Michael Laurence

Michael Laurence (24 November 1935 - 23 March 2015) was an Australian actor, producer and scriptwriter best known for creating Return to Eden.

He began his career as a child actor on Sydney radio, before winning a scholarship at 18 to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, before appearing in theatre productions, including everything from Shakespearean roles to musicals.

He created, directed and starred in the Nine Network production The Godfathers, which won the Logie Award for Best Comedy in 1971. He worked on the popular serial Number 96, and other successful miniseries including the children's series The Lost Island, a 22-part story on Network Ten, Which Way Home, The Last Frontier and Shadow of the Cobra. His work, including more than 200-hour of commercial television, was sold to numerous countries.

In his later years he suffered from depression and illness, and wrote works on Joan Sutherland and Ian Gawler, but they never saw production.

He wrote an autobiography, Skeletons are Dancing, a comic look of his life from his spiritual journey and Eastern philosophy and follow of Swami Muktananda to Catholicism.

Select credits

• On the Hop (1967) - TV play
• The Godfathers (1971–72) - TV series
• Number 96 - various episodes
• Return to Eden (1983) - mini series - writer
• The Last Frontier (1986) - mini series
• Which Way Home (1991) - TV movie
• Shadow of the Cobra

External links

• Michael Laurence at IMDB
• Obituary at If Magazine
• Michael Laurence at AustLit
• Obituary at TV Tonight
• Obituary at Sydney Morning Herald