ALL Saints actor Mark Priestley is dead, it was revealed today.
The much-loved actor, 32, who played doctor Dan Goldman, is believed to have killed himself in Sydney while suffering depression.
Cast members of the hit Channel Seven medical drama are in mourning after the news was broken today.
Priestley was behind a huge ratings surge for the show on Tuesday night after his character finally married that of fellow star Jolene Anderson, after a lengthy on-off screen relationship.
The episode topped the ratings in Sydney for the night.
The sudden death is the second recent trauma to hit All Saints, after actress Virginia Gay was mugged in Sydney - allegedly by two thugs accused of later killing a man.
And it comes months after Australia's TV community was rocked by the Sydney suicide of Channel Ten newsreader Charmaine Dragun.
The official All Saints website biography for Priestley says: "Mark's first big TV break was when he appeared in the The Farm in 2000 and met director Kate Woods. "She gave him a key role in her mini-series Changi in 2001 and since then he's been no stranger to television.
"Mark's played a semi-regular role in The Secret Life of Us and appeared in Blue Heelers before his first on-air appearance in All Saints in July 2004.
"Mark also has some notable theatre credits. He worked with the famed Bell Shakespeare Company where he played Silvio in The Servant of Two Masters as well as with The Sydney Theatre Company in Major Barbara, both in 2003.
"Born in Perth, he has always wanted to act and from a young age entertained his school friends with his classroom gags. Mark moved to Sydney in 1997 to study at NIDA and appeared in many student productions before graduating in 1999.
"Mark lives in Sydney and in his spare time loves to play golf, boules, tennis and go to the theatre."
Priestley's last episode for All Saints was called Best Laid Plans. It was screened this week and featured his character's marriage.
"Dan feels helpless when a pre-wedding gag organised by his brother goes wrong and Dan finds himself tied to a tree while a horrific accident occurs right in front of him. Extricating himself from his bonds, Dan does his best to keep the casualties alive and calm while he waits for help.
"A woman has been badly injured and her husband's panic complicates Dan's attempts to assess and administer first aid to her. The van carrying the goons who "kidnapped" him is a mess and Dan has to rally the less injured drunks to help him.
"On arrival in the ED, Dan pitches in to help, while the rest of the All Saints team deal with the casualties. The woman requires emergency surgery but it's out of hours and the surgical team on call will take some time to mobilise. Dan knows the delay could spell the difference between life and death... and he does what he has to do to ensure a good outcome.
"Meanwhile, Erica has been notified of what's happened, and races into the ED to ensure her Groom is okay. It's obvious he's not and when Dan elects to postpone the wedding, the race is on to change his mind about getting married.
"Will the day's events be too difficult for him to overcome? Or will love prevail?"
If you need help and support contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or get help online from Sane Australia
Source: The Australian
I still can't believe that this has happened. Mark was a good actor and I always thought that Dan Goldman would be on All Saints until the very end. Depression is something that no-one should ever go through but sadly people still won't talk about it so those who suffer from it must try their best to live their lives to the best of their abilities.
I never got the chance to meet him but judging by the many comments I have read, Mark seemed to be a very down-to-earth kind of guy.
After reading many of the news reports covering Mark's death, it looks like he was upset over the break-up of his long-time love, playwright and actor Kate Mulvany. Hopefully his family, friends and fellow co-stars will be able to remember the good times as no-one should ever blame themselves!!
REST IN PEACE MARK PRIESTLY, WE'RE GOING MISS YA MATE!!!!!!!
Here is one of many tributes for Mark on YouTube:
2 comments:
I don't know who this actor was, haven't seen any of his work. But I'm very sad to hear that another has passed on before his time, and being that it was a depression that got him to a point of no return is just heartbreaking! It's too bad that his close circle of friends and family couldn't see that he was in a dark place. This must be so difficult for them. My deepest sympathy for him and his family.
I live in Europe and only found out today about Marks utimely and devestating death. It saddens me greatly that he felt he had no way out but to take his own life. Suicide is heartbreaking for those left behind and unfortunately is becoming far too common. My sincere sympathy goes out to his family and friends.
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