Quentin Kenihan, disability advocate and actor, dies in Adelaide aged 43
Quentin Kenihan was born with a serious bone disease and was well-known as an actor and writer. (Facebook)
Quentin Kenihan, the man known as the "little Aussie battler" because of his strong advocacy for people with disabilities, has died at the age of 43.
The Adelaide actor, entertainer and personality was born with a serious bone disease called osteogenesis imperfecta and became well-known for his childhood interviews with Mike Willesee.
Willesee later made a documentary about Kenihan simply called Quentin.
Kenihan had a television series on Network Ten, acted in the blockbuster Mad Max: Fury Road and was most recently running for a spot on the Adelaide City Council.
It is understood Kenihan, who also made regular appearances on the ABC, passed away on Saturday evening, and that his death has come as a great shock to friends and family.
Actor and friend Russell Crowe took to Twitter to pay tribute.
"Devastating news. My little mate, the bravest bloke I ever met… gone. We will meet again," Crowe tweeted.
"Not confined any more… Between your interviews, your book, your one man show, your zany little movies… what a creative and productive life."
Loading...Former support worker and friend Ian Kissock first met Kenihan 12 years ago, and described him as a "phenomenal" and "unique character".
"I saw him yesterday afternoon — he was fine. Then I get a phone call to say can I come and put his mask on. When I got here, there were two ambos here and they couldn't revive him," he said.
"Quentin was unique. He had a fantastic sense of humour. He had a brilliant mind. He was a unique character who was able to do things even with his disabilities.
"He's done everything — he was on TV, he was on the stage, he's been in major films. He's done it all. For a guy that had a major disability, he's been phenomenal in that he's been able to do all these things."
'An inspiring message to deliver'
Kenihan was regarded by many as an inspirational figure.
Kenihan was born in 1975. During his life, he suffered more than 600 fractures because of his brittle bone disease.
He was widely regarded as an inspirational figure because of his ability to triumph in the face of adversity.
"He was such a tough little bugger who always defied the odds. The respect I had for him was enormous," Willesee said, adding that he was "absolutely devastated" by the news of Kenihan's death.
"I will always have a very special place in my heart for Quentin."
It was after appearing on television when he was only a young boy that Kenihan became known as the "little Aussie battler".
"When I last interviewed him he told me that he hadn't been expected to live past 30," Willesee said.
"He was 37 at the time. 'I've past my use-by date,' he said. 'What does that mean?' I asked.
"'It means I'm working on a new bucket list.' That was Quentin. Feisty, ambitious, hard working. And he never gave up."
Ian Kissock hopes his friend's legacy is one that inspires others. (ABC News: Nathan Stitt)
Kenihan was also a very active social media user on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, and affectionately dubbed his legion of followers "Qpeeps".
Dozens have expressed their sympathies, praising him for his resilience and larger-than-life personality.
"He had a tough gig but certainly didn't spend his life complaining about it. Rest In Peace Quentin, condolences to the family and friends," one tweeted.
Kenihan's heartfelt and humorous memoir Not All Superheroes Wear Capes was published in 2016, with a foreword by Ray Martin.
In it, Kenihan reflected on his passion for films, including Star Wars, and his youthful love of the Superman comics.
"What I've learnt is that we all have our kryptonite but we also have our strengths," he said.
"The key to a good life is learning to cope with the bad and celebrate the good. It's taken me a long while to work that one out.
"Everything I've faced in my life has shaped who I am and what I've done.
"I have some great stories to tell and, I hope, an inspiring message to deliver."
Rubbing shoulders with Hollywood A-listers
Angelina Jolie with Quentin Kenihan. (Instagram)
Kenihan often sought out actors and celebrities to interview and was willing to travel overseas in pursuit of another encounter.
He posted the videos and photos on his personal Instagram account and YouTube page, which boasts dozens of short clips.
"He would decide that he wanted to do an interview with Jean-Claude Van Damme and so he would get the interview," said ABC Radio Adelaide presenter David Bevan.
"He would decide [there was] some superstar that he would crash [at an awards night].
"Whatever he wanted to do he set his sights on it and there was always another adventure."
In addition to Russell Crowe, he rubbed shoulders with Angelina Jolie, Karl Urban, Jimmy Barnes, Julia Gillard and Clive Standen, to name a few.
Politicians and celebrities are among those to pay tribute to him.
"Quentin Kenihan wasn't perhaps the easiest person in the room to get along with, but he was always the strongest. His great superpower was his strength. He was a hustler,"Bevan said.
"He was a hustler because he wouldn't give up. That was Quentin. I don't know whether he got it from somewhere else — whether he came from the planet Quentin and when he got to earth he had this amazing superpower.
"He was a great storyteller, he had this great sense of the dramatic and so he could tell you a story and hold you and then deliver the line, and sometimes it was poignant and sometimes it was funny."
Bevan said Kenihan would be remembered as "one of a kind".
"I don't pretend to be in the Quentin Kenihan inner circle but I was lucky enough to know Quentin, and he called me his friend and I called him a friend."