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Alan Louis Cassell (16 February 1932 – 30 August 2017) was an English Australian actor, on stage, film and television.[1]

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Alan Cassell
Born	Alan Louis Cassell (1932-02-16)16 February 1932 Manchester, England
Died	30 August 2017(2017-08-30) (aged 85) Kyneton, Victoria, Australia
Occupation	Actor

Personal life

Alan Cassell was born in Manchester, England but grew up in Birmingham.[2] Cassell was of a young age when his mother was admitted to the Rubery Lunatic Asylum after she suffered brain damage following a visit to a dentist.[2] It is believed the dentist had left the gas on for too long which caused the brain damage.[2]

Cassell worked as a motor trimmer in an Austin Motor Company car factory in Birmingham during the 1950s. He also did national service, although a senior officer convinced him not to enlist in the Korean War.[2]

After meeting a woman called Rosina, they married and in 1957 emigrated to Perth in Western Australia as "Ten Pound Poms", where he continued his work as a motor trimmer before moving to the sales department.[2]

From 1983, Cassell lived in Victoria.[2]

He was a prominent member of the Save Albert Park movement, after it was first proposed the Australian Grand Prix would relocate to the area where Cassell would walk his dogs.[2]

In his later years, Cassell was diagnosed with dementia and lived in an aged care facility at Kyneton where he died on 30 August 2017 at the age of 85.[1][3]

After Cassell's death, Australian film director Bruce Beresford placed an obituary in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald in which he described Cassell as "one of the most gifted actors I have had the privilege to work with - and one of the most charming."[2]

Career

He commenced his acting career in Western Australia when he and his friend signed up for acting classes hosted by the Patch Theatre Company, which began his career as a stage actor.[2] His first role was a doctor who said two words, but he was soon playing the lead in subsequent productions.[2]

Cassell became heavily involved with promoting theatre in Perth and established his own theatre called "Hole in the Wall".[2] When Edgar Metcalfe was brought out to Australia to run The Playhouse Theatre, he began casting Cassell and the two became good friends.[2]

He won "Best Actor of the Year" for his role in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. He later worked for the Sydney Theatre Company and the Melbourne Theatre Company. He was in the original cast of Away, which toured to New York.

Cassell also played Boss Finley in Sweet Bird of Youth with Lauren Bacall for the Sydney Theatre Company, stepping in after actor originally cast in the role, Frank Wilson, suffered a heart attack.[1]

Cassell was one of the actors who worked in Beresford's early Australian films after moving to the eastern states to audition for Beresford and Hector Crawford.[2]

His film credits included: Money Movers, Cathy's Child (for which he was nominated for Best Actor at the 1979 Australian Film Institute Awards), Squizzy Taylor, Breaker Morant, Puberty Blues, The Club, The Honourable Wally Norman and Strange Bedfellows.[1]

Cassell's television roles included: The Drifter, Falcon Island, Taurus Rising, Special Squad, The Flying Doctors, The Power, The Passion, Blue Heelers, SeaChange, Stingers and MDA.[4][1]

Cassell was recognised at the 1979 Sammy Awards for his role in Cathy's Child.[5]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1975	Plugg	Herman Cavanagh
1975	The Olive Tree
1978	Money Movers	Sammy Ross
1979	Cathy's Child	Dick Wordley
1980	Arlequim	Mr. Porter
1980	Breaker Morant	Lord Kitchener
1980	The Club	Gerry Cooper
1981	Puberty Blues	Mr. Vickers
1982	The Highest Honor	Lt. Ted Carse
1982	Squizzy Taylor	Det. Brophy
1982	The Dark Room	Ray Sangster
1983	The Settlement	Lohan
1986	The Big Hurt	Blake
1987	Belinda	Belinda's father
2003	The Honourable Wally Norman	Willy Norman
2004	Strange Bedfellows	Stan Rogers	(final film role)

References

External links

• Alan Cassell at IMDb

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