Alan John HopgoodAM (29 September 1934 – 19 March 2022), also known asAlan Hopwood, was an Australian actor, producer, and writer. He wrote the screenplay for the 1972 filmAlvin Purple and made appearances in television shows such asBellbird,Prisoner andNeighbours.

Hopgood was born inLaunceston, 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 theUniversity of Melbourne, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (Hon) and a Diploma of Education. His first play,Marcus, was produced atMelbourne University while he was working as a school teacher. He left teaching to write full-time and start his acting career.^[1]

Hopgood's first successful play,And the Big Men Fly, was aboutAustralian rules football and was produced in 1963 by theUnion Theatre Repertory Company at theRussell Street Theatre in Melbourne with scripts by Brad Hopgood.^[2] The play was adapted for TV by theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation in 1973 and also a telemovie. In 1964, he followed withThe Golden Legion of Cleaning Women. In 1966 he producedPrivate Yuk Objects, which he said was the first play anywhere in the world on the subject of theVietnam War.

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

Hopgood was an actor with theMelbourne Theatre Company for ten years and was an early 'soap' star inBellbird, 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) andNeighbours asJack Lassiter (a role he reprised in August 2013).^[3]

As an actor, his cinema credits includeMy Brilliant Career (1979),The Blue Lagoon (1980),Roadgames (1981),Evil Angels (1988, released asA Cry in the Dark outside of Australia and New Zealand)^[4] andThe Man from Snowy River II (1988).

He worked with a large number of actors includingFrank Thring,Meryl Streep,Brooke Shields,Sam Neill andJudy Davis.^[5]

In late 2021, Hopgood appeared in an exclusive interview for the officialYouTube channelTalking Prisoner, in which he discussed his life and career. The episode was published in January 2022.^[6]

Hopgood wonAWGIE awards forThe Cheerful Cuckold andThe Bush Bunch and writing several feature films includingAlvin Purple and the documentariesThe Prophecies of Nostradamus andThe Fountain of Youth.

Hopgood was awarded the A.M. (Member of theOrder 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.^[7]

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).^[8]

Alan Hopgood developedprostate cancer and published a book on the experience titledSurviving Prostate Cancer: One Man's Journey, which was widely praised.^[9][10] He ofter toured giving humorous lectures on men's health issues.^[5]

Hopgood died from prostate cancer at the age of 87 on 19 March 2022 at a hospital in Melbourne.^[11][12]

^[14]

• Alan Hopgood atIMDb
• Creative Representation - Alan Hopgood
• Bay Street Productions
• Holly's Heroes
• Alan Hopgood atAustLit
• Alan Hopgood discography atDiscogs

• 1934 births
• 2022 deaths
• Australian dramatists and playwrights
• Australian male film actors
• Australian screenwriters
• Australian male soap opera actors
• Australian male stage actors
• Deaths from cancer in Victoria (state)
• Deaths from prostate cancer in Australia
• People from Launceston, Tasmania
• University of Melbourne alumni
• 20th-century Australian male actors
• 21st-century Australian male actors
• Members of the Order of Australia

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