Beloved South Australian entertainer and disability advocate Quentin Kenihan dies, aged 43
RUSSELL Crowe has led an outpouring of grief and tributes for beloved entertainer and advocate Quentin Kenihan after his sudden death at age 43.
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QUENTIN Kenihan’s childhood courage captured the hearts of a nation, which is now mourning the sudden loss of the respected disability advocate and beloved SA entertainer, actor and writer.
Actor Russell Crowe described Quentin, 43, as “the bravest bloke I ever met” and said he was devastated by the loss of his “little mate”.
Quentin, a passionate disability advocate, was also a nominee for the Adelaide City Council at the upcoming elections.
His mother Kerry Kenihan, an author, former journalist and disability advocate, is understood to be returning from an overseas holiday to be with Quentin’s four siblings.
Quentin was born with eight broken bones, alarming doctors who diagnosed him with osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease.
Doctors predicted he wouldn’t survive three months and over his lifetime he suffered almost 600 broken bones because of the condition.
But from the start of his career, he quickly endeared himself to the Australian public.
Quentin became a household name at age seven, when he appeared in a documentary with Mike Willesee.
The film crew and the veteran journalist followed Quentin on his journey in the US as he tried to learn to walk.
But Quentin was not enthralled with the film life.
“I wasn’t really into it at that point – I just wanted to be a seven-year-old kid,” Quentin said of his time with Willesee.
“Having a 42-year-old man ask you adult questions just isn’t something you want to do, but I did it and it became the highest-rating Australian-made documentary in Australian television history.”
Quentin shot to fame because of his unfailing humour and never-say-die attitude.
For many he personified the label “little Aussie battler”, overcoming all the obstacles his own body threw at him.
In his late teens and early twenties, Quentin battled drug and alcohol addiction.
He was paranoid, thought his family and friends were out to get him, and said that period of his life was punctuated by alcohol-fuelled blackouts.
His turning point was an appearance on Nine Network’s Midday Show which he later said he could not remember as he was “completely off his nut”. He subsequently checked into rehab, got a job answering phones at TAFE and retreated into a world of film.
His passion led him to study film and drama at Flinders University, landing an interview on Channel 10 program The Panel which would propel him back into the spotlight.
Then show business came calling and Quentin branched out, hosting his own celebrity interview show Quentin Crashes, performing at the Adelaide Fringe Festival and releasing an autobiography entitled Not All Superheroes Wear Capes.
He counted Crowe among his numerous friends, with the Hollywood star coming to Quentin’s aid in May this year to help him purchase an expensive oxygen concentrator.
Quentin’s big movie break came in 2015 when he appeared as Corpus Colossus in the blockbuster movie Mad Max: Fury Road. For Quentin, the movie was a turning point. “I’m not known as ‘that brave little boy’ anymore … people say ‘That’s that dude from the movie’,” he said. “I’m not just seen as a person in a wheelchair but as an actor, which is what I’ve always wanted.”
He became a disability advocate and was running for the Adelaide City Council on a platform of improved services for the disabled and community advocacy. He told The Advertiser he wanted to give back to the city where he has lived for 20 years.
Disability campaigner Kelly Vincent said she was reeling from the loss of her close friend.
“You were funny, kind, caring (underneath all that bravado) and ambitious,” she wrote on social media.
“Thank you for believing in me and helping me so much. We shared so many of the same passions and a beautiful mutual respect.
“I’m smiling right now imagining ‘Quentin crashes the Pearly Gates’ but wishing this whole thing was just my imagination.”