Film director Kevin James Dobson has sadly died at the age of 73, his former agents, Back To Crawford Productions, confirmed. The TV legend, who was married to his first wife, Noni Hazlehurst, from 1975 to 1978, passed away in Melbourne on Saturday (February 21), after a career spanning four decades.

Taking to social media, his agents announced: “A young Manchester, UK-born Kevin Dobson started at Crawford’s as a trainee before becoming an assistant film editor. Kevin worked in the USA, living in Los Angeles for over 30 years. When he came back to Australia, Kevin lived in Sydney until his illness took him to Melbourne approximately three months ago, where he passed away in care in the suburb of Lilydale.”

The TV star was born in England before moving Down Under at 14 under the Ten Pound Poms scheme, which promoted immigration to Australia. His TV career first began back in the early ‘70s, where he worked on many Australian productions, such as Matlock Police, Homicide, A Country Practice and Cop Shop.

It didn’t take long before he went on to work on various 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 star John Jarratt.

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

After the devastating news hit the headlines, fans flocked to social media to share their sympathies and fond memories online. One person wrote: “I had many great times with Kevin. We worked and partied together. Sad to hear of his death, although his spirit lives on.”

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Another added: “Very sad to hear about this. I have some very happy memories working with Kevin”. After separating from Kevin in 1978, Noni tied the knot with Wolf Creek star John Jarratt.

They co-hosted the popular Channel Seven lifestyle show Better Homes and Gardens for 12 years during their marriage, before separating in 1999. Now the actress has opened up about her separation from the TV star in her new memoir Dropping the Mask.

She explained that she has been “in shock ever since” they divorced, adding to Woman’s Day: “John and I had some wonderful times together – and then we didn’t. That’s true of many relationships. They start off full of hope and optimism and, along the way, buried issues come to the surface.”

Noni claims she knew her marriage was over when John had “grown close” to someone on the Better Homes and Gardens production crew. She concluded: “At that moment, I knew the marriage was over.”