Frank Whitten

Actor Frank Whitten first won attention in 1984, playing the enigmatic farmer in Vincent Ward's breakthrough feature Vigil. Later he was known to many for his role as the Southern Man in the Speights "onya mate" commercials, and his ongoing appearances in Outrageous Fortune, playing the manipulative grandfather to the West clan. He died in February 2011.

...a wicked, irreverent man of lethal wit, a heart of gold and one of the best actors we'll ever work with. We all respected him enormously but in good Outrageous spirit we treated him with the disrespect and irreverence he loved. Actor Robyn Malcolm on Frank Whitten's passing, speaking for the Outrageous Fortune cast, NZ Herald, 13 February 2011