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Simon Burke as Patrick

Funny. Gay. Dead.

Patrick and Helen met on the beach at La Perouse when he was eight. It was love at first sight and they have been best friends and soulmates ever since.

Patrick was a playwright. He was terribly upset when he died in case everyone thought it was AIDS. In fact, it was a little sunspot which popped up and said, "Hi, I'm here to kill you".

In death, as in life, Patrick is the yin to Helen's yang. He's the fly in her ointment, the angel on her shoulder, the voice in her ear.

Bottom line, he's on her side, no matter what.

Simon Burke

Simon Burke is one of Australia's most accomplished actors. Since winning the AFI award for best actor at the age of 13 for his performance in The Devil's Playground, he has enjoyed great success both in Australia and the UK in film, television, stage and cabaret.

His music theatre credits include Marius in the original Australian cast of Les Miserables, Billy Crocker in Anything Goes, for which he received the Green Room award for best actor in a musical, Billy Flynn in Chicago, CK Dexter Haven in High Society and in London, Raoul in Phantom of the Opera and Carl-Magnus in A Little Night Music alongside Dame Judi Dench at the Royal National Theatre.

Earlier this year he created the role of Francis Bacon in Jim Sharman's acclaimed production of Stephen Sewell's Three Furies.

His television credits include Small Claims III, The Alice telemovie, The Postcard Bandit, Young Lions, Grass Roots, , Heroes Mountain, Water Rats, Brides of Christ and 16 years as one of the most popular presenters on ABC-TV Play School. He also starred as Bill Harbinson in the television adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic musical South Pacific, alongside Glenn Close and Harry Connick Jr. Recent feature films include Pitch Black and Travelling Light.

Since their inception in 2001, Simon has written and hosted the Helpmann Awards for excellence in the performing arts, which will be broadcast live once again this year on the Ovation channel on August 8.