Friends in Australia and overseas are paying tribute to actor Peter Hardy, after he was identified as the man who drowned at a popular beach in Western Australia last week.
Hardy, 66, was best known for playing Phil Rakich in McLeod’s Daughters, as well as roles in Chopper, Neighbours and the Mamma Mia! musical.
He was snorkelling at Fremantle’s South Beach last Thursday morning when he was reportedly pulled from the water unconscious. Bystanders performed CPRW until paramedics arrived, but Hardy was unable to be saved.
Musician Andy Burns led the tributes to the Australian-born star, saying “a dear friend was taken from us”
“He was 66 years old and looked like a Greek god, so fit, and so happy to be back in his native WA, visiting from London where he had made his home,” Burns wrote in an emotional social media post.
“Words cannot express how deeply I feel this loss, We’ve been close friends since living together in Neutral Bay Sydney in the mid ’80s.”
An “inconsolable” Burns said Hardy was “a superb actor, a wonderful singer and guitarist [and] he also played drums and sax”.
“He always loved performing in the theatre as well as film and TV. He decided to buy a canal boat in London which he set up beautifully with some recording gear and he’d send me guitar tracks recorded there to add backings to,” he wrote.
“Vale dear friend Peter Hardy RIP… Adele and I are inconsolable right now over such a hard loss.”
Hardy posted his own video to social media just hours before his final snorkelling trip. Featuring beach images, it was captioned: “More reasons to be cheerful.”
Hardy’s brother, Michael, later commented on the video, saying he was “devastated to say” that Hardy had “passed away suddenly”.
“Rest in peace, little brother,” he wrote.
Another friend, Ross Anderson, said the news was “a heartbreaking shock”.
“He’ll be held in the wide arms of the ocean he grew up beside, and in the hearts of all those he welcomed into his vital and witty orbit,” he wrote.
“Since condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.”
Hardy played Phil Rakich in McLeod’s Daughters for three years, and Detective Cooney in 2000 film Chopper. He also had roles in Neighbours, Underbelly and The Doctor Blake Mysteries.
His death was confirmed just hours after another man, believed to in his 30s, was pulled from the water at South Beach about 1.30pm on Sunday.
Police said a marine rescue vessel found the man unresponsive about 50 metres offshore. He was taken to shore and given CPR, but could not be revived.
WA Police are investigating both drownings.
