Frank Bren

Frank Bren (7 September 1943 – 14 April 2018) was an Australian actor, playwright, and scholar of film history. He has written books (on the histories of Polish and Hong Kong cinema), written plays, and acted in Australian film and television roles.

Frank Bren
Born
Frank Bren

(1943-09-07)September 7, 1943
DiedApril 14, 2018(2018-04-14) (aged 74)
OccupationActor, playwright, author, scholar

Books and articles

Frank Bren was a scholar of Polish and Chinese film history. His book World Cinema 1: Poland (University of Illinois Press, 1989) is one of the premier resources on the history of Polish cinema.[1][2]

His book (with Law Kar), Hong Kong Cinema: A Cross-Cultural View (The Scarecrow Press, 2004) is one of the few books to thoroughly document the very early history of Hong Kong cinema, dating back to its beginnings in the 19th century.[3][4]

Bren was writing a biography of French filmmaker and comedian, Pierre Étaix.[5]

Bren has also written articles on film for international journals such as Far Eastern Economic Review, Screen International, Films and Filming, as well as for newspapers such as Libération and The Asian Wall Street Journal.[6]

Film and television

Frank Bren played Colin "The Snake" Adder in Mark Savage's film Sensitive New Age Killer,[7] and co-starred in the Craig Addison movie Betel Nut Girl.[7][8] He also played two recurring roles, as twin brothers Colin Taylor and Alf Taylor, in the popular Australian TV series Neighbours during the 1990s.[7] In addition, he played "Mr. Nicholson" in the film Hating Alison Ashley.[7] He was preparing a biopic of Chinese-American film director Esther Eng.[9]

In all, Bren has acted in over a dozen roles in Australian television series and movies, including The Flying Doctors, Blue Heelers and Stingers.[7]

Plays

In 2007, Frank Bren wrote and starred in the play A History of Motion Pictures, which ran at La Mama Theatre (Melbourne).[10][11] He has also written and starred in about a dozen plays since 1967, with runs in London, Amsterdam, and Melbourne.[12] Some of the other plays he both wrote and starred in are The Rise and Fall of Archie Jones (1968),[13] Have You Noticed Your Leg Is Missing? (1969),[14] Odyssey of a Bald Man (1970),[15] Larceny Makes No Noise (1988),[16][17] Muckrake (1989),[18] Honest! (1993),[19] and Flashback (1997).[20]

Death

Frank Bren died on 14 April 2018, at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.[21][22] A tribute to his life was held at La Mama Theatre,[23] and further tributes were written by writer John Snadden and film director Mark Savage.[24]

Notes
  1. Marek Haltof, Polish National Cinema, Berghahn Books, 2002 (Introduction).
  2. Janina Falkowska, Slavic Review, Vol. 62, No. 3, p. 592 (2003).
  3. Review by The Bookwatch, Nov. 2004, published by The Midwest Book Review
  4. Review of "Hong Kong Cinema: A Cross-Cultural View" by China Quarterly, reproduced by The Scarecrow Press Archived 12 October 2004 at the Wayback Machine
  5. The Esther Eng Story (website)
  6. DonaldofChina.com
  7. Frank Bren at IMDb
  8. Dragon Horse Films
  9. The Esther Eng Story (website)
  10. Review of "A History of Motion Pictures" from Australian Stage, 4 May 2007.
  11. A History of Motion Pictures, AusStage
  12. Interview with Frank Bren
  13. The Rise and Fall of Archie Jones, AusStage
  14. "Have You Noticed Your Leg Is Missing?", AusStage
  15. Odyssey of a Bald Man, AusStage
  16. Larceny Makes No Noise, AusStage
  17. "A Crime Thriller Comedy" by Jason Romney, The Age, Entertainment Guide section, 30 September 1988, p. 7 (available here via Google News Archive, retrieved on 6 February 2014).
  18. Muckrake, AusStage
  19. Honest!, AusStage
  20. Flashback, AusStage
  21. Frank Bren, The Age
  22. Frank Desmond Bren, Legacy
  23. In Memoriam Frank Bren - Pictures from the tribute to his life held at La Mama , Film Alert 101
  24. Vale Frank Bren - Actor, writer, director, scholar, critic - Friends John Snadden and Mark Savage remember, Film Alert 101
Official pages
Reference material
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