Alan Hopgood

Alan John Hopgood AM (29 September 1934 – 19 March 2022), also known as Alan Hopwood, was an Australian actor, producer, and writer. He wrote the screenplay for the 1972 film Alvin Purple and made appearances in television shows such as Bellbird, Prisoner and Neighbours.

Early life

Hopgood was born in Launceston, Tasmania, and grew up in the state. He acted in several dramatic roles in his childhood, making his legimiate debut aged 12 in The Winslow Boy in Hobart.

Career

Scriptwriting and screenwriting 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. 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.

Screen actor: Television and film

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).

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) 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.

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.

Honours

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.

Personal life 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). He often toured giving humorous lectures on men's health issues.

Filmography

Film

Television

As writer Year Title Role Type 1963 And the Big Men Fly Writer TV movie 1964 Barley Charlie Writer TV series, season 1 (7 episodes) 1967 Bellbird Writer TV series 1968 The World of Seekers Writer TV movie 1969 The Cheerful Cuckold Writer TV movie (from Australian Plays) 1973 The Barry Crocker Comedy Hour Writer TV special 1973 Alvin Purple Screenplay Feature film 1974 And the Big Men Fly Writer TV series, season 1 (6 episodes) 1974 Alvin Rides Again Screenplay Feature film 1975 The True Story of Eskimo Nell Writer Feature film 1976 Alvin Purple Writer / creator TV series, season 1 (13 episodes) 1979 Gulpilil: Man of Two Worlds Writer TV movie 1979 The Prophecies of Nostradamus Writer Feature film 1980 The Quick Brown Fox Writer Short film 1981 The Man Who Saw Tomorrow Screenplay Feature film 1981 And Here Comes Bucknuckle Writer TV series, season 1 (6 episodes) 1981 Pacific Banana Screenplay Feature film 1981 The Cliffhanger Writer Short TV movie 1981 The Bush Bunch: 1.1 the Cliffhanger Writer TV movie 1982 Breakfast in Paris Screenplay (credited as Morris Dalton) Feature film 1982 Prisoner Writer TV series, season 4 (1 episode) 1983 A Slice of Life Screenplay Feature film 1985 Fountain of Youth Writer TV movie 1985 From Opera with Love Writer TV movie 1988–91 The Flying Doctors Writer TV series, seasons 3-5 & 9 (6 episodes) 1989 Sugar and Spice Writer TV series, season 1 (8 episodes) 1989–91 Pugwall Scriptwriter TV series, seasons 1 & 2 (42 episodes) 1990 Flair Writer TV miniseries (2 episodes) 1991 Chances Writer TV series, season 1 (3 episodes) 1994 Blue Heelers Writer TV series, season 1 (1 episodes) 1998–01 Neighbours Writer TV series, seasons 14–17 (22 episodes)

Theatre

As actor Year Title Role Type 1947 Saint Joan Playhouse, Hobart 1953 Slaves of Duty Puckapunyal Army Base 1953 The Shoemaker's Holiday Lord Mayor of London University of Melbourne 1956 Of Mice and Men George University of Melbourne 1956 The Madwoman of Chaillot The Rag Picker University of Melbourne 1956 Golden Boy University of Melbourne 1956 The Troublemakers University of Melbourne 1956 Thieves' Carnival Harlequin University of Melbourne 1957 Much Ado About Nothing University of Melbourne 1957 Arsenic and Old Lace Lieutenant Rooney University of Melbourne 1957 A View from the Bridge First Officer / Neighbour University of Melbourne 1957 Speak of the Devil University of Melbourne 1958 The Making of Moo William University of Melbourne 1958 A Hatful of Rain Polo Pope University of Melbourne 1958 Lola Montez Smith University of Melbourne, Her Majesty's Theatre, Brisbane, Elizabethan Theatre 1958 The Threepenny Opera Smith University of Melbourne 1958 Look Back in Anger Cliff Lewis Elizabethan Theatre 1959 Marcus University of Melbourne with The Marlowe Society 1960 Long Day's Journey into Night Edmund Tyrone St Martins Theatre 1961 Stop Press Phillip Street Theatre 1962 The Fantasticks Narrator Russell Street Theatre 1963 The Man Who Came to Dinner Banjo Russell Street Theatre 1963-65 And the Big Men Fly J.J. Forbes Russell Street Theatre, Arts Theatre Adelaide, Wangaratta Town Hall, Broken Hill Town Hall, Playhouse Perth, Albury, Theatre Royal Hobart, Twelfth Night Theatre 1964 After the Fall Quentin Russell Street Theatre 1964 Night of the Auk University of Melbourne 1965 Entertaining Mr Sloane Russell Street Theatre 1965 Bandicoot on a Burnt Ridge Russell Street Theatre 1965 Tiny Alice Butler University of Melbourne 1965 Inadmissible Evidence University of Melbourne 1965 The Homecoming Lenny University of Melbourne 1966 A Break in the Music Derek Playhouse Theatre Perth 1966 The Owl and the Pussycat Russell Street Theatre 1967 The Servant of Two Masters Truffaldino Russell Street Theatre 1968 The Crucible Giles Corey Russell Street Theatre, Canberra Theatre, Tasmania 1968 Three Sisters Captain Solyony Russell Street Theatre 1968 Everything in the Garden Russell Street Theatre 1969 Henry IV, Part 1 Poins Octagon Theatre Perth, Murdoch Court Melbourne 1986 A Kind of Justice Masonic Hall, Perth 1993-94 Emperor of the Ghetto Rumkowski Fairfax Studio Melbourne, Lion Theatre Adelaide with Bay Street Productions 1995 It's My Party (And I'll Die if I Want To) Arts Theatre Adelaide 1997 For Better, for Worse Des Chapel Off Chapel with Bay Street Productions 2007 Four Funerals in One Day Clarrie Bay Street Productions 2007-08 Visiting Mr. Green Mr Green Whitehorse Centre, Drum Theatre Dandenong, Kingston Arts Centre Moorabbin, Clocktower Centre Moonee Ponds 2008 The Peppercorn Tree Jonah 2008 Never Too Old Fred Monash University, Chapel Off Chapel with Bay Street Productions 2012 Hear Me Doctor International Incident Disclosure Conference with Bay Street Productions 2017 Never Too Old Fred at ACMI, Federation Square for Melbourne International Comedy Festival with Bay Street Productions 2019 Never Too Old Fred Glen Eira Town Hall for Glen Eira Storytelling Festival with Bay Street Productions 2020 The Carer George Parker Online with The Sugden Society with Bay Street Productions

As writer / director / crew Year Title Role Type 1957 Beauty and the Beast Stage manager University of Melbourne 1959 Marcus Playwright University of Melbourne 1961 Stop Press Lyricist Phillip Street Theatre 1963-65 And the Big Men Fly Playwright Russell Street Theatre, Arts Theatre Adelaide, Wangaratta Town Hall, Broken Hill Town Hall, Playhouse Perth, Albury, Theatre Royal Hobart, Twelfth Night Theatre 1964 The Golden Legion of Cleaning Women Playwright Russell Street Theatre 1965-66 The Golden Legion of Cleaning Women Playwright Burnley Theatre Richmond, Camberwell 1966 Private Yuk Objects Playwright Mildura, Russell Street Theatre, Phillip Theatre, Mildura Arts Centre 1967 Terribly Terribly University of California 1967 Monkey Tricks Playwright Playhouse Canberra 1967 And the Big Men Fly Playwright Playhouse Canberra 1967-68 The Golden Legion of Cleaning Women Playwright Pymble Community Hall, Adelaide Teachers College, Twelfth Night Theatre 1970 And the Big Men Fly Playwright Scott Theatre, Adelaide 1973 And the Big Men Fly Playwright La Boite Theatre 1974 Terribly Terribly Playwright Monash University 1976 And the Big Men Fly Playwright SGIO Theatre 1977 The Golden Legion of Cleaning Women Playwright Mountview Theatre Macedon, Arts Theatre Brisbane 1980-83 And the Big Men Fly Playwright Victorian country tour, Arts Theatre Brisbane, Arts Theatre Adelaide, Tilley Recreation Park Adelaide, Brown's Mart Theatre Darwin with Bay Street Productions 1982 The Golden Legion of Cleaning Women Playwright Nerang, Newcastle 1986 The Golden Legion of Cleaning Women; Out of the Frying Pan; A Kind of Justice Playwright Masonic Hall Perth 1988 And the Big Men Fly Playwright Russell Street Theatre with Bay Street Productions 1970 Ritual Playwright Majestic Cinemas Sydney 1992 Petrov: The Musical PlaywrIght Melbourne Concert Hall 1993-94 Emperor of The Ghetto Adaptor Fairfax Studio Melbourne, Lion Theatre Adelaide with Bay Street Productions 1994 And the Big Men Fly Playwright Theatre 62, Adelaide with Bay Street Productions 1997 For Better for Worse Playwright Chapel Off Chapel with Bay Street Productions 1998 The Golden Legion of Cleaning Women Playwright Harbour Theatre, Shellharbour 2001 The Golden Legion of Cleaning Women Playwright Tweed Heads Civic and Cultural Centre 2002 And the Big Men Fly Playwright Tower Arts Centre, Adelaide with Bay Street Productions 1999-2004 The Carer Playwright Australian national tour with Bay Street Productions 2005 Six Degrees of Diabetes Playwright Bay Street Productions 2005 Red Dust Diva - the Musical Writer Chapel Off Chapel 2006 A Pill, a Pump and a Needle Playwright Bay Street Productions 2005-07 Weary - the Story of Sir Edward Dunlop Playwright Australian national tour 2007 Four Funerals in One Day Playwright Bay Street Productions 2008 Never Too Old Director / Playwright Monash University, Chapel Off Chapel with Bay Street Productions 2008 Wicked Widows Director / Playwright Monash University, Chapel Off Chapel 2009 My Dog Has Stripes Playwright Fortyfivedownstairs with Bay Street Productions 2011 The Empty Chair Playwright Bay Street Productions 2012 Hear Me Playwright Bay Street Productions 2014 Do You Know Me Playwright Bay Street Productions