Farewell to ‘ little Aussie battler’

QUENTIN Kenihan made the most of life, capturing the hearts of the nation as a child and took every chance to express himself, despite battling severe health conditions.

When he died on Saturday evening Quentin ( pictured) had cemented himself as one of South Australia’s favourite entertainers, actors and writers and was a nominee for the Adelaide City Council at the upcoming elections.

Actor Russell Crowe described Quentin as “the bravest bloke I ever met” and said he was devastated by the loss of his “little mate”.

Quentin, 44, was born with eight broken bones, alarming doctors who diagnosed him with osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease.

Doctors would say he wouldn’t survive three months and over his lifetime he would suffer almost 600 broken bones because of the condition. But from the start of his career he quickly endeared himself to the Australian public.

Quentin became a household name at seven years old when he appeared in a documentary with Mike Willesee.

The film crew and the veteran journalist followed Quentin on his journey to learn to walk in America.

But Quentin was not enthralled with the film life.

“I wasn’t really into it at that point – I just wanted to be a seven- year- old kid,” Quentin said of his time with Willesee.

“Having a 42- year- old man ask you adult questions just isn’t something you want to do, but I did it and it became the highest- rating Australian- made documentary in Australian television history.”

Quentin shot to fame because of his never- failing humour and neversay- die attitude.

For many he personified the label “little Aussie battler”, overcoming all the obstacles his own body threw at him.

In his late teens and early 20s Quentin battled drug and alcohol addiction.

He was paranoid, thought his family and friends were out to get him, and said that period of his life was punctuated by alcohol- fuelled blackouts.

His turning point was an appearance on Nine Network’s Midday Show which he later said he could not remember as he was “completely off his nut”.

After that he checked himself into rehab, got a job answering phones at TAFE and retreated into a world of film.

His passion led him to study film and drama at Flinders University, landing an interview on Channel 10 program The Panel which would propel him back into the spotlight.

Then show business came calling and Quentin branched out, hosting his own celebrity interview show Quentin Crashes, performing at the Adelaide Fringe Festival and releasing an autobiography entitled Not All Superheroes Wear Capes.

He counted Crowe as among his numerous friends, with the Hollywood star coming to Quentin’s aid in May this year to help him purchase an expensive oxygen concentrator.

Quentin’s big movie break came in 2015 when he appeared as Corpus Colossus in the blockbuster movie Mad Max: Fury Road.

For Quentin, the movie was a final gesture that he had left his sevenyear- old self behind and had become a creative force all his own.

“I’m not known as ‘ that brave little boy’ anymore … people say ‘ That’s that dude from the movie’,” he said.

“I’m not just seen as a person in a wheelchair but as an actor, which is what I’ve always wanted.”