# Ivar Kants

Ivar Kants (born 19 July 1949) (commonly credited as Ivor Kants or Ivar Kanz) is an Australian actor of Latvian descent who has played numerous roles in film, television and theatre.

## Early life

Ivar Kants was born on July 19, 1949, in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. Both his parents were originally from Latvia, but they immigrated to Australia before he was born. Ivar left home at 19 to enrol in National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney, and graduated with a degree in performing arts (acting) in 1970.

## Career
### Film & television

Kants has appeared in many soap operas and tv drama series, including A Country Practice, G.P., All Saints, Water Rats, and Blue Heelers. He portrayed the role of Ken Garrett in the soap opera The Restless Years (1979) and starred as Father Menotti, a caring inner-city parish priest in the 1980–81 TV series Menotti.
A more prominent role was as school principal Barry Hyde, a regular in Home and Away. He has also appeared in Neighbours, Heartbreak High and in the TV movie The Plumber.
His ability to tell a story is supported by the many narrations he has recorded for SBS and the ABC. He narrated the Hairy Maclary audiobook series released by ABC for Kids.

### Theatre

In addition to his on-screen work, Kants has also had an illustrious theatre career, with his many roles in Shakespeare plays colouring his vocal work.

## Personal life

Ivar has been married to Jenny Kants since 1970. They have four children, including his daughter Sarah Kants (born 1974), who is an actress.

## Filmography
### Films

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1976 | The Understudy | - | TV movie |
| 1977 | Ballantyne's Mission | - | TV movie |
| 1978 | Puzzle | Detective Constable Gilbert | TV movie |
| 1979 | Dawn! | Len | Movie |
| 1979 | The Plumber | Max | TV movie |
| 1979 | Barnaby and Me | Boris | TV movie |
| 1982 | Brothers | Kevin Wild | Movie |
| 1983 | The Dean Case | - | TV movie |
| 1983 | Moving Out | Mr Clarke | Movie |
| 1984 | The Secret Discovery of Australia | Mendonca | TV movie |
| 1984 | Silver City | Julian | Movie |
| 1985 | The Naked Country | Sgt Neil Adams | Movie |
| 1985 | Jenny Kissed Me | Lindsay Fenton | Movie |
| 1986 | The Three Musketeers | D'Artagnan (voice) | TV movie |
| 1986 | Twelfth Night | Orsino | Movie |
| 1987 | Gallagher's Travels | Gallagher | Movie |
| 1989 | The Edge of Power | Peter Mueller | Movie |
| 1989 | Cassidy | Seger | TV movie |
| 1993 | You and Me and Uncle Bob | Mick | Movie |
| 1993 | My Cage | Edmuds Berzs | Movie |
| 1995 | Return to Sandakan | Narrator | Documentary |
| 2002 | Counterstrike | Crewman | TV movie |
| 2015 | F Meat | Fielding | Short film |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1973-1976 | Certain Women | Michael Fraser | TV series |
| 1975 | Shannon's Mob | Tarovic | Episode: Without Incident |
| 1976 | Homicide | Luke | Episode: Leader of the Pack |
| 1976 | The Outsiders | Franz Benson | Episode: Change of Image |
| 1977 | Bluey | Roger Stevens | Episode: Lonely Ordeal |
| 1977 | The Restless Years | Ken Garrett | TV series |
| 1978 | Glenview High | Roger | 2 episodes: Birdcage, The Sect |
| 1979 | Chopper Squad | James | Episode: The Big Trip |
| 1979 | Doctor Down Under | Dr. Bailey | Episode: The Name of the Game |
| 1980-1981 | Menotti | Father Jack Menotti | TV series |
| 1980-1981 | Cop Shop | Sgt. Roger Sutherland, Richard Evan Walters | 4 episodes |
| 1981 | Bellamy | Ogden | Episode: The Bank You Can Trust |
| 1982 | Runaway Island | Hendrik | TV series |
| 1982, 1988, 1993 | A Country Practice | Tom Hartley, Ron Greenway, Jonathan Fletcher | 6 episodes |
| 1983 | Carson's Law | Steve Coutts | 2 episodes: The Bolshevik, Picking up the Pieces |
| 1984-1985 | Special Squad | Scalese | 2 episodes: Ghosts, Business as Usual |
| 1986 | Prime Time | - | TV series |
| 1987 | The Flying Doctors | Tony Symonds | 4 episodes |
| 1988 | Rafferty's Rules | Father Phelan | Episode: Confessions |
| 1988 | The Last Resort | - | TV series |
| 1988-1989 | Mission: Impossible | Von Schau, Father Thomas Vallis | 2 episodes: The Legacy, Command Performance |
| 1992 | Six Pack | Ben | Episode: Loveless |
| 1993 | G.P. | Morris Stevens | Episode: Drowning Not Waving |
| 1994 | Escape from Jupiter | Karl | TV mini series |
| 1994 | Neighbours | Dave Gottlieb | 18 episodes |
| 1994-1997 | Heartbreak High | Roberto Bordino | TV series |
| 1994, 2002 | Blue Heelers | Terry Kennedy, Simon Curtis | 3 episodes |
| 1998 | Murder Call | Hugo Riccadelli | Season 2, Episode 17: Blowing the Whistle |
| 1999 | Water Rats | Geoff Cooper | Episode: Dangerous Encounters |
| 2001 | All Saints | Dr. Richard Bird | 5 episodes |
| 2001-2002 | Beastmaster | Ramah, Slythius | 9 episodes |
| 2002 | The Lost World | Warbek the Druid | Episode: Warbek the Druid |
| 2002 | Farscape | Gaashah | Episode: A Perfect Murder |
| 2004-2006 | Home and Away | Barry Hyde | TV series |
| 2018 | Harrow | Michael Wagner | Episode: Lex Talionis |

## Stage

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1967 | The Choephori (The Libation Bearers) | Chorus member | University of NSW |
| 1968 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | | Theatre 62, Adelaide |
| 1969 | The Night of the Iguana | Reverend Shannon | NIDA Theatre |
| 1969 | The Glass Menagerie | Tom Wingfield | NIDA Theatre |
| 1970 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | | University of NSW with Old Tote Theatre |
| 1970 | Blood Wedding | | University of NSW with Old Tote Theatre |
| 1971 | Cloak, Crown and Dagger | Macbeth | Queensland secondary schools tour |
| 1971 | Julius Caesar Meet Mr Brutus | Caesar | Queensland secondary schools tour |
| 1971 | The Wind in the Sassafras Trees | Wayne Nelson | SGIO Theatre, Brisbane with Queensland Theatre Company |
| 1971 | The Legend of King O'Malley | | New South Wales, The Playhouse, Canberra, SGIO Theatre, Brisbane with Queensland Theatre Company |
| 1972 | Lock Up Your Daughters | Ramble | SGIO Theatre, Brisbane with Queensland Theatre Company |
| 1972 | Heidi (a children's musical) | | La Boite Theatre |
| 1972 | Assault with a Deadly Weapon | Curtis | SGIO Theatre, Brisbane with Queensland Theatre Company |
| 1972 | The Schoolmistress | Jack Mallory | Queensland Theatre Company |
| 1972 | Twelfth Night | Orsino | SGIO Theatre, Brisbane with Queensland Theatre Company |
| 1972 | The Ruling Class | Dinsdale Gurney | SGIO Theatre, Brisbane with Queensland Theatre Company |
| 1972 | The Taming of the Shrew | Lucentio | Old Tote Theatre Company |
| 1973 | 'Tis Pity She's a Whore | Giovanni | Old Tote Theatre Company |
| 1973 | Arsenic and Old Lace | Officer Klien | Old Tote Theatre Company |
| 1973 | Kabul | Akbar Khan | Old Tote Theatre Company |
| 1973 | Lysistrata | Manes | Old Tote Theatre Company |
| 1973 | Richard II | Lord Aumerle | Old Tote Theatre Company |
| 1973 | The Threepenny Opera | Hook-finger Jake | Sydney Opera House with Old Tote Theatre Company |
| 1974 | Ruzzante Returns from the Wars | | University of NSW |
| 1974 | Love for Love | Buckram | Old Tote Theatre Company |
| 1974 | The Cradle of Hercules | Corporal Hurst | Sydney Opera House with Old Tote Theatre Company |
| 1974 | La Mandragola | Callimaco | Old Tote Theatre Company |
| 1974 | Three Men on a Horse | Jake | Sydney Opera House with Old Tote Theatre Company |
| 1974 | The Chapel Perilous | Judith / Sister Rosa / David / Saul | Sydney Opera House with Old Tote Theatre Company |
| 1984 | Love's Labour Lost | Ferdinand / King of Navarre | Old Tote Theatre Company |
| 1974-75 | Hotel Paradiso | | University of NSW, Playhouse, Canberra |
| 1975 | Much Ado About Nothing | Don Pedro | Nimrod Theatre Company |
| 1975 | Richard III | Edward IV / Richmond | Nimrod Theatre Company |
| 1976 | All Good Men | | Stables Theatre |
| 1976 | Mourning Becomes Electra | Orin | Sydney Opera House |
| 1976 | The Recruiting Officer | Mr Worthy | Nimrod Theatre Company |
| 1976 | The Duchess of Malfi | Antonio Bolgna | Nimrod Theatre Company |
| 1977 | Much Ado About Nothing | Don Pedro | Nimrod Theatre Company, Space Theatre, Adelaide |
| 1978 | King Lear | Edmund | SGIO Theatre, Brisbane with Queensland Theatre Company |
| 1977-78 | The Club | Geoff Hayward | Nimrod Theatre Company, Canberra Theatre, Theatre Royal, Sydney, Her Majesty's Theatre, Brisbane, Orange Civic Theatre |
| 1978 | Widowers' Houses | Dr Harry Trench | University of NSW with Old Tote Theatre Company |
| 1979 | Kookaburra | Steve Clare | ABC Radio, Sydney |
| 1979 | The Lady of the Camellias | Armand Duval | Sydney Opera House with Old Tote Theatre Company |
| 1979-80 | The Club | Geoff Hayward | St George Leagues Club, Dapto Leagues Club & The Old Vic, London with Nimrod Theatre Company |
| 1981 | Three Sisters | Vassily Vassilyevich Solyony | Nimrod Theatre Company |
| 1981 | The Revenger's Tragedy | Vindice | Playhouse, Adelaide with State Theatre Company of South Australia |
| 1981 | Tales from the Vienna Woods | Alfred | Nimrod Theatre Company |
| 1982 | The Circle | | Theatre Royal, Sydney with Peerwill Productions |
| 1985 | Too Young for Ghosts | Edvards / Leichhardt | Sydney Theatre Company |
| 1986 | She Stoops to Conquer | Young Marlow | Seymour Centre with Nimrod Theatre Company |
| 1986 | Wild Honey | Voinitsov | Seymour Centre with Nimrod Theatre Company |
| 1986 | The Merchant of Venice | Bassanio | Seymour Centre with Nimrod Theatre Company |
| 1988 | Manning Clark's History of Australia: The Musical | Manning Clark / Rev. Marsden / Judge Barry. | Princess Theatre, Melbourne |
| 1989 | Director's Workshop | Macbeth / Malvolio | The Peter Summerton Foundation |
| 1990 | Moby Dick | Starbuck | Suncorp Theatre, Brisbane, Marian Street Theatre, Seymour Centre with Queensland Theatre Company |
| 1990 | Sydney to Stratford | | Globe International |
| 1991 | Marina - Journey to the End | Sergei Efron & others | Marina Productions |
| 1992 | On Golden Pond | Bill Ray | Marian Street Theatre |
| 1992 | Other People's Money | William Coles | Ensemble Theatre |
| 1993 | The Little Prince | The Prince | Sunday Pictures |
| 1993 | The Seahorse | Harry | Ensemble Theatre |
| 1996 | Sail Away Shakespeare | | The Solway Lass, Sydney |
| 1996 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | | University of NSW |
| 1996 | Much Ado About Nothing | Don Pedro | Athenaeum Theatre, Sydney Opera House, Canberra Theatre with Bell Shakespeare |
| 1997 | The Seagull | Doctor Dorn | Belvoir Theatre Company |
| 1997 | The Winter's Tale | Polixenes | Bell Shakespeare |
| 1998 | The Herbal Bed | John Hall | Sydney Theatre Company |
| 2000 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Theseus / Oberon | Geelong Performing Arts Centre, His Majesty's Theatre, Perth, Gold Coast Arts Centre, Princess Theatre, Launceston, Theatre Royal, Hobart, Athenaeum Theatre, Playhouse, Canberra, Sydney Opera House |
| 2008 | The Good German | Karl Vogel | Seymour Centre |

## Accolades

Kants was nominated for Best Actor at the 1984 AFI Awards for Silver City.