Home and Away's Dieter Brummer's life after exit from fame struggles to death

07 August 2023 , 10:02

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Home and Away's Dieter Brummer's life after soap exit from fame struggles to tragic death

Dieter Brummer became a household name thanks to his role as Shane Parrish in Australian soap, Home and Away, in the 1990s. However, the glamour that comes with fame was short-lived as the star had never-ending struggles with the consequences of becoming famous.

His character went through many storylines, with Shane proposing to Angel (played by Melissa George) while they were still attending school. At one point, Angel was temporarily paralysed when she was run over by Alf (played by Ray Meagher) and he was knocked off her motorcycle.

Shane recovered from the injuries but unfortunately died from septicaemia. Dieter once admitted that his and Melissa's on-screen relationship was simply very good acting. He told Woman's Day: "We may have been love interests on the show but the chemistry was far from real!" He added: "Mel was incredibly ambitious right from the outset. I don't think she had much time for the cast of Home And Away. We had to look like the perfect darling couple in public. It wasn't like anything off-screen. It was all on-screen"

Dieter and Melissa played husband and wife on Home and Away

After leaving Home and Away, he went on to appear in Underbelly, The Golden Mile, Neighbours, Winners & Losers and Medivac. He was featured on many covers of teen magazines and even won two TV Logie awards. His last television appearance was in 2014 as he turned away from the limelight to focus on his own life. He once revealed he struggled to adjust to life after finding fame.

Speaking to Australian TV's The Fame Game in 2018, he explained: "It can be very fickle. You're hot one moment and then you're not the next. You'd have to just deal with it in any way you can." He continued: "I think I'd experienced so much fame during those years on Home And Away that I did just want to take a break from it and literally try and experience a life as Joe Bloggs and live as normal people do."

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At one point, Dieter decided to live 'like normal people do' and started a window cleaning business. Speaking in 2010, Dieter told TV Tonight: "People say that I'm just a window cleaner, in reality, it's substantially more involved than that. Working at heights it's a relatively specialist trade.

He started a window cleaning business after turning away from acting (Facebook)

"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." Unfortunately, days before he was about to start another window cleaning job, the New South Wales government suspended all construction projects because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Then, in mid-2021, he was tragically found dead at his home aged just 45 after taking his own life. His heartbroken friends spoke out to say that he "wasn't going to be on this earth for long" as he had become increasingly withdrawn as his acting career came to an end. A crew member who worked with Dieter on 2010's Underbelly: The Golden Mile, in which he starred as a corrupt police detective, said they got a "strong impression he had demons" when they first met on the set.

They told the Daily Mail: "He had friendships with co-stars while shows were filming, but he wasn't the type of guy to keep in touch once the show wrapped. "He was a shy man who kept to himself. When I met Dieter, I felt like he wasn't going to be on this earth for long. You just got that impression."

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Zara Woodcock