Lionel Skeggins
| Lionel Skeggins | |||||||||
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| Shortland Street character | |||||||||
| Portrayed by | John Leigh | ||||||||
| Duration | 1993, 1994–99, 2017 | ||||||||
| First appearance | 2 November 1993 | ||||||||
| Last appearance | 25 May 2017 | ||||||||
| Introduced by | Tony Holden (1993, 1994) Maxine Fleming (2017) |
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| Book appearances | Kirsty and Lionel - Shortland Street Books (1996) | ||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||
| Occupation | Veterinarian (until 1994) Owner of Strombelli cafe (1995–99) |
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| Father | Wilbur Skeggins |
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| Wife |
Kirsty Knight (1995–98) Mackenzie Choat (1999) |
| Sons | Luke Billingham |
| Grandsons | Unnamed grandson |
Lionel Skeggins is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street who was portrayed by John Leigh. His casting on the show began in late 1993 as a guest role and ended in early 1999 as a fan favourite regular. Lionel returned for a cameo in the show's 25th Anniversary in 2017.
John Leigh auditioned for the role in 1993 but was considered risky due to his relatively "old" age and lack of TV experience. Leigh recalls the casting director pondering why he had no television experience at 27 years old and concluding, "'He musn't be very good!'". However, after landing a 2-week recurring role, the character proved popular and was eventually brought back the following year as a core cast member. He ended up staying for 5 years. Leigh's final scene in 1999 saw Lionel washed off a rock by a large wave. He described his characters fate, "Murray Keane was directing, he said, 'you're in this shot and you're not in the next one' and there was a big woosh." Lionel made his final appearance on 12 March 1999. In 2012 producers considered bringing the character back in a brief cameo for the shows 20th anniversary but ultimately decided against it. Leigh reprised his role as Lionel for a cameo in the shows 25th anniversary in 2017.
Lionel arrived briefly in 1993 to attend best friend - Leonard Dodds' (Marton Csokas) wedding. He returned in 1994 when Leonard and wife - Gina (Josephine Davison) gave him the hospital cafe's management contract. Lionel fell in love with Kirsty Knight (Angela Dotchin) but lost out on her affections to Greg (Tim Balme). However, by the end of the year, Kirsty and Lionel had gotten together and were engaged. Despite Stuart's (Martin Henderson) attempts to stop the marriage, the two married in early 1995. Lionel went into a coma following digesting bad drugs from Darryl's (Mark Ferguson) company and his marriage with Kirsty tightened. However, after the two moved into an old house, the marriage quickly deteriorated and they separated. By the end of the year the two were completely over when Kirsty suffered amnesia and returned to Greg.
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