Australian actor Paul Karo, who played trailblazing gay character in 1970s series The Box, dies at age 89

Beloved Australian actor Paul Karo has died, aged 89.

The veteran actor, who enjoyed a decades-long television and film career died on Friday, just two months before his 90th birthday, TV Tonight reported.

While he starred in dozens of roles on stage and screen throughout his career, Karo was best known for playing openly gay TV producer Lee Whiteman in the long-running series The Box.

Karo starred in nearly 200 episodes of the adult-oriented drama that was set in a fictional television station.

It proved to be quite a trailblazing role, as during his tenure from 1974 to 1976, homosexuality was illegal in much of the country.

South Australia became the first state to decriminalise homosexuality in 1975. 

Beloved Australian actor Paul Karo has died, aged 89. Karo is pictured in a scene from Prisoner

The Box was the first soap from Crawford Productions and was intended to compete with the success of the racy Number 96.

It featured envelope-pushing storylines, including some of the first representations of same-sex relationships on television in the country. 

Karo drew high praise for his performance as Whiteman, winning a Best Australian Actor Logie in 1976.

It was the first time a Logie had been awarded for the portrayal of an openly gay character. 

However, Karo left the series soon after out of fear of being typecast, having previously played a gay character in iconic Crawford’s drama Division 4.

‘Everyone thinks of me as playing the role of a queer,’ he told TV Week at the time. 

‘They haven’t had the opportunity to see me do anything else.’

Commenting on the TV Tonight story, television historian Andrew Mercado shared how important Karo’s portrayal of a gay character was. 

While he starred in dozens of roles throughout his career, Karo was best known for playing openly gay TV producer Lee Whiteman in the long-running series The Box

It proved to be quite a trailblazing role, as during his tenure from 1974 to 1976, homosexuality was illegal in much of the country

‘In 1974, Paul Karo featured on the cover of TV Times alongside Joe Hasham (Don from Number 96),’ he began.

‘The headline said “Gay Guys Are Great” and the 3 page story inside talked about the “showbusiness phenomenon” of how three gay TV characters (including Dudley played by Chard Hayward on 96) had become the most popular people on Australian TV. 

‘How incredible to think that back when homosexuality was illegal, a family magazine was happy to talk about this, and Aussie viewers were open to learning new concepts and were cool with it. 

Mercado continued: ‘And then both shows ended and it took two decades for anyone to go there again. Funny that.’

Following his trailblazing role, Karo enjoyed a string of small screen credits including in such iconic fare as Prisoner, The Sullivans, Cop Shop and Carson’s Law.

He also had guest roles in the likes of Phoenix, Janus, Blue Heelers and Good Guys Bad Guys.

Karo’s big screen credits include. the feature film adaptation of The Box, Evil Angels, Paperback Romance, and Lucky Break.

Paul was born in Scotland before relocating to New Zealand with his family where he began a career as a cadet journalist.

Karo drew high praise for his performance as Whiteman, winning a Best Australian Actor Logie in 1976. Karo is pictured with Number 96 star Joe Hasham on the cover of TV Times magazine

Following his trailblazing role with a string of small screen credits including in such iconic fare as Prisoner (pictured), The Sullivans, Cop Shop and Carson’s Law

He then relocated again, this time to Australia in 1950 where he began to hone his acting talents on the stage. 

His first TV role came in 1959 in Tragedy in a Temporary Town – an episode of the anthology series Shell Presents. 

Karo enjoyed a storied career on the stage which included a Best Actor of 1966 award, for his role in A Lily for Little India.

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