Australian director George Ogilvie, whose distinguished career crossed television, film, theatre, opera and ballet, has died at the age of 89.

Famous for directing episodes of The Dismissal and Bodyline on television, and the film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome with George Miller, his numerous other credits included directing Joan Sutherland in Lucretia Borgia for Opera Australia, directing Barry Otto and Jacqueline McKenzie in Proof for Sydney Theatre Company, and working as dramaturge on Dame Peggy van Praagh’s Coppélia for The Australian Ballet.

George Ogilvie

An obituary posted by State Theatre Company South Australia, where Ogilvie was the first Artistic Director from 1972 – 1976, said of him: “A devoted teacher and mentor, George was known not only for his extraordinary vision, aesthetic and craft but for his generous love and support for actors, his deep interrogation of character and his breadth and depth of knowledge of the performing arts in all its iterations. He was also widely known and loved for his sense of kindness, generosity and humility and was an advocate of the benefits of mediation on artistic practice and well-being.”

Ogilvie and his identical twin brother Jim were born in Goulburn, NSW,...