australian television information archive

Actor's pleas went unanswered

Geraldton-raised actress Kate Mulvany says she pleaded with hospital authorities not to discharge her boyfriend, fellow WA actor Mark Priestley, just weeks before he took his life in Sydney in 2008.

Mulvany, who recently filmed a role in Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, makes the revelation in an episode of Australian Story to air on Monday at 8pm on ABC1.

Priestley, a NIDA graduate who starred in Seven's hospital drama All Saints, suffered depression for which Mulvany said he had sought hospital treatment and therapy.

"He went to great lengths and great expense to get himself better but unfortunately the systems that he took seriously didn't take him seriously," Mulvany said.

"Five weeks before Mark died he had attempted suicide, and he was hospitalised. I literally got down on my knees and said, 'Please don't discharge him; he's going to kill himself'.

"And they released him four hours later. Five weeks later he was dead."

Mulvany said she "suffered a breakdown of sorts" after Priestley's death and had flashbacks and nightmares.

"Burying your boyfriend at the age of 30 is not something you expect."

She said it was debilitating dealing with the false media reports she had left Priestley and that is why he killed himself.

Mulvany speaks of her determination to be a survivor, not a victim, as she also recounts her childhood battle against cancer.

Fellow actor Jacki Weaver introduces the episode.

Mulvany is also an accomplished playwright whose writing has been influenced by her Curtin University tutor, the late Elizabeth Jolley.

If you need help phone Lifeline on 13 11 14.

By Sue Yeap
June 03, 2012
The West Australian