“Bindi” passed away this morning…..

….was the text I received from her owner, Kit Fortune, this week.  To the rest of the world this is no real heart-breaking news especially as there has been a large amount of animals dying in floods and fire in Australia recently – those animals who were so much a part of people’s lives and experiences never to be replicated.

Last pic of "Bindi" with Coral

And so, with “Bindi” a little “red” kelpie of fourteen years old who had been Kit’s shadow-biter  for all that time  – died quietly at the vet’s.  She was already a well- educated  dog when I first met her 2001 in Gawler, South Australia, when Kit came to the “McLeod’s Daughters” production office to personally hand over his CV and photo so he could be cast in the first series -and on which both Kit , and his mother Coral, were to work on as various members of the local “Gungellan” community right through to the last series in 2008.

As the Casting Associate I was initially wary, like all Casting people,  of the wonderful talents told of “Bindi” (let alone any human actor’s self-praise) to become an Extra,  until I saw how she was one of the most natural performers – she took direction, did not pee just anywhere, didn’t complain about the long waits, the catering, the heat, the cold – and kept her mouth shut. ((in fact it was Kit who always did all the talking and he soon learned to tell his stories  far away from the set)

Kit with "Bindi" and "Jasmin"

“Bindi” worked only on public land because the McLeod’s property at Kingsford was quarantined to “outside” animals.  If you don’t blink you can see her  running about the town in manyl episodes …

“McLeod’s Daughters” is still playing on screens throughout the world and of course you can buy your very own videos of the whole eight series to watch all the animals and their stories interacting with the humans!