Frank Howson, an Australian show business veteran, has died at the age of 71.
The Melbourne-born entrepreneur is best known as a film producer and has worked with some of the biggest names in the entertainment scene Down Under, including Guy Pearce, John Waters, Kate Ceberano and music legend John Paul Young.
TV Tonight reports that Howson died on February 9, just weeks before his 72nd birthday.
Howson announced on social media earlier this year that he had terminal colon cancer.
“A surgeon in Sydney is trying to operate on me. If it doesn’t work, I’ll be dead in three months,” Howson told fans in January.
Howson’s best-known films include Boulevard of Broken Dreams (1988) with John Waters and Heaven Tonight (1990), which also starred Waters and featured Guy Pearce and crowd favourite Rebecca Gilling.
Howson was also an important figure in the Australian music scene as a publisher and songwriter.
He wrote songs for 80s hitmakers Pseudo Echo, and hits for John Paul Young and Kate Ceberano.
Monty Python member Eric Idle also used one of Howson’s songs.
Australian showbiz veteran Frank Howson has died at the age of 71. Pictured: Howson in 2016
Howson was born in 1952 and began his working life in radio in Melbourne, where he worked as an ‘office boy’.
Howson, once a child actor and tap dancer, got his first major gig when he recorded a cover of Seventeen Ain’t Young by the American band The Archies in 1968.
By the age of 21, Howson was already a well-known stage performer, starring in the famous Australian production of the West End hit Olivier!
Howson’s best-known film is Boulevard of Broken Dreams starring John Waters (pictured)
The Melbourne-born entrepreneur has worked with some of the biggest names in the entertainment scene Down Under, including Guy Pearce, John Waters, Kate Ceberano and music legend John Paul Young. Pictured: Guy Pearce in a scene from Flynn
He was later cast in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s theatre blockbuster Jesus Christ Superstar.
In 1976 he started making theatre productions for the children’s musical The Faraway Land of Magical Frank.
As an actor, Howson was known for his leading roles in the television drama Skyways (1979–81).
Howson was responsible for launching the careers of 80s hitmakers Pseudo Echo and wrote a number of their songs
In the late 1980s, Howson founded Boulevard Films and produced a number of films, including Boulevard of Broken Dreams (1988).
Howson’s productions included early starring roles for Guy Pearce, including Heaven Tonight (1989), Friday on My Mind (1990), Hunting (1991) and Flynn (1996).
His career behind the camera was recognised in 1989 when he won Film Victoria’s prestigious Producer of the Year Award.
He returned to the stage later in life to produce Genesis on Broadway in 2012 and 2013.
Howson has been married and divorced three times. He has a son Oliver Howson, 33, from his second marriage to Lynn Murphy.
Howson also wrote music for Kate Ceberano (pictured)