Ian Watkin

Ian Watkin's long acting career saw him playing mad doctors, priests, axe-wielding stepfathers, and American presidents. Part of the legendary Blerta troupe which toured Australasia in the 1970s, Watkin went on to appearances in everything from Beyond Reasonable Doubt and an iconic Crunchie bar commercial, to presenting Miss Universe New Zealand. He passed away in May 2016.

Geoff [Murphy]’s bombs had been getting bigger and bigger, and that night I was well clear behind the curtain because I had seen him putting together a real beauty ... when I looked out there were all these feet up in the air. Ian Watkin recalls a particularly explosive Blerta show, in Roger Booth’s book Bruno