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Dennis Coard now

Dennis Coard (2021)

Dennis Coard (born 4th July 1950, Belfast, Northern Ireland [1] ) played Michael Ross from 1990 to 1996. Michael became the second husband of Pippa Fletcher (Debra Lawrance) and continued the tradition of fostering youngsters in need of a home. His character was killed off in 1996. Offscreen, Dennis has been married to Debra Lawrance (Pippa) since 1992.

Pre H&A career[]

Return Home

Return Home (1990)

Dennis Coard was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. When he was 11[2] his family migrated to Glenelg, South Australia, making the lengthy journey by boat. He worked for many years as a technician for Telecom (the precursor of Telstra) in South Australia but the desire to become an actor was always in the back of his mind. He began to act in amateur stage productions in his spare time and finally quit his "proper job" at the ripe old age of 35. He trained as an actor at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) . [3] After three years of study, he landed the lead role in Ray Argall's critically acclaimed film Return Home (1990) [4] alongside Ben Mendelsohn and Frankie J. Holden.

H&A[]

Dennis joined the cast of Home and Away in 1990, first appearing in Episode 651 (22 Oct 1990). The character of Michael was effectively a replacement for Tom Fletcher (Roger Oakley) who had been killed off some months earlier. In the meantime, Vanessa Downing who had played Pippa Fletcher since the beginning of H&A had decided to leave the show. The role of Pippa was recast, with Debra Lawrance taking on the role. While Michael and the new Pippa were falling in love onscreen, the same thing was happening to the actors offscreen. Dennis and Debra quietly married on 29th February 1992.

In 1995, the producers decided to axe the character of Michael. This came as quite a shock to Dennis (and Debra) at the time.[5] Dennis was given 6 months notice that his character would be leaving and he asked that Michael be killed off. He made his final appearance in April 1996 (Episode 1912) when his character was drowned in a swollen river. He has joked that he was offered the chance to return as a ghost but after naming a high price, heard nothing more[6].

After H&A[]

Since leaving H&A, Dennis has continued to act, mainly in theatre. Some of the TV shows he made guest appearances on include Five Bedrooms, Water Rats, Blue Heelers, MDA, The Doctor Blake Mysteries, Nowhere Boys, Rosehaven and Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. He paid homage to his Northern Irish roots during his three appearances on Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, playing a priest called Fr. O'Leary who speaks with a strong Belfast accent. He has also had small parts in Hollywood films San Andreas and Predestination. He had a recurring role in the first two series of Five Bedrooms[7] He also appeared in Rachel Griffith's film Ride Like A Girl as a racehorse owner.

In August 2013 Dennis suffered a heart attack [8] while playing football with an over-45s soccer team. Luckily for him, there was a defibrillator close by and he was saved by two team-mates who knew how to do CPR.

He continues to perform a self-penned, autobiographical one-man stage show called The Fall of the Roman Umpire. His personal guarantee with each show is "If you don't laugh, you get your money back". It's not clear if this has ever happened! He has also written sequels to this play with pun-tastic titles such as "The Umpire Strikes Back – May The Farce Be With You", The Farce Awakens and "In Search of the Lost Coard". He also wrote a play called "Life's a Gamble" which may not have had the same money-back guarantee, given that its subject matter was gambling.

Ambassadors - Dennis and Debra

Dennis and Debra and a plant

Dennis and Debra live in the Yarra Valley near Melbourne and they have two grown-up children.

Memorable Info[]

  • Because Dennis and Debra married on a leap year day (29th February 1992) they only have a proper wedding anniversary once every four years.
  • Having been born on American Independence Day (July 4th), he shares his birthdate with fellow Home and Away star Ray Meagher.
  • Dennis has a son from a previous marriage whose name is....Michael.
  • One of his favourite tipples is a pint of Guinness

Refs[]

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