Noni Hazlehurst Mourns Loss of First Husband

Noni Hazlehurst is in mourning following the death of her first husband, film director Kevin James Dobson.

Dobson, who was married to Noni from 1975 - 1978, died in on Saturday aged 73, and had a career that spanned four decades.

His death was confirmed on the Back To Crawford Productions social media page.

'A young Manchester, UK born Kevin Dobson started at Crawford's as a trainee before becoming an assistant film editor,' the page began.

'Kevin worked in the USA, living in for over 30 years. When he came back to Australia Kevin lived in until his illness took him to Melbourne approximately 3 months ago, where he passed away in care in the suburb of Lilydale.'

He was born in England and moved to Australia at 14, under the 'Ten Pound Poms' scheme that promoted immigration.

Beginning his career in the early '70s, Dobson worked on many acclaimed Australian productions, including Matlock Police, Homicide, A Country Practice and Cop Shop. 

He went on to work on several US TV shows, including directing several episodes of Babylon 5 in the late '90s. 

His final work was directing the 2010 Australian movie Savages Crossing, which starred Wolf Creek actor John Jarratt – who coincidentally married Noni in 1988. 

The couple divorced in 1999. 

Dobson received much acclaim for his work, and in 1980 won a Television Society of Australia Penguin Award for Best TV Play for his directorial work on the series Young Ramsay.

Heartbroken fans took to social media to pay tribute to Dobson.

'I had many great times with Kevin. We worked and partied together. Sad to hear of his death although his spirit lives on,' one person wrote.

'Very sad to hear about this. I have some very happy memories working with Kevin,' a second added. 

It comes after Noni