Wayne Francis Earl Bell He began his career with major roles in British theatre productions, including King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, and Hamlet.
From 1985 until 1986, Bell played original character Max Ramsay in soap opera Neighbours. Soon after the serial switched from the Seven Network to Network Ten, Bell abruptly left the show due to a serious back injury. Bell had intended to leave Neighbours before his back problems flared up. While negotiations were ongoing between his agent and the production company, Bell realised that he did not want to do the show anymore. He also took a fall on the set, which aggravated his back injury and left him with muscle spasms and pain.
After leaving Neighbours, Bell returned to recording voiceovers for commercials. It was the second marriage for both of them.
On 3 May 1994, Bell was found dead after falling from a building in Auckland, New Zealand. The city's police released a statement stating that there were no suspicious circumstances regarding his death. His agent Graham Dunster later revealed that Bell had been hospitalised with depression prior to his death. His former Neighbours co-stars Anne Haddy and Alan Dale paid tribute to him, with Dale calling Bell "one of the best actors I have ever worked with." The show's casting director Jan Russ also called him a "colourful and eccentric character" and said that "he was well liked and respected by everyone."
Filmography
- The Sullivans (TV series 1976)
- Sons and Daughters (TV series 1982)
- Who Killed Baby Azaria? (TV movie 1983)
- Five Mile Creek (TV series 1983)
- Anzacs (TV mini-series 1985)
- Glass Babies (Miniseries) (TV mini-series 1985)
- Rubbery Figures (TV series 1986)
- Neighbours (TV series 1985–1986) (191 episodes)
- Bushfire Moon (TV movie 1987)
- Against the Innocent (1989)
- The End of the Golden Weather (1991)
- Absent Without Leave (1992)
- Homeward Bound (TV series) (TV series 1992)
- Alexander Graham Bell: The Sound and the Silence (TV movie 1992)
- Hercules: The Legendary Journeys – Hercules and the Lost Kingdom (TV movie 1994)
- Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle (TV series 1994)