Farewell to Lex Marinos OAM: A pioneer of diversity in Australian arts

It is a sad day for all of us as Greek Australians – Lex Marinos passed away on Friday, September 13. According to a Facebook post, the renowned actor and cultural industries professional passed away “at a moment of his choosing.”

“To our dear friends, colleagues, and favourite people, it is with heavy hearts we let you know that Lex passed away peacefully on Friday morning.

“He died at home, at a moment of his choosing, surrounded by family and the sounds of Bob Dylan accompanying our vigil.

“There was so much love in the room. A memorial service will be held in the weeks to come. We will post details on this page in due course. Forever young”

Lex was diagnosed with low-grade leukemia in 2005 which he managed, but sadly returned in 2023.

In a beautiful email to his friends telling them of his challenge with the disease, Lex Marinos wrote: “The ancients used to say ‘if you want to make the gods laugh, tell them your plans’.”

Alexander Francis Marinos OAM, born on February 1, 1949, in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, was an Australian actor best known for his role as Bruno, the Italian son-in-law on the 1980s sitcom Kingswood Country.

The role of Bruno was one of the first sustained parts for a non-Anglo character on Australian television. *Kingswood Country* provided Marinos with stable employment for several years, with the actor recalling how his portrayal resonated with audiences then and is fondly remembered today.

In a 2021 Neos Kosmos interview, he said about Kingswood Country: “It’s very gratifying… It did provide a focal point for kids who were ‘Other,’ and to see someone representing them on TV became not a responsibility of sorts, but I became aware of it.”

He became the host of Late Night Legends on ABC2 and was a prominent radio presenter on Double Jay (now Triple J) during the late 1970s, working alongside Ted Robinson. He was played on stage and television, and was in Christos Tsiolkas’s television adaptation of The Slap.

Marinos directed the Carnivale Festival in Sydney during the mid-1990s and was always an advocate for more diversity in Australian film and television.

He grew up in a culturally rich family, with a Greek immigrant father, Fotios (“Frank”) Marinopoulos, and a Greek-Australian mother, Anne Karofilis.

The Karofilis family operated Greek cafés throughout the Riverina region, including Wagga Wagga, The Rock, and Bogan Gate. This early life in a multicultural environment likely contributed to Marinos’ versatility as an actor and performer. He later pursued higher education, earning a Bachelor of Arts with honours in Drama from the University of New South Wales.

I met Lex in the mid-1990s when we both worked in the arts, and all I have are fond memories my visits to Sydney spending afternoons at the Carnivale offices talking, laughing, arguing, and both agreeing that diversity was important in the arts.

The Museum of Riverina in Wagga Wagga is presenting a tribute to the great actor and cultural activist in December. Photographer and friend Effy Alexakis has captured Lex Marinos in her 40-year photographic essay of Greek Australians.

Alexakis and her husband, historian, Leonard Janiszewski told Neos Kosmos: “We first met Lex in the late 1980s. From the very start our friendship was cemented in our mutual interest with multiculturalism and the arts. He supported the work we were doing by launching our books, our exhibitions and always providing advice.

“We met his wife Anne, his parents, his children and considered him a very dear friend. He will be greatly missed as he was a giant in representing us to mainstream Australia.

“He was a talented actor, director, arts administrator, cricket and soccer enthusiast and simply a beautiful person.”

We at Neos Kosmos, and I, bid the great Lex farewell, and we know he will always amuse the gods. We wish that the love, and creativity he invested in our lives sustain his family and friends.

Vale my Lex.