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, with several supporting roles in the police series Homicide and costarring in the espionage series Hunter as the breakout fan favorite baddie, Kragg.
He shot to national 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. 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.
Early life Kennedy was born in Perth, Western Australia, 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 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.
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 Country Practice, Blue Heelers, City Homicide, The Saddle Club, and Neighbours. In 2008, he played Graham "The Munster" Kinniburgh in Underbelly and in Fat Tony & Co..
Kennedy's final credit was in the television series Glitch in 2015.
Later life and death Kennedy resided at a nursing care facility on the New South Wales, Central Coast, where he died on 21 April 2025, at the age of 93.
Filmography
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 1974RushJim Dawson1 episode 1969–1975 Division 4 Senior Detective / Detective Sgt. Frank Banner 301 episodes 1976 Cash and Company Ryler 1 episode 1976King's Men1 episode 1976 Tandarra Ryler 13 episodes 1976Power Without GloryDick Bradley4 episodes 1977 Bellbird Edward Grey 3 episodes 1977BlueyDoug Stewart1 episode 1978Case for the Defence Jack1 episode 1978 Against the Wind Dinny O’Byrne 7 episodes 1979–1982 Skyways Gary Doolan TV series 1980 The Sullivans Sergeant Nelson 2 episodes 1980 The Last Outlaw Harry Power 4 episodes 1981BellamyBlakeEpisode: "The Bank You Can Trust" 19821915Dent Miniseries, 1 episode 1983The Coral IslandBloody Bill 4 episodes 1983 Carson's Law James Dolman 8 episodes 1979–1983Cop ShopFranky Brady3 episodes 1984Five Mile CreekMr O'Bannion1 episode 1984Special SquadHarry Tait1 episode 1984A Country Practice Bruce Walters Episodes: "Elementary Miss Watson: Parts 1 & 2" 1985 Prisoner Al 4 episodes 1985 Golden PenniesUriah Lovejoy 8 episodes 1986 The Flying Doctors Les Foster Episode: "Return of the Hero" 1986Studio 86Minas1 episode 1988Emma: Queen of the South SeasCaptain Rabardy2 episodes 1988–1990Mission: ImpossibleKarmak / Greg Usher2 episodes 1989–1990 The Flying Doctors Luke Mitchell Recurring role 1990 A Country Practice Theo Kourous Episodes: "The Trouble with Theo: Parts 1 & 2" 1990Col'n Carpenter Dwayne1 episode 1991Acropolis NowSavas1 episode 1992Boys from the BushJokey Jones1 episode 1992BlighFather O'Brien1 episode 1994 Frontline Ian Farmer, Station Manager 5 episodes 1999 Thunderstone Dr. Pretorius 26 episodes 2000The Lost WorldOld Sigurd1 episode 1994–2001Blue HeelersVarious5 episodes 2001PizzaAgent Dave1 episode 2002StingersFranco Corelli1 episode 2002BeastmasterNessis1 episode 2002 Neighbours Pat Scully Recurring 2004All SaintsNeville West1 episode 2005Scooter: Secret AgentBaxter1 episode 2005Dramatically BlackOld Fella 1 episode 2008 Underbelly Graham "The Munster" Kinniburgh 7 episodes 2010 City Homicide Ralph Druitt Episode: "Protection" 2012Conspiracy 365Bart Ormond2 episodes 2014 Fat Tony & Co. Graham "The Munster" Kinniburgh 3 episodes 2015 Glitch Leon Massola 2 episodes
Awards
Year Association Category Work Result 1969 Logie Awards George Wallace Memorial Logie for Best New Talent Hunter 1969 Penguin Award Best Actor Division 4 1970 Penguin Awards Leading Talent in a Drama Series Division 4 1971 Logie Awards Gold Logie Division 4 1971 Logie Awards Best Actor Division 4 1972 Logie Awards Gold Logie Division 4 1972 Logie Awards Best Actor Division 4 1973 Logie Awards Best Actor Division 4 1979 Australian TV and Film Award Best Actor in a TV series Against the Wind 1987 Penguin Award Best Performance by an Actor in a Series/Serial The Flying Doctors
References
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