McLeod’s Daughter star Michala Banas has taken to social media to announce the death of her father, UK-born writer John Banas.
In the emotional post, the 46-year-old actress shared images of John, and said he died ‘suddenly’ on Monday, but did not reveal the cause of death.
Beginning his 40-year career as a writer, director, and actor in NZ, John relocated to Australia and went on to create Seven’s long-running crime series City Homicide.
Sharing the sad family news on her Instagram on Tuesday, Michala included a moving tribute to her father.
‘Yesterday, my Dad John died suddenly,’ she began.
‘I am utterly heartbroken and in complete shock. And even though I’m a grown woman, the kid in me wants the world to stop and know how amazing he was.
McLeod’s Daughter star Michala Banas (pictured) has taken to social media to announce the death of her father, UK-born writer John Banas
‘F***ing amazing. And so I post these few pics of a beautiful man with his adoring (and often silly) daughter.
‘Did I say he was amazing? You need to know that. All of you. ♥️ Love you beyond words Dad X.
Michala included several black-and-white throwback pictures of John from his days as a stage actor in Wellington four decades ago.
Another picture shows a very young Michala embracing her dad.
The NZ On Screen website shared an obituary of John, whose writing credits include the Australian TV series Blue Heelers, Water Rats, All Saints and Stingers.
Born in Nottingham in the UK, John was raised in NZ.
Beginning his career on stage in Wellington in the 1960s, John began performing in theatre reviews with famed Kiwi comedy superstar John Clarke. He also wrote drama for radio.
The pair later starred in New Zealand’s first-ever sitcom, Buck House, which ran for two seasons between 1974 and 1975.
Pictured: Michala included this throwback snap of her and her dad in her touching Instagram tribute
Beginning his 40-year career as a writer, director, and actor in NZ, John relocated to Australia and went on to create Seven’s long-running crime series City Homicide. Pictured: A throwback image of Banas from his days as an actor. He went on to write 200 hours of TV
Michala is pictured with the cast of McLeod’s Daughters
In the 80s, he turned to writing and worked on NZ dramas like The Immigrants, Mortimer’s Pitch and In Their Hands and went on to pen more than 200 hours of TV.
Late in the decade, John was one of the creative forces behind Network Ten’s long-running soap E Street (1989-1993).
He also worked as a director, including the children’s series Mirror, Mirror, which starred his daughter Michala.
John returned to working on New Zealand projects 15 years ago with the telemovie Siege (2012).
Based on a real-life incident which occurred in Napier, NZ, the hard-hitting thriller won several awards, including best screenplay for John, as well as an NZTV award for best telemovie.
John also won acclaim for another telemovie from the same year, Safe House.
He also worked on the NZ iteration of Australia’s Underbelly series, Underbelly New Zealand: Land of the Long Green Cloud (2011).
His other recent NZ TV credits include the series Dear Murderer (2017) and A Remarkable Place To Die (2024).
Michala Banas, who was born in Wellington, is best known to Aussie audiences for playing the lead role in Seven’s Always Greener (2001-2003). In 2004, she joined the cast of Nine’s soap McLeod’s Daughters (2001-2009).
