Sydney Leicester Conabere (8 July 1918 – 15 July 2008) was an Australian actor and puppeter.[1] He was notable for his work in theatre, film and television drama in a career spanning more than fifty years. In 1962 Conabere won the Logie award for Best Actor, for his performance in the television play The One Day of the Year.[2]
Conabere was born in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray on 8 July 1918 and worked prolifically in the industry starting out as a stage actor with Gregan McMahon in 1938, in particularly he worked with the Melbourne Theatre Company[1][3] and Melbourne Little Theatre, sharing the stage (and applause) with Irene Mitchell in, for example, Lilian Hellman's The Little Foxes.[4]
Conabere had an extensive career as a character actor from the 1950s to the 2000s,[1] regularly appearing in popular Australian television serials, including Emergency, Matlock Police and Homicide. He worked for a short period in the United Kingdom, appearing in the drama serials Z Cars and Sherlock Holmes,[5] the comedy Please Sir!, and in the crime film Man of Violence.[6]
In the 1980s Conabere reached a wider international audience, making occasional appearances in two long running Australian soap operas, in Neighbours as Dan Ramsay[7] and as Doug Palmer in Sons and Daughters.[8][9]
Sydney Conabere died in Sydney, Australia on 15 July 2008, aged 90.[1]
