Alan Hopgood

Hopgood was born in Launceston, Tasmania, and grew up in the state. He acted in several dramatic roles in his childhood. He attended school in Melbourne and then studied at the University of Melbourne, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (Hon) and a Diploma of Education. His first play, Marcus, was produced at Melbourne University while he was working as a school teacher. He left teaching to write full-time and start his acting career.{{Cite web|url=http://www.austlit.edu.au/run?ex=ShowAgent&agentId=A%23%7D%5B|title=Alan Hopgood | AustLit: Discover Australian Stories|access-date=21 September 2005|archive-date=17 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717033836/http://www.austlit.edu.au/run?ex=ShowAgent&agentId=A%23%7D%5B|url-status=live}}

Hopgood's first successful play, And the Big Men Fly, was about Australian rules football and was produced in 1963 by the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Russell Street Theatre in Melbourne with scripts by Brad Hopgood.{{cite web|url=https://ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/1369|publisher=AusStage|title=Alan Hopgood theatre roles|access-date=2 December 2020|archive-date=2 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502031946/https://ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/1369|url-status=live}} The play was adapted for TV by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1973 and also a telemovie. In 1964, he followed with The Golden Legion of Cleaning Women. In 1966 he produced Private Yuk Objects, which he said was the first play anywhere in the world on the subject of the Vietnam War.

Hopgood has also written a number of film and television screenplays, including the comedy film Alvin Purple (1973), which was the most commercially successful Australian film of the early 1970s.

Hopgood was an actor with the Melbourne Theatre Company for ten years and was an early 'soap' star in Bellbird, in which for six years he played the town doctor. He has also performed in the later soaps, Prisoner (for which he also scripted many episodes) and Neighbours as Jack Lassiter (a role he reprised in August 2013).{{cite web|url=http://neighbours.com.au/Jack-Lassiter-returns-to-Erinsborough.htm|title=Jack Lassiter returns to Erinsborough|date=8 August 2013|work=Neighbours.com.au|publisher=Eleven|accessdate=8 August 2013|archive-date=5 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130905113847/http://neighbours.com.au/Jack-Lassiter-returns-to-Erinsborough.htm|url-status=live}}

As an actor, his cinema credits include My Brilliant Career (1979), The Blue Lagoon (1980), Roadgames (1981), Evil Angels (1988, released as A Cry in the Dark outside of Australia and New Zealand){{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094924/releaseinfo#akas|title=A Cry in the Dark (1988) – Release dates|publisher=IMDb.com|accessdate=2012-06-14|archive-date=21 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921204840/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094924/releaseinfo#akas|url-status=live}} and The Man from Snowy River II (1988).

He worked with a large number of actors including Frank Thring, Meryl Streep, Brooke Shields, Sam Neill and Judy Davis.{{Cite web|url=https://www.entertainoz.com.au/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060829113410/http://www.entertainoz.com.au/index.cfm?oid=1227|url-status=dead|title=Australia's leading entertainment agency and directory|archivedate=29 August 2006|website=www.entertainoz.com.au}}

In late 2021, Hopgood appeared in an exclusive interview for the official YouTube channel Talking Prisoner, in which he discussed his life and career. The episode was published in January 2022.{{cite web| title=Talking Prisoner Cell Block H EP 25 Interview with Alan Hopgood (Wally Wallace)| url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FZQHMO9bVQ0| website=YouTube| date=6 January 2022| access-date=22 November 2022| archive-date=16 August 2024| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816140736/https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=FZQHMO9bVQ0| url-status=live}}

Hopgood won AWGIE awards for The Cheerful Cuckold and The Bush Bunch and writing several feature films including Alvin Purple and the documentaries The Prophecies of Nostradamus and The Fountain of Youth.

Hopgood was awarded the A.M. (Member of the Order of Australia) in 2005 for his services to the performing arts as an actor, playwright and producer, and to the community through raising awareness of men's health issues.{{Cite web|url=http://www.healthplay.com.au/bio.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120824113629/http://www.healthplay.com.au/bio.html|url-status=dead|title=Health Play|archivedate=24 August 2012}}

Hopgood resided in Melbourne with his wife Gay, with whom he had two children (Fincina and Sam), and four grandchildren (Jackson, Harrison, Ashwyn and Darcy).{{cite web | url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/10456049 | title=Alan Hopgood - the Boy's Sheer Poetry | AustLit | access-date=10 January 2024 | archive-date=16 August 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816140744/https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/10456049 | url-status=live }}

Alan Hopgood developed prostate cancer and published a book on the experience titled Surviving Prostate Cancer: One Man's Journey, which was widely praised.{{Cite web |title=Surviving prostate cancer : one man's journey |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-349889099 |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=Trove |language=en |archive-date=16 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816140745/https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-349889099 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Surviving Prostate Cancer by Alan Hopgood |url=https://www.penguin.com.au/books/surviving-prostate-cancer-9781742746111 |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=www.penguin.com.au |language=en |archive-date=16 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816140742/https://www.penguin.com.au/books/surviving-prostate-cancer-9781742746111 |url-status=live }} He often toured giving humorous lectures on men's health issues.

Hopgood died from prostate cancer at the age of 87 on 19 March 2022 at a hospital in Melbourne.{{Cite web|url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=HSWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.heraldsun.com.au%2Fnews%2Fvictoria%2Falan-hopgood-87-passes-away-after-long-battle-with-cancer%2Fnews-story%2F7f56b32b5d459157897dc1e7e44d9a5a&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&v21=dynamic-cold-control-noscore&V21spcbehaviour=append|title=Acting icon Alan Hopgood, 87, passes away|access-date=20 March 2022|archive-date=27 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220527123850/https://insight.adsrvr.org/track/up?adv=vrges6n&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.heraldsun.com.au%2Fsubscribe%2Fnews%2F1%2F%3FsourceCode%3DHSWEB_WRE170_a_GGL%26dest%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.heraldsun.com.au%252Fnews%252Fvictoria%252Falan-hopgood-87-passes-away-after-long-battle-with-cancer%252Fnews-story%252F7f56b32b5d459157897dc1e7e44d9a5a%26memtype%3Danonymous%26mode%3Dpremium%26v21%3Ddynamic-cold-control-noscore%26V21spcbehaviour%3Dappend&upid=ekg5qxt&upv=1.1.0|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |last=Knox |first=David |date=2022-03-22 |title=Vale: Alan Hopgood |url=https://tvtonight.com.au/2022/03/vale-alan-hopgood.html/ |access-date=2022-05-17 |website=TV Tonight |language=en-AU |archive-date=16 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816140743/https://tvtonight.com.au/2022/03/vale-alan-hopgood.html |url-status=live }}

{{cite web | url=https://ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/1369 | title=AusStage | access-date=2 December 2020 | archive-date=2 May 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502031946/https://ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/1369 | url-status=live }}

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb name|id=0394086}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20240816141451/https://creativerep.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/HOPGOOD-Alan-CV.pdf Creative Representation - Alan Hopgood]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050614083453/http://bsp.net.au/HTML/Content/AH.htm Bay Street Productions]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060824070354/http://www.hollysheroes.com.au/cast/alanh.html?format=html Holly's Heroes]
• [http://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A11828 Alan Hopgood] at AustLit
• {{discogs artist|Alan Hopgood}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopgood, Alan}}

Category:1934 births

Category:2022 deaths

Category:Australian dramatists and playwrights

Category:Australian male film actors

Category:Australian screenwriters

Category:Australian male soap opera actors

Category:Australian male stage actors

Category:Deaths from cancer in Victoria (state)

Category:Deaths from prostate cancer in Australia

Category:People from Launceston, Tasmania

Category:University of Melbourne alumni

Category:20th-century Australian male actors

Category:21st-century Australian male actors

Category:Members of the Order of Australia