Neighbours legend warned he’ll ‘be dead by March’ gives huge health update
Neighbours legend Ian Smith was supposed to be dead by March after battling an aggressive form of lung cancer, but a recent health update has given a new perspective to the actor
Ian Smith, the beloved actor who played Harold Bishop on Neighbours for decades, was told he would not live past March after being diagnosed with an aggressive and rare lung cancer. Now, in a happy update, the 86-year-old reveals he is defying the odds.
“That’s why I’ve got this solid grin on my face,” Smith says when interviewed by The Guardian’s Sian Cain. “Apart from being 86, I feel good. I’m in no pain. I know I have cancer, because doctors keep telling me I have it.”
In December 2024, Smith announced he was leaving Neighbours for good after being diagnosed with pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma. His doctor, overcome with emotion, cried while delivering the news. Smith was forced to see the world in a different way. “I began doing very dramatic things, like looking at every sunset, watching children play. The week before, I would have killed them!” he jokes.
Told he would not survive beyond March, Smith prepared himself for the inevitable. “Dying does change how you live,” he admits. “I vainly say I am a better person now, but I think I am more forgiving, more understanding. It is a pity that I couldn’t have come to all these realisations [before] I was sick – I could have done somebody some good in the world.”
Ian Smith joined Neighbours in 1987, and made his last appearance in January 2025 (
Handout)
But then came a twist no soap opera could script. After beginning chemotherapy and immunotherapy, his doctor called with unexpected news. He told the Guardian how there was “not a speck of red in sight” in his most recent span.
His life expectancy has now been pushed back to Christmas 2026 “I am in this funny, vacuous place,” he explains. “They can’t say the cancer has gone – in fact, they mustn’t, because it has come back in other people and they have died of it. But honestly, if they told me it had come back now, I would be ready this time.”
Smith gave life to Harold Bishop for over 21 years, on and off, and became a familiar face to watchers Australia and the UK. So much so, that he felt like it became harder to be seen as any other character throughout his career.
Smith played stock and station agent Harold Bishop in Neighbours, the soap credited with launching the careers of Kylie Minogue and Margot Robbie. (
BBC)
For a man who was meant to be dead within weeks, Smith is as sharp as ever. “Culturally significant!” He cheers after learning a documentary about his experience was greenlit for funding. “I rang my agent and said: ‘I give you permission to tell your friends that you knew me.’”
