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He appeared in several major Australian movies, including Bruce Beresford's Don's Party (1976) and The Club (1980) and Peter Weir's Gallipoli (1981), but I've only just now caught up with the news that Harold Hopkins died on Sunday, December 11. I have Simon de Bruyn to thank, who posted the video above at Twitch, noting that, in 1998, Hopkins "took a role in a 25 minute low budget short film called Bloodlock, made by a young upcoming group of filmmakers called Blue Tongue Films. These days Blue Tongue are known as the outfit responsible for films such as Animal Kingdom, The Square and Hesher, and the upcoming Sundance opener Wish You Were Here. But back then they were just starting out in Sydney as filmmakers. The Blue Tongue team has decided to express their gratitude and resulting friendship with Hopkins by creating a wonderful video tribute." De Bruyn's also embedded Blooklock in that Twitch entry.

This week celebrated Australian actor Harold Hopkins passed away at the age of 67 after a battle with cancer. Hopkins had major roles in classic Australian movies including Don's Party, The Club and Gallipoli, and also supported upcoming Australian filmmakers. In 1998 he took a role in a 25 minute low budget short film called Bloodlock, made by a young upcoming group of filmmakers called Blue Tongue Films. These days Blue Tongue are known as the outfit responsible for films such as Animal Kingdom, The Square and Hesher, and the upcoming Sundance opener Wish You Were Here. But back then they were just starting out in Sydney as filmmakers. The Blue Tongue team has decided to express their gratitude and resulting friendship with Hopkins by creating a wonderful video tribute, below, to their friend...

Australian actor Harold Hopkins has died, aged 67.

The Gallipoli star passed away at a hospice in Sydney on Sunday after a battle with mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer.

Hopkins, who started his career as a carpenter, starred in a number of films throughout his time in the spotlight and is best remembered for roles in 1976's Don's Party and 1981 war film Gallipoli opposite Mel Gibson.

He most recently auditioned for a role in Baz Luhrmann's upcoming adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby earlier this year.

Australian actor Harold Hopkins has died at the age of 67. He passed away in a Sydney hospice during the early hours of Sunday morning (December 11) as a result of mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer. Born in the Queensland city of Toowoomba on March 6, 1944, Hopkins enrolled at acting school in Sydney alongside his twin brother John in the 1960s. He is best known to Australian audiences for his roles as womaniser Cooley in 1976 movie Don's Party and Les McCann in Peter Weir's First World War movie Gallipoli, released in 1981. Hopkins had auditioned for a role in Baz Luhrmann's forthcoming adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald movie The Great Gatsby earlier this year, Aap (more)...

Australian actor Harold Hopkins died on Saturday, aged 67 of asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma in a Sydney hospice.

Most recently Hopkins was seen in Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities as Melbourne gun dealer George Joseph and as Chester in the film The Clinic.

Hopkins also featured in Gallipoli (1981, dir: Peter Weir) as local bully Les McCann, the 1983 Mark Egerton film The Winds of Jarrah and Bruce Beresford’s 1976 film Don’s Party, alongside Graham Kennedy (pictured) and Ray Barrett.

The ABC reports that Hopkins recently auditioned for the role of Henry C Gatz, Gatsby’s estranged father, for Baz Luhrmann’s remake, just days after being diagnosed with cancer.

Hopkins is survived by his twin brother John and five other siblings, Michael, Naomi, Gregory, Suzanne and Margaret.

Harold Hopkins, who appeared in several important Australian movies including Gallipoli (right), The Year My Voice Broke, Don's Party, and The Club, died yesterday, Dec. 10, at Neringah Private Hospital in Wahroonga, north Sydney. According to reports, his death was caused by the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma.

Hopkins, who was 67, is supposed to have been exposed to the cancer right after finishing high school, while working as an apprentice carpenter sheeting asbestos in Queensland in the early 1960s.

Following on the footsteps of his twin brother John, Harold Hopkins (born on March 6, 1944, in Toowoomba, Queensland) graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1967. He then performed onstage and began his feature-film career in 1969, landing a supporting part in Michael Powell's Age of Consent, starring James Mason and Helen Mirren.

Film roles were sporadic throughout the 1970s — among those was an appearance in Bruce Beresford's comedy-drama Don's Party — though Hopkins...