Paul Karo

Paul Karo (June 1935 – 4 April 2025) was a Scottish-born, New Zealand and Australian actor and producer. He was notable for his role in Crawford Productions' first television soap opera The Box (as well as the feature film version of the same title) as the LGBTIQA character of television studio producer Lee Whiteman in 1974 and 1975, as well as a return to the role in 1976, at a time when gay characters were rare on television and usually portrayed unsympathetically. He and Number 96 star Joe Hasham became cult figures for the gay liberation movement. He also became notable for his recurring role as Detective Inspector Rouse on series Prisoner in the 1980s.

Life and career

Karo—not his birth name—was born in June 1935 in Edinburgh, Scotland. His family moved to New Zealand in 1946, where he took on the Māori language surname Karo. He grew up in Auckland, New Zealand. He was educated at Auckland Grammar School and the University of Auckland. He worked for two years as a cadet reporter at The New Zealand Herald.

Karo became interested in acting and joined the New Zealand Players theatre company for two years. He relocated to Sydney, Australia in 1957, where he resumed his career in theatre and appeared in Under the Clocks, a 'sophisticated intimate revue' in Melbourne in 1958. He featured in another revue, Further Off the Beach, the following year; he was singled out by a critic from The Age for a segment called 'Television Anonymous' about television addicts seeking a cure.

He had many television and film roles starting from 1959, including Tragedy in a Temporary Town, Beauty and the Beast, Outpost, and Rope.

He appeared in Quiet Night in 1961. In 1967 he received an award for Best Actor of 1966 (the "Erik") from Melbourne theatre critics for his role in A Lily for Little India.

Karo is best known for his role as the gay television producer Lee Whiteman in the first 18 months of the 1970s television soap opera The Box. On leaving the show he told TV Week's Sue Wallace that he felt he had been typecast: "Everyone thinks of me as playing the role of a queer. They haven't had the opportunity to see me do anything else." He was unemployed for a year, then rejoined The Box and won the Logie Award in 1976 and the Penguin Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Whiteman.

Other selected television credits include: Homicide, Division 4, Matlock Police, Prisoner, The Sullivans, Special Squad, Phoenix, Blue Heelers and SeaChange.

Karo retired in 1999, and died on 4 April 2025, at the age of 89.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

External links

• at IMDb