Veteran actress Leila Hayes best known for Sons & Daughters and Prisoner has died aged 85.
Following an extended period of health challenges, she passed peacefully at Northern Beaches Hospital. In her final days, she celebrated her birthday surrounded by family and attended by her only daughter Melissa throughout her final week.
After retiring from performing in 1992 she established The Leila Hayes Drama Studio which posted her passing on Facebook.
Rising to prominence in Australian entertainment, Hayes first captured audiences as a talented singer on The Don Lane Show and The Bert Newton Show, becoming a regular presence in national telethons, particularly Melbourne’s Channel 7 Good Friday Appeal.
Her versatile career expanded into dramatic acting, where she achieved critical acclaim for her performances in numerous landmark Australian productions including Power Without Glory, The Sullivans, Cop Shop, Twenty Good Years, and Prisoner.
Hayes’ most renowned role though was her portrayal of Melbourne mother Beryl Palmer in Sons and Daughters, which earned her the prestigious Penguin Award and garnered international recognition. This success led to a memorable tour of Belgium in 1988, where she performed before hundreds of thousands of fans and shared the stage with her daughter in a touching duet of “The Rose”.
Following her television success, Hayes reinvented herself as a radio personality, hosting “New Day Australia with Leila Hayes” on Radio 2UE, which became the highest-rating midnight to dawn program. Her insightful features were frequently rebroadcast throughout 2UE’s daily programming.
Hayes dedicated her later years to nurturing new talent through the Leila Hayes Drama Studio, first in Melbourne and later in Sydney, where she mentored thousands of aspiring performers. Her commitment to community service included running voluntary drama programs for both youth and senior citizens through the Ryde Council, earning her Rotary International’s Paul Harris Fellow award and a Premier Award for Service to the Community.
Born in Dimboola, Victoria in 1940, Hayes maintained a special connection to her hometown throughout her career, notably starring in the inaugural theatrical production of Jack Hibbard’s Dimboola alongside fellow personalities Denise Drysdale and Maurie Fields. Years later, in a moment that merged art with life, Hayes performed in a Sydney recreation of the same production alongside her daughter and Tom Richards.
In her final years, Hayes found joy away from the public eye, spending time with her grandsons, Lucian and Liam, and pursuing her creative passion through writing, publishing a children’s book titled “Streak,” inspired by her walks at Balmoral Beach near her Sydney home and proudly dedicated to her grandsons.
Hayes is survived by her daughter Melissa, son-in-law Erik, and grandsons Lucian and Liam.
First published at TV Tonight, January 20, 2025
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