Norman Kaye Movies, TV Shows, and Filmography
Norman Kaye
Acting
Biography
Norman James Kaye (17 January 1927 – 28 May 2007) was an Australian actor and composer. He was best known for his roles in the films of director Paul Cox. As an actor, he was strongly associated with the films of Paul Cox, appearing in 16 of them. He had small roles in Cox's Illuminations (1976) and Kostas (1979), and shared the lead with Wendy Hughes in Cox's 1982 film Lonely Hearts and the lead in Man of Flowers (1983), for which he won an AFI Award. Norman Kaye was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease prior to 1997. His inability to memorise scripts for the film Innocence led to the end of his collaboration with Paul Cox, as well as the end of his career in 2004. Kaye was in the advanced stage of the disease at the time of his death in Sydney on 28 May 2007. He had enjoyed a 35-year relationship with the opera director Elke Neidhardt, and she was at his side at his death.
Filmography Movies
Acting
Moulin Rouge!
A celebration of love and creative inspiration takes place in the infamous, gaudy and glamorous Parisian nightclub, at the cusp of the 20th century. A young poet, who is plunged into the heady world of Moulin Rouge, begins a passionate affair with the club's most notorious and beautiful star.
Where the Green Ants Dream
The Australian Aborigines (in this film anyway) believe that this is the place where the green ants go to dream, and that if their dreams are disturbed, it will bring down disaster on us all. The Aborigines' belief is not shared by a giant mining company, which wants to tear open the soil and search for uranium.
I Own the Racecourse
A touching story of a likable, but somewhat slow, teenage boy who believes he has bought a major Sydney racecourse for $20. Based on the classic Australian novel of the same name by Patricia Wrightson.
A Woman's Tale
Uplifting and intimate look at the last days of an elderly cancer victim. The film is even more relevant as it was written specifically for the lead actress, Sheila Florance, who was in fact dying of cancer as she created what is essentially a self-portrait.
Paws
A talking Terrier with impressive computer skills teams up with two youngsters to stop a million dollars from falling into the wrong hands.
Man of Flowers
An eccentric elderly man tries to enjoy the three things in life that he considers real beauty: collecting art, collecting flowers, and watching pretty women undress.
Exile
Set in the last century, a man is outlawed and condemned to live alone on a small island, his only crime the theft of a few sheep. A girl from the mainland learns of his existence and, compelled by loneliness and romantic dreams, crosses the treacherous sea to join him. Together they create their own truth.
Cactus
A woman who injured her eyes in car accident and a young blind man fall for each other.
Lonely Hearts
In this offbeat comedy, an unlikely romance develops between a flamboyant, middle-aged piano tuner and an extremely timid office worker.
A Dangerous Summer
Building is Howard's passion, and he is so absorbed in his plans to build an elaborate resort in the Blue Mountains of Australia that he ignores certain obvious signals that his business partner is not entirely on the up-and-up. After a brush fire destroys the resort, an insurance investigator comes nosing around, whom Howard's partner deals with in a drastic manner. By the time Lloyds of London's senior investigator George Engels (James Mason in one of his last roles) arrives on the scene, Howard (Tom Skerritt) is anxious to set things to rights.
Production
Boundaries of the Heart
A small desert town in western Australia is the scene of several love affairs in this romantic drama. Forty-year-old Stella (Wendy Hughes) works at her father's hotel and bar. She receives annual New Year's marriage proposals from rodeo rider Andy Ford (John Hargreaves), who talks himself into asking her one more time. Stella's father Billy (Norman Kaye) is a former cricket star whose career ended early when he was involved in a sex scandal. She spends the night with vacationing Arthur (Michael Siberry) when his car breaks down. Andy elects not to pop the question to Stella in lieu of her one-night stand with the stranger. When Billy elects to marry June Thompson (Julie Nihill), the local gossipmongers have a field day recalling the woman's promiscuous past.
Vincent
A biography of Vincent van Gogh using only images and the letters he wrote to his brother Theo.
Cactus
A woman who injured her eyes in car accident and a young blind man fall for each other.
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