Leslie Dayman, one of Australia’s longest-working actors who starred in E Street and Prisoner, has died. He was 85.
Performing on stage and screen across five decades, Dayman, who ventured into Australian soap operas following a role in the 1960s crime drama series Homicide, died on October 20. No cause of death has been given.
His former co-star Mez Howard confirmed Dayman’s death on social media, writing: “Rest in Peace beautiful Les Dayman. Couldn’t have wished for a better on-screen dad in my E Street days.”
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Howard continued: “Your gorgeous eyes always reminded me of my dad’s eyes so it was so lovely to play your daughter. PS. Interesting fun fact – we shared the same birthday!”
Dayman is survived by his wife of 62 years, Rose Dayman, and his sons Nicholas and Timothy, born to his ex-wife Diane Chamberlain.
Born in Victoria in 1938, Dayman started his career in acting in 1955 with theatre roles, before landing his first role – as detective Bill Hudson in Homicide – on the small screen.
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Dayman, who was the son of VFL footballer Les Dayman, then went on to star in Sons and Daughters, Prisoner and E Street in the 1980s and 1990s.
He also worked as a director and narrator.
It was in E Street where he played Senior Sergeant George Sullivan, appearing in all but one episode of the series from 1989 to 1993.
He previously joked to EdenStreet.net that at the height of his fame on the soap opera, he would still be mistaken for other actors.
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“One of the more hilarious consequences of public recognition was the fact I was often mistaken for Brian Wenzel, who was in the long running TV show A Country Practice and vice versa,” he told the outlet.
He continued: “We’re about the same age, both playing police sergeants in small communities – we both came from Adelaide in South Australia, where we were in amateur theatre back in the early 60s.”
Dayman also nabbed roles on the big screen, notably starring in Gallipoli, as well as television’s Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Stingers, Blue Heelers and, ironically, A Country Practice.
His last credited acting appearance was in 2008 in All Saints.