HOME and Away star Dieter Brummer was left broken by Sydney’s strict Covid lockdown before he died, pals have claimed.
The TV actor, who played the part of Shane Parrish on the Australian soap alongside Melissa George, was found dead at his home in Glenhaven, near Sydney last Saturday.
Pals and colleagues have offered an insight into the tragic circumstances surrounding his death – as his mum Dawn also prepares to write a book on her son’s battle with depression, reports Daily Mail Australia.
Days before his death, the Home and Away star had been offered work by an old friend washing the windows of an apartment building in central Sydney.
The final photo of Brummer shows him with a beard nestled amongst the city’s skyline, saying he was “looking forward to a future working high above Covid which is ‘apparently’ ‘ravaging’ Sydney”.
However, just two days later – the government paused all construction work in the city of two weeks as new restrictions were introduced to try and stop the Delta variant.
His employer, who had known him for 20 years, said: “He was really excited and really grateful about the job.
“The lockdown took the wind out of his sails.”
Brummer was one of tens of thousands left unable to work by the strict lockdown measures, which were triggered by creeping case counts across Australia.
The government has opted for “Zero Covid” policy – with measures being some of the strictest in world as 221 cases were detected yesterday.
Left frustrated by the lockdown and difficulties he found in accessing government support, one pal said it was the “last straw”.
Meanwhile, Dieter’s mum Dawn gave a heartbreaking account as she revealed her son’s battle with depression – but hopes he can leave behind a legacy for those who are also struggling with their mental health.
The 84-year-old plans to write a memoir about her son to help others.
She said: “At the moment I am writing a book on his life, all the details of his frame of his mind will be included in that.
“His friends are helping me. And I’m hoping that the book will help people who are suffering from a depressed state of mind.
“That’s filling my life now, I’m just writing, writing, writing.”
Dieter was found dead last Saturday after cops were asked to perform a welfare check on him.
Brummer’s close friend Rob said: “I can’t say anything other than that he was the greatest person I knew. Intelligent, bright, just so good.”
The star appeared in a total of 557 episodes of Home and Away, winning Most Popular Actor at the Logie Awards in 1995 and 1996.
He was written out of Home and Away when his character died of blood poisoning.
He went on to have guest appearances on Neighbours, Underbelly and Medevac – but he then traded it in to start a window washing business.
TYPECAST
“The good part about it is I don’t have to deal with people too much,” he said in 2009.
Reportedly, Dieter had however become reflective in recent years about what had happened if his career had followed a different path.
He is said to have felt restricted by the role in Home and Away, and often thought about what would have had happened if he never played Shane – despite becoming known as a heartthrob.
The actor, who was born in 1976, was just a teen when he got the role of bad boy soap sensation.
“You get typecast. It’s hard for producers or casting agents not to remember. I’m still ‘that bloke from Home And Away’ 20 years later,” Brummer once said.
“Sometimes you sit back and think, ‘I wonder what it would’ve been like if I didn’t get that job at 15?”
His family released a statement on Monday farewelling “handsome, talented, funny, complicated and beloved Dieter”.
“He has left a massive hole in our lives and our world will never be the same.
‘Our thoughts go out to all of you who knew him, loved him, or worked with him over the years.”
