I Miss U all my Blog

Australian music and stories from family and friends will help celebrate the life of Bill Hunter, described by many as a quintessentially Australian actor.

Hunter lost his battle with cancer surrounded by family and friends at a Melbourne hospice on Saturday night, aged 71.

Details of the memorial service have been released by Hunter's manager Mark Morrissey, who will be one of those addressing family, friends and fans at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne at 2pm (AEST) on Thursday.

A performance by Australian songwriting legend Paul Kelly will open the service before Hunter's acting colleagues Rod Mullinar, Gary Foley, David Field and Mick Molloy share their reminiscences.
"He always had time for everyone, for all his kind of roaring bluff, he was a very sensitive and very gentle man," Field told the ABC earlier.

The actor's family will be represented by his brother John Hunter and niece Kate Hunter, as well as his former wife Rhoda Roberts.

With songs from Oliver Jao Smith and The Maza Sisters, the service will be closed by Paul Kelly, performing his classic number Leaps & Bounds.
ABC television is paying its own tribute to the late actor, with a short retrospective on his career on Tuesday, replaying the classic films Mad Dog Morgan, Stone and Strictly Ballroom on Saturday and Sunday, and a longer retrospective in its Artscape program on Sunday.

Australian music and stories from family and friends will help celebrate the life of Bill Hunter, described by many as a quintessentially Australian actor.

Hunter lost his battle with cancer surrounded by family and friends at a Melbourne hospice on Saturday night, aged 71.

Details of the memorial service have been released by Hunter's manager Mark Morrissey, who will be one of those addressing family, friends and fans at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne at 2pm (AEST) on Thursday.

A performance by Australian songwriting legend Paul Kelly will open the service before Hunter's acting colleagues Rod Mullinar, Gary Foley, David Field and Mick Molloy share their reminiscences.
"He always had time for everyone, for all his kind of roaring bluff, he was a very sensitive and very gentle man," Field told the ABC earlier.

The actor's family will be represented by his brother John Hunter and niece Kate Hunter, as well as his former wife Rhoda Roberts.

With songs from Oliver Jao Smith and The Maza Sisters, the service will be closed by Paul Kelly, performing his classic number Leaps & Bounds.
ABC television is paying its own tribute to the late actor, with a short retrospective on his career on Tuesday, replaying the classic films Mad Dog Morgan, Stone and Strictly Ballroom on Saturday and Sunday, and a longer retrospective in its Artscape program on Sunday.

Bill Hunter, described by director Baz Luhrmann as the 'go-to' actor for the rugged male in Australian films, has died at the age of 71.

Hunter, who died of inoperable cancer on Saturday in a Melbourne hospice, appeared in more than 60 films in a career that spanned 50 years.

'Whether portraying Australians fighting on the foreign shores in Gallipoli, or the hard-nut, famous-to-this-day journos seeking stories in Newsfront, to his effortless switch to high comedy in the films where we tried to capture contemporary suburban culture, in Strictly Ballroom, Muriel's Wedding, and Priscilla (Queen of the Desert), Bill was the go-to iconic actor to synthesise quintessential Australian-ness,' Luhrmann said.

Hunter also featured in Luhrmann's Australia alonside Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman.

A film critic said of Hunter's contribution that 'his 100-plus movie and television credits read like a potted history of home-grown film and television.'

The nearest he got to a Hollywood role was the voice of the dentist in the animated film, Finding Nemo.

He seldom appeared on stage or took the lead role and did little to shake the view that he was typecast as the gruff Australian male.

He took up acting after coming on as an extra in Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner's On the Beach in 1959.

After watching Peck struggle through dozens of takes for a scene, Hunter decided there was not much to acting and he could make a good living out of it.

Bill Hunter, described by director Baz Luhrmann as the 'go-to' actor for the rugged male in Australian films, has died at the age of 71.

Hunter, who died of inoperable cancer on Saturday in a Melbourne hospice, appeared in more than 60 films in a career that spanned 50 years.

'Whether portraying Australians fighting on the foreign shores in Gallipoli, or the hard-nut, famous-to-this-day journos seeking stories in Newsfront, to his effortless switch to high comedy in the films where we tried to capture contemporary suburban culture, in Strictly Ballroom, Muriel's Wedding, and Priscilla (Queen of the Desert), Bill was the go-to iconic actor to synthesise quintessential Australian-ness,' Luhrmann said.

Hunter also featured in Luhrmann's Australia alonside Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman.

A film critic said of Hunter's contribution that 'his 100-plus movie and television credits read like a potted history of home-grown film and television.'

The nearest he got to a Hollywood role was the voice of the dentist in the animated film, Finding Nemo.

He seldom appeared on stage or took the lead role and did little to shake the view that he was typecast as the gruff Australian male.

He took up acting after coming on as an extra in Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner's On the Beach in 1959.

After watching Peck struggle through dozens of takes for a scene, Hunter decided there was not much to acting and he could make a good living out of it.

The family of Australian actor Bill Hunter is gathering at his bedside at a Melbourne hospice, where he is gravely ill with inoperable cancer.

The 71-year-old was admitted to the facility at Kew two days ago.

In his storied career which spanned 50 years, Hunter has worked with most of Australia's most notable directors and actors.

He worked alongside Mel Gibson in Peter Weir's Gallipoli (1981), played the meddling ballroom federation president Barry Fife in Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom (1992) and starred as then-newcomer Toni Collette's father in Muriel's Wedding (1994).

At the same time as filming Muriel's Wedding, he worked on PJ Hogan's The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert (1994), starring alongside Terence Stamp, Guy Pearce and Hugo Weaving.

More recently, Hunter worked on Red Dog, TV mini series The Pacific, Finding Nemo, Crackerjack and Luhrmann's Australia.
Hunter, born in Ballarat, Victoria, started his career in television in the 1960s and worked on many Australian shows including Homicide, Prisoner, Matlock Police, SeaChange and Police Rescue.

The family of Australian actor Bill Hunter is gathering at his bedside at a Melbourne hospice, where he is gravely ill with inoperable cancer.

The 71-year-old was admitted to the facility at Kew two days ago.

In his storied career which spanned 50 years, Hunter has worked with most of Australia's most notable directors and actors.

He worked alongside Mel Gibson in Peter Weir's Gallipoli (1981), played the meddling ballroom federation president Barry Fife in Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom (1992) and starred as then-newcomer Toni Collette's father in Muriel's Wedding (1994).

At the same time as filming Muriel's Wedding, he worked on PJ Hogan's The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert (1994), starring alongside Terence Stamp, Guy Pearce and Hugo Weaving.

More recently, Hunter worked on Red Dog, TV mini series The Pacific, Finding Nemo, Crackerjack and Luhrmann's Australia.
Hunter, born in Ballarat, Victoria, started his career in television in the 1960s and worked on many Australian shows including Homicide, Prisoner, Matlock Police, SeaChange and Police Rescue.