Vale Arthur Dignam

The Australian stage and screen actor, whose work included roles in The Devil’s Playground and The Dismissal, has died of a heart attack aged 80.

12 May 2020 12:00

Richard Watts

Performing Arts

Arthur Dignam in The Devil’s Playground (1976).

Remembered as ‘one of the true greats,’ as well as unique, kind and thoroughly entertaining, veteran Australian actor Arthur Dignam has died of a heart attack aged 80.

His long career included films such as The Devil’s Playground (1976) and the animated Grendel Grendel Grendel (1981), as well as stage roles for Belvoir, Sydney Theatre Company and others.

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Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts