As the affable and morally forthright Harold Bishop on Neighbours, he became one of the best loved characters on Australian and British television.
But Ian Smith revealed he has been struggling with depression for years after learning at age 54 he had been adopted, after his birth mother Peg Kline fell pregnant with him when she was a teenager.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, the 78-year-old actor admitted his depression still loomed large in his life, but he had learned to manage it with medication and the support of his wife Gail.
‘I had basically been living a lie for 54 years’: Ian Smith revealed his struggle with depression after discovering as an adult he was adopted when his birth mother fell pregnant at just 13
‘The black dog still walks with you but he walks beside you as more of a faithful companion,’ Ian said. ‘I’m taking too much medication for him to have too much bite these days.’
Ian was 54 when his adoptive mother Connie admitted, just 24 hours before her death, that he had been adopted.
He then went in search of his natural mother Peg Kline, who revealed to Australian Story in 2005 shortly before her own death, that Ian was born when she was just 13 years old.
‘The black dog still walks with you but he walks beside you as more of a faithful companion’: Ian (pictured on Neighbours) told Daily Mail Australia he managed his depression with medication
‘When I was 13 – it was in 1938 – and I was a very naïve, uneducated 13-year-old,’ she told the Australian ABC program.
‘Parents couldn’t bring themselves to talk about sex or things like that. It was this so-called friend of the family and he was 26 years old. And he did the wrong thing.’
Ian admitted that learning of his adoption made him question his identity.
‘I had basically been living a lie for 54 years,’ he confessed. ‘I couldn’t even look in the mirror because I didn’t know who I was.’
Identity crisis: ‘I had basically been living a lie for 54 years,’ Ian explained, adding: ‘I couldn’t even look in the mirror because I didn’t know who I was.’ Pictured: Ian with his wife Gail
Shock: Ian was 54 when his adoptive mother Connie admitted, just 24 hours before her death, that he had been adopted. He then went in search of his natural mother Peg Kline (pictured)
It was reported recently that Ian was in the process of writing a memoir, but he insists the project would not be for public consumption but rather one to help him exorcise his demons.
‘I really don’t know how it got out,’ he said. ‘When I was having a mental breakdown, my shrink suggested that I write them and I never meant for them to be published.’
Ian joked he intended to keep his memoirs private in an effort to protect the guilty.
Personal project: It was reported Ian was in the process of writing a memoir, but he insists the project would not be for public consumption but rather one to help him exorcise his demons
‘It’s really much ado about nothing and it’s also a little bit embarrassing,’ he continued. ‘And there’s things in there that could see me end up in court.’
Ian said that the writing process had been a cathartic one and encouraged anyone struggling with depression to do the same.
‘If someone has the black dog scratching on the back door, he’s usually there trying to remind you of something you wouldn’t want reminding of,’ he offered.
‘Start writing. That cathartic moment will happen. It’s like “eureka!” and then the need to write will also subside.’
Cathartic: ‘I don’t know how it got out,’ Ian said of the memoir. ‘When I was having a mental breakdown, my shrink suggested that I write them and I never meant for them to be published’
Ian explained that he hoped speaking up about his depression might encourage more men to do the same.
‘I honestly believe seven out of 10 men would go through some form of depression,’ he said.
‘Men are reasonably stupid – they won’t go and see about these things. But thank God more and more footballers and sportsmen have started to go to print about things like depression, because hopefully the tide may be turning.’
If you, or someone you know, needs support please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit lifeline.org.au. In the UK, call Samaritans at 116 123 or visit Samaritans.org
‘I honestly believe seven out of 10 men would go through some form of depression’: Ian said he hoped that speaking up about his depression might encourage more men to do the same