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Actor, Cameo & Crew Profiles > Actor Profiles > Dieter Brummer

Dieter Kirk Brummer was born in Sydney on 5th May 1976. His first word was a swear word when his mother fell off the curb with his push chair; when she swore, he copied her! During his adult life, he enjoyed all kinds of sports such as scuba diving and bungee jumping and was known for both his kindness and his dry sense of humour.

Dieter shot to fame and heartthrob status when he joined Home and Away as Shane Parrish at the age of fifteen. Dieter became one half of one of the show's most iconic couples, Shane and Angel, who was portrayed by Melissa George. For his role as Shane, Dieter won two silver Logies for Most Popular Actor, in 1995 and 1996, not to mention many magazine accolades such as Best Soap Actor, Sexiest Actor and Prince of Soap. At the height of his fame, the list was endless. His face was on the front of every magazine both in Australia and in the UK.

Dieter played Shane from 1992 to 1996, when his character died tragically in Angel's arms on their wedding anniversary from blood poisoning. Dieter had requested to leave Home and Away amid rumours that he and Melissa George were struggling to work together and his desire to take a break after the intensity of the fame surrounding him. During much of this time Dieter had been in a long term relationship with his teenage sweetheart. It was later revealed that after leaving the show, he had begun a relationship with co-star, Kirsty Wright (Chloe Richards). She described him as her first love.

His next roles included a spoof soap opera called Shark Bay, co starring Neighbours' alumni, Peter O'Brien (Shane Ramsay) and Scott Michaelson (Brad Willis), as well as short lived soap, Crash Palace. Dieter also starred as a doctor in Adrenalin Junkies (also known as Medivac).

However, there was a number of years between Crash Palace and his next role, the critically acclaimed Underbelly, where Dieter played corrupt cop, Trevor Haken and was promoted to the main cast in season three. During this gap in acting roles, Dieter worked diligently and conscientiously as a high-rise window cleaner. When asked about it twelve years ago, he explained that to work at a height was a specialist trade. He said, "I just wanted to get a bit of real life experience under my belt but I'd always intended on coming back to the acting game at some point." He said in an interview that he found it easy to be high above and not have to answer questions about his job, such as 'what happened?'

Another huge guest role came when Dieter took on the character of Captain Troy Miller in Neighbours, the ex-partner of Sonya (Eve Morey) and the biological father of Callum (Morgan Baker). Dieter said that it was his role in Underbelly that caught the attention of the Neighbours producers and his role in Neighbours that made him enjoy acting again. During his first stint, Dieter threw every soap fan in their thirties into turmoil as Troy turned out to be manipulative, controlling and violent but, played by Dieter, it was hard not to have a soft spot for him still.

With his first stint being so successful, Dieter was invited back to Neighbours to complete Captain Troy's story, which was all the more complicated than it first seemed. Captain Troy's story ended in a siege where he took Sonya, Callum and Jade Mitchell (Gemma Pranita) hostage. Jade was both Sonya's sister and Troy's ex-girlfriend, to whom he had been abusive. During the siege, Troy fell and hit his head but, refusing to get treatment at the hospital, died from his injuries. DieterÕs last acting credit was Winners and Losers. He continued to work hard at window cleaning. Covid restrictions affected him a great deal, including his ability to work. Tragically, Dieter died by suicide on 24th July 2021 at the age of 45. He was found at home in Sydney.

Profile by Tess

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