Neighbours' Des Clarke actor Paul Keane: 'I tried suicide amid drink and drugs hell'
ok.co.ukFollow OK! on Threads here: https://www.threads.net/@ok_mag "Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours – just a friendly wave each morning, helps to make a better day," – so say the sugar-sweet lyrics to the theme song of the iconic Australian soap, Neighbours.
If only life was really that easy, thinks Paul Keane, who played loveable Des Clarke on the show back in the 1980s. For Paul, now 65, hit rock bottom when he should have been enjoying the height of his fame, and even his co-stars Guy Pearce (who played Mike) and Craig McLachlan (Henry) couldn't help make it a better day.
Plagued by drink, drugs and mental health issues, Paul lost everything – his home, his family and his acting career. Paul was one of the 12 original Neighbours characters created by TV producer Reg Watson, and starred in Neighbours from its very first episode, in March 1985.
Catapulted to fame both in the UK and his native Australia, life should have been great for the young actor, whose character famously married his stripper girlfriend, Daphne, in a fairytale TV wedding.
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