Home And Away Soap Opera Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Russell Kiefel

Roy O'Neale the morning after a bender

Russell Kiefel (1951-2016) played Roy O'Neale (father of Tug) in 1993 and 1994. In later years he became known for his role as Russell Brennan on Neighbours. He died on 20th November 2016.

Pre Home And Away career[]

Russell Kiefel was born in 1951 in Tully, Queensland. He graduated from NIDA in 1974 and worked mainly as a theatre actor. His first TV role was in 1977 as Pete in The Singer And The Dancer. This feature is notable for being one of director Gillian Armstrong's earliest works. In 1985 he appeared in the TV movie Call Me Mr. Brown which didn't see the light of day until 1990.

Home And Away 1993 1994[]

Russell joined the cast of H&A as Roy O'Neale in 1993, taking over from Mervyn Drake, who played him in 1992. He played the character intermittently in 1993/1994, appearing in 17 episodes.

After Home And Away[]

Naybers russell brennan

Russell in Neighbours as Russell Brennan.

Russell's TV career took off after his time on Home and Away. In the years following his turn as Roy O'Neale he had guest roles in Heartbreak High, Wildside, Water Rats, Blue Heelers, Stingers, Underbelly and McLeod's Daughters amongst others. After starring in the TV movie Fireflies, he was cast in the spin-off TV series.

In 2015 Russell was cast as Russell Brennan in Neighbours. His character was killed off in 2017, a year after Russell's death. After leaving Neighbours he appeared in the TV mini-series Childhood's End and in 3 episodes of Secret City.

He died on the 20th November 2016 after falling ill backstage during a performance in Darwin.[1] He was 65 years old.

Refs[]

Advertisement