For almost 40 years, Australian actor Ian Smith has been a fixture on Aussie screens as Harold Bishop on Neighbours.
But in a shocking interview with Channel 10’s Angela Bishop in December 2024, the 86-year-old revealed that he would be departing the long-running soap drama to focus on his health and spend time with family after being diagnosed with a “very aggressive, non-fixable” lung cancer, specifically pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma.
With his finale episode of Neighbours airing in April 2025, the star made a surprise appearance on The Project where he said he felt “reborn” after undergoing a groundbreaking immunotherapy treatment that has given him “a year, maybe two” of extra life.
“I was supposed to die in March. I didn’t. So I’m here to talk about me dying last month,” he said on the show.
“I know I’ve got cancer because doctors keep telling me I have. That’s the only way I know. I’ve got no pain – none of that.”
“I want to go forever. I don’t want to play Harold anymore, but I don’t want to stop acting.”
“I’m not cured, but I’m here. And I feel fine,” he concluded.
In his final episode, his character Harold revealed he was moving to Port Douglas, Queensland, with an emotional montage of his scenes from the show playing onscreen as a flashback for the character as he farewelled Ramsay Street for good.
In a February 2025 interview with The Guardian, the beloved star of the silver screen shed new light on his cancer journey, revealing that despite being told he would be dead by March 2025, his life expectancy had since been extended to Christmas 2026.
“Dying changes how you live,” he shared with the publication at the time.
“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.”
“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,” he added.
The update came only a month after Harold shared a positive health update with his fans via our sister publication TV Week.
“I did a PET scan and the words, I believe, were ‘significant metabolic change, significant shrinkage of tumour,” he shared at the time.
“I’ve gone from a threat of drying this coming March to maybe a few more months…and now, God, who knows? It’s not a cure and it won’t be a cure, but I certainly have got a year, maybe two.”
“That’s amazing. It really is.”
When he first went public with his prognosis, Ian revealed that he had undergone three rounds of palliative treatment, including immunotherapy and chemotherapy.
“They expect me to die,” he admitted sadly to Angela for 10 News First in December 2024.
“I’ve really put my hand up just to be a guinea pig. I think, plus the fact that I don’t want to die.”
“I want to stay alive with quality as long as I can and if they can do that, I’m very happy.”
“But I wake up every morning hoping there’s no pain because I know that’s the beginning of the bad part.”
Sadly cancer is all too familiar to Ian who lost both his biological mother Peggy Kline and wife Gail Smith to the insidious disease.
As the news broke, a Channel Ten spokesperson shared a public statement, writing that the network was “deeply saddened” to hear of Ian’s health diagnosis.
“A cherished member of the Neighbours family, Ian has been the heart and soul of the show since he first arrived on Ramsay Street in 1987,” the spokesperson said.
“Ian has brought joy, laughter, and inspiration to audiences all around the world for decades.
“Along with the cast and crew and all his fans from around the world, we will support Ian in any way we can during this difficult time.”
According to the network, Ian has already filmed his final episodes, which will air in the coming weeks.
“The way the residents of Ramsay Street feel about Harold is how we all feel about Ian — we couldn’t love him more than we do,” Executive Producer of Neighbours Jason Herbison confirmed.
“Despite the challenges he (Smith) was facing with his health, he wanted to give Harold a proper send-off. It was a very emotional moment on set as we paid tribute to him and the incredible contribution he has made to the show.”
