Character Actor Michael Pate has Died

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Michael Pate, the Australian actor who played an Aussie country cop, a British spy and a slew of American Indians over a career spanning seven decades, has died aged 88.

The actor, writer and director who cultivated a glittering international career after moving to Hollywood in 1950, died of respiratory failure yesterday at Gosford Hospital, the NSW Central Coast Area Health Service said.

Born in Sydney in 1920, Pate began his career writing and broadcasting for ABC Radio at the age of 18.

Stepping out from behind the microphone, he turned his hand to acting a year later, appearing in radio theatre and on the stage in Sydney - an interest he pursued while serving in the Australian army during World War II.

In 1950, Pate moved to the US and went on to appear in countless TV shows and an abundance of western movies in which, perhaps strangely, the caucasian Australian actor became famous for his portrayal of native Americans.

He appeared on popular shows such as Batman, Mission: Impossible, Get Smart and The Man from U.N.C.L.E and was the first actor to play James Bond's counterpart Felix Leiter in the television adaptation of Casino Royale.

Despite success abroad, Pate always kept an affinity with Australia, returning finally in 1968 to work as an associate producer on Norman Lindsay's adaptation of Age of Consent.

Back on home soil, he made famous the character Detective Sergeant Vic Maddern on Matlock Police.

Set in a small country town called Matlock, the popular television show ran for four years and earned Pate a Penguin Award for best actor.

He also won two Gold Logies for the Seven Network and produced pilots and variety shows for Australia's three commercial networks.

In the early 1980s he joined forces with his actor son Christopher to co-star on stage in Mass Appeal.

The play toured Australia, culminating in a season at the Sydney Opera House.

Family friend Jacqui Bosanac said Pate had been working on a film script before he died and it was likely his son would finish off his father's work.

"Just previous to him going into hospital he was sitting at his computer," Ms Bosanac told the ABC.

"All he did was work ... he was working on a script which hasn't been finished and I think Christopher's going to try and finish it off."

Pate is survived by his wife Felippa Rock and son Christopher, both of whom are actors, and a number of grandchildren and great grandchildren.