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

Early life Alan Cassell was born in Manchester, England but grew up in Birmingham. 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. It is believed the dentist had left the gas on for too long which caused the brain damage.

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

Career Cassell began working as an actor, when he and his friend signed up for acting classes hosted by the Patch Theatre Company in Western Australia, effectively kicking off his stage career. His first role was a doctor with a two-word speaking part, but he was soon playing the lead in subsequent productions. Cassell became heavily involved with promoting theatre in Perth and helped establish a theatre called The Hole in the Wall. When Edgar Metcalfe was brought out to Australia to run The Playhouse Theatre, he began casting Cassell and the two became good friends.

He won a Best Actor of the Year award 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. Cassell also played Boss Finlay in a 1986 production of Sweet Bird of Youth alongside Lauren Bacall, accepting the role after the actor originally cast in it, Frank Wilson, suffered a heart attack. He was in the original cast of Away, which toured to New York in 1988, together with a production of Summer of the Seventeenth Doll.

Cassell was one of the actors who worked in Bruce Beresford’s early Australian films after moving to the eastern states to audition for Beresford and Hector Crawford. His film credits included Money Movers, Cathy's Child, Squizzy Taylor, Breaker Morant, Puberty Blues, The Club, The Honourable Wally Norman and Strange Bedfellows.

After appearing in the short-lived soap opera Taurus Rising as Ben Drysdale and Network Ten's crime drama Special Squad in 1984, Cassell swore off joining any further long-running series following a run of bad luck with several projects. However, he signed up to play the recurring role of George Young in Neighbours, shortly before learning it too had been cancelled, albeit temporarily. Cassell believed he would have joined the show anyway, as the character was unlike any he had portrayed before. He had become known for his 'tough guy' image from working on Beresford's films, and he hoped the Neighbours role would show producers a different side to him.

Other television roles included The Drifter, Falcon Island, The Flying Doctors, The Power, The Passion, Blue Heelers, SeaChange, Stingers and MDA.

Cassell was recognised with a win at the 1979 Sammy Awards for his role in the film Cathy's Child. He was also nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role at the 1979 Australian Film Institute Awards.

Personal life and death Cassell was married to wife Rosina and together they emigrated to Perth, Western Australia in 1957 and had two sons.

From 1983, Cassell lived in Victoria. 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.

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. 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."

Awards Year Work Award Category Result Ref. 1968? A Day in the Death of Joe Egg Best Actor of the Year 1979 Cathy's Child Sammy Awards Best Film Actor Australian Film Institute Awards Best Actor in a Leading Role

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes1975 Plugg Herman Cavanagh The Olive Tree 1978 Money Movers Detective Sergeant Sammy Ross 1979 Cathy's Child Dick Wordley 1980 Harlequin Mr. Porter Breaker Morant Lord Kitchener The Club Gerry Cooper 1981 Puberty Blues Mr. Vickers 1982 The Highest Honor Lt. Ted Carse Squizzy Taylor Det. Brophy The Dark Room Ray Sangster 1983 The Settlement Lohan 1986 The Big Hurt Blake 1987 Belinda Belinda's father also known as Midnight Dancer 2003 The Honourable Wally Norman Willy Norman 2004 Strange Bedfellows Stan Rogers Final film role

Television Year Title Role Notes 1973 The Drifter James Halloran 1981 Falcon Island Jack Brady Series regular 1982 Taurus Rising Ben Drysdale Series regular 1984 Special Squad Det. Insp. Don Anderson Series regular 1985 Neighbours George Young Recurring role 1987 The Flying Doctors Robert Freeman Episode: "The Unluckiest Boy in Town" 1989 The Power, The Passion Dr Andrew Edmonds Series regular 1997 Blue Heelers Henry Biggins Episodes: "Sisterly Love" and "The Civil Dead" 1998–2000 SeaChange Harold Fitzwalter Seasons 1-3, series regular 2001 Halifax f.p. Doctor Wallace Episode: "Playing God"2003 Stingers George Lyndon Episode: "Your Cheating Heart" MDA Dr. Oscar Ricketson Episode: "A Reasonable Passion"

Theatre Year Title Role Notes 1961 All My Sons George Deever Patch Theatre, Perth 1962 A Taste of Honey Playhouse, Perth with Theatre 62, & National Theatre 1963 The Member of the Wedding Honey Camden Brown Playhouse, Perth with National Theatre 1964 Send Me No Flowers 1965 Rattle of a Simple Man Hole in the Wall Theatre, Perth 1966 Woman in a Dressing Gown 1967 The Homecoming 1968 A Day in the Death of Joe Egg 1970 You Can't Take It With You 1971 The Procurer 1972 Mirage Octagon Theatre, Perth with National Theatre 1973 It's All in the Mind Hole in the Wall Theatre, Perth 1975 Bedfellows 1976 A Man for All Seasons Playhouse, Perth with National Theatre The Gentle Hook Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Western Australian Theatre Company Mixed Doubles Hole in the Wall Theatre, Perth1977 How Does Your Garden Grow? Sam The Miser Valere Playhouse, Perth with National Theatre The Department Robby Absent Friends Colin Otherwise Engaged Stephen Hench Yesterday's News Roche Greenroom Theatre, Perth Going Home Jim Greenroom Theatre, Perth with National Theatre Bastardy / Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act Martello Towers Anthony Martello Hole in the Wall Theatre, Perth with National Theatre Of Mice and Men Carlson Playhouse, Perth with National Theatre The Brass Hat Lt Col Guy Holden1978 Richard II Henry Bolingbroke Miss Julie Jean Greenroom Theatre, Perth with National Theatre California Suite Hole in the Wall Theatre, Perth1979 No W.A.Y. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest R P McMurphy Night and Day Dick Wagner Playhouse, Perth with National Theatre The Three Sisters Alexandr Vershinin Suddenly at Home Sam Blaine No Man's Land Briggs The Little Foxes Horace Giddens1980 Betrayal Jerry The Same Square of Dust Keith Anderson Oliver! Bill Sykes1981 Stage Struck Robert Hole in the Wall Theatre, Perth Bodies Mervyn Court Napping 1983 Gossip from the Forest Matthias Erzberger Sydney Opera House with STC1986 Sweet Bird of Youth Boss Finlay Australian tour with Davis Morley Heartbreak House Playhouse, Melbourne with MTC 1986–1987 Away Studio Theatre, Melbourne with Playbox Theatre, Sydney Opera House with STC 1987 A Month of Sundays Playhouse, Perth with Western Australian Theatre Company 1988 Summer of the Seventeenth Doll & Away Pepsico Summerfare, New York with STC 1991 Educating Rita Subiaco Theatre Centre, Perth with Hole in the Wall Theatre, Perth 1992 Othello Gratiano Playhouse, Melbourne with MTC 1994 The Gift of the Gorgon Jarvis, Helen's father Russell St Theatre, Melbourne with MTC Source:

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