by FilmInk Staff
Kevin James Dobson, the Australian film and television director whose work spanned continents and decades, died on 21 February in Lilydale, Victoria. He was 73.
Born in Manchester, England, to Irishman John and his English wife Margaret, he emigrated as a ‘ten pound Pom’ with his family to Melbourne, Australia, when he was 14 years old, a move that set him on an extraordinary path to a life in film and television around the world.
Starting out in the sound then cutting rooms at Crawford Productions, Dobson learned his craft as an editor before moving into directing his first episode at the age of 19, and where his eye for character and story quickly became evident. In Australia, he helped shape a formative era of film and television drama with projects such as The Mango Tree, Gone to Ground, The Last Outlaw, I Can Jump Puddles and Squizzy Taylor, and won a Penguin Award for his work on Young Ramsay.
In a remarkable twist of fate, he directed the very last episode of the iconic show Homicide, the TV show he used to watch with his mum when he was boy in England, never dreaming he would end up behind the camera.
He went on to direct the mini-series Return to Eden, and Tanamera, Lion of Singapore and Disney series Five Mile Creek, along with other popular shows across the commercial networks and the ABC.
Dobson’s career later took him and his family overseas to reside in Los Angeles for over twenty years and from there he directed the feature Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain for Universal Studios and worked on international projects such as Miracle in the Wilderness, Acapulco H.E.A.T., Ponderosa and The Thorn Birds: The Missing Years.
Across these and other productions, he collaborated with many leading actors, among them Geraldine Fitzgerald, Nicole Kidman, Abbie Cornish, Minnie Driver, Kim Cattrall, Christina Ricci, Ali MacGraw and Kris Kristofferson, as well as a long list of Australian favourites including Jacki Weaver, Michael Caton, Rod Mullinar, Jack Thompson, John Jarrett, Sigrid Thornton and Tony Bonner, just to name a few.
He produced and directed feature films such as The Virgin of Juarez and Savages Crossing. He was respected and adored by actors and crews alike.
Behind the professional achievements was a man deeply loyal to the people he loved. Kevin was a devoted father, a protective and caring brother, and a generous friend and mentor to many in the industry. He was a brilliant, complex, larger than life character, quick with a dry joke and big laugh, happiest in spirited conversation, and fiercely proud of those closest to him.
Kevin is survived by his cherished sons, Harry and Jonathan; his siblings, Chris, Margie, Irene, Jacqui and Michael; their partners, nieces and nephews and an army of friends and colleagues who loved him around the world.
