Ian Smith (actor)
| Ian Smith | |
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Ian Smith in 2001
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| Born |
19 June 1938 Melbourne, Victoria |
| Occupation | Television actor television producer screenwriter. |
| Years active | 1966 – present |
Ian Smith (born 19 June 1938) is an Australian soap opera character actor, television producer (associate) and television screenwriter, best known today for his long-running itinerant role as the caring, kindly coffee shop owner Harold Bishop in the soap opera Neighbours, since 1987, when the series was taken over by Network Ten.
Before appearing on Neighbours, Smith had previously acted in guest roles in drama series such as the Crawford Productions police dramas Homicide, Division 4 and Matlock Police. He had a regular role in long-running Australian television serial Bellbird, made a guest appearance as a police detective in The Box in 1975, and had a semi-regular role in serial Prisoner. Smith was also script editor of Prisoner for most of its eight-year run. He became Associate Producer of Prisoner late in its run.
Smith featured in Series 11 of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! to set the camp-mates challenges. He did not join the camp-mates.
Smith became best known through his portrayal of Harold Bishop in the soap opera Neighbours from 1987 to 1991, and returning in 1996. He switched to recurring status from 2008 to 2009, becoming one of its longest serving characters.
In 2008, he revealed to the Daily Mail newspaper that his main decision for leaving Neighbours was the ongoing abuse that he received from yobs near his Melbourne home. He claimed that the abuse was so bad, he had to get the police involved. In his final Neighbours storyline, his character was diagnosed with cancer. Harold recovered after treatment and was written out by leaving to travel around Australia. For his portrayal of Harold, Smith received a nomination for a Gold Logie Award in 2009.
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