Frank Whitten New Zealand actor (Outrageous Fortune), died from cancer he was , 68,

Frank Whitten  was a New Zealand television actor. He was more recently known for playing Ted "Grandpa" West in the New Zealand television show Outrageous Fortune died from cancer he was , 68.

( 1942 – 12 February 2011)

Life and career

Frank Whitten grew up in the Waikato Region in the 1950s. Around 1963, "with very little experience and even less money", he left for England to become an actor. Over the next eighteen years Whitten worked in a children's theatre company that developed plays with, and for, working-class children. He also spent time as an improvisational tutor at leading British drama school the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
In 1982 Whitten returned to New Zealand and began acting in theatre. Two years later, he appeared as an exploitative guru of a commune in Trespasses, the movie spin off of police show Mortimer's Patch. The same year, Whitten played the enigmatic farmer who strides into the isolated rural world of a young child in Vigil, the first feature directed by Vincent Ward. In the mid eighties he joined the serial Heroes, playing roadie to a group of young musicians. He followed this role by playing one of the main roles on historical drama Heart of the High Country, based on the novel by English author Elizabeth Gowans.^{[citation needed]}
Whitten had a role in the short film Accidents, and small roles in the romance Arriving Tuesday, Zilch, The Returning, and two international thrillers, Chill Factor and Hot Target.

Television

On television, he made guest appearances on Erebus: The Aftermath, Gloss, The Chosen, The Ray Bradbury Theatre and Mysterious Island, the live action remake of Peter Pan and the award-winning miniseries The Leaving of Liverpool, which followed two English children transplanted to Australia after World War 2. In 2007, his ongoing role on Outrageous Fortune won him a best supporting actor award at the Air New Zealand Screen Awards. He also played the older man in the Speights Southern Man advertisements well known for his saying, "Good on ya, mate!"

Trifecta

Frank Whitten penned the stage drama Trifecta.

Death

Frank Whitten died on 12 February 2011, aged 68.^[1][2] The official media statement stated that "[he] died peacefully in his sleep"^[3] following a short battle with cancer^[4]

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