherritt was born in the Melbourne suburb of Prahran in August 1854, to Irish migrants John and ...

in the film ''

'', in which he starred alongside

. In the early 1970s, Shorter was a member of Sydney's

Old Tote Theatre Company The Old Tote Theatre Company (1963–1978) was a New South Wales theatre company that began as the standing acting and theatre company of Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). It was the predecessor to the Sydney Theatre Company ...

and appeared in several of the company's productions including '' Lasseter'', ''

The Man of Mode ''The Man of Mode, or, Sir Fopling Flutter'' is a Restoration comedy by George Etherege, written in 1676. The play is set in Restoration London and follows the womanizer Dorimant as he tries to win over the young heiress Harriet and to dise ...

'', ''

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'' and '' The Legend of King O'Malley.'' Shorter also starred in numerous theatre productions throughout the UK from 1972 to 2010. In 1974, Shorter was cast in his best known role as the title character in the low-budget cult biker film ''

'', which has often been cited as inspiration for the '' Max Max'' series. That same year, he played a fictional New South Wales rugby league player called Frank Scully in ''The Forward Pack'' which was written by Robert Caswell and was one of four Sunday night television plays broadcast by ABC TV. In 1975, he appeared in the outback drama film '' Sunday Too Far Away'' as Frankie Davis. And in 1981, he played a henchmen guard in the American fantasy film ''

''. He was also part of the cast for the 2000 Hollywood film '' Dragonheart: A New Beginning''. Shorter's many Australian television credits included a regular role (as Duncan Ross) in '' Bellbird'' (1968), a presenter role on children's series '' Play School'' (1969–1982) and a recurring role in '' Number 96'' (1977). He also had guest roles in ''

Skippy the Bush Kangaroo ''Skippy the Bush Kangaroo'' (known commonly as ''Skippy'') is an Australian television series created by Australian actor John McCallum, Lionel (Bob) Austin, and Lee Robinson, produced from 1967 to 1969 (airing from 5 February 1968 to 4 May 1 ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

Matlock Police ''Matlock Police'' is an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for The 0-10 Network (now known as Network 10) between 1971 and 1976. The series focused on the police station and crime in the Victorian town of Ma ...

'', '' Riptide'', '' Boney'', ''

Division 4 ''Division 4'' is an Australian television police drama series broadcast by the Nine Network and created by Crawford Productions airing between 1969 and 1975 for 301 episodes. Synopsis The series was one of the first to follow up on the enor ...

'' and '' G.P.''. In the UK, he appeared in ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

'', ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'', ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a Spin-off (media), spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' ...

'' and the TV movie ''

Persuasion Persuasion or persuasion arts is an umbrella term for influence. Persuasion can influence a person's beliefs, attitudes, intentions, motivations, or behaviours. Persuasion is studied in many disciplines. Rhetoric studies modes of persuasi ...

''.

Death

After a health decline, Shorter retired from acting in 2018. He died in November 2024, aged 79.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

References

External links

*
Ken Shorter
at

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national c ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shorter, Ken 1945 births 2024 deaths 20th-century Australian male actors Australian male television actors Australian male film actors Australian children's television presenters