Alf Stewart
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| Alfred Stewart | |||||||||||||||
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 Ray Meagher as Alf Stewart |
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| Portrayed by | Ray Meagher | ||||||||||||||
| First appearance | Pilot January 17, 1988 |
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| Profile | |||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | Alf Stewie (by Vinnie Patterson and Will Smith) |
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| Gender | Male | ||||||||||||||
| Age | 62 | ||||||||||||||
| Residence | Summer Bay House | ||||||||||||||
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Alfred Douglas "Alf" Stewart [1] is a fictional character on the Australian television soap opera series Home and Away. The character is played by actor Ray Meagher.
Alf is most known for his use of declining Australian slang, such as the words "flamin' mongrel", "holy grandpa on a stick, grandma", "strewth" and "strike my living harry". His most famous quotes are "stone the flamin' crows", "flaming mongrels", "flaming galah" "strike me pink" "strike me roan" and "only bar in Riga".
Apart from the fact that he served in the Vietnam War, little information about Alf's youth has been revealed on-screen. However, according to one source, the day he was born was the happiest of his father's life. There was just one problem: Mr. Stewart Sr. had wanted more sons, but that didn't happen and he ended up with four daughters instead. Ambitious for young Alf from the outset, and in a bid to make him more independent, Mr. Stewart Sr. told his son that he would receive no financial help whatsoever. He banned Alf from both his boatyard and yacht brokerage business on leaving school, telling him to make his own fortune. It was hard work, but Alf was determined to prove himself. His efforts were well-rewarded, as by the age of 30 he owned the Summer Bay Liquor Store, the Boat Hire Service, the Summer Bay Caravan Park and even his own yacht brokerage business in opposition to his father.
Alf is a brother to Celia and Morag Bellingham who was later revealed to be Bobby Simpson's mother. He is also a brother of Barbara, who is an ex-wife of Donald Fisher. Alf was married to Martha Stewart, a local lass whom he adored. The couple had one daughter, Ruth.When Martha drowned in 1985 Alf was distraught. As a tribute to her memory, he kept the house spick and span; in the meantime, the caravan park slipped into a state of disrepair and Alf lost other businesses. Eventually Alf could no longer stand living with his memories in Summer Bay House, and sold both the house and the caravan park to the Fletchers.
When Ailsa Hogan arrived in Summer Bay, he went out with her. He was attracted to her, but was unsure of how far he would like his relationship with her to go. However, it took only the first 20 episodes of Home and Away for them to decide to get married. Alf's daughter, Ruth, whom everyone called Roo, hated Ailsa so much that she went to great lengths to find something unsavoury about her. Roo eventually learned that Ailsa had been in prison for murdering her abusive father in self defence. Despite Roo's hostility and learning that Ailsa was a convicted felon, Alf stuck with Ailsa, which Roo later accepted. They married on the spot in a registry and surprised Roo and Celia.
In 1989, Alf was delighted when he had a son, whom they called Duncan. Unfortunately for him, Ailsa suffered from post-natal depression. At one stage, she nearly suffocated Duncan in his cot. In later years, he had businesses in different locations, but they rarely stayed long — one was damaged by an earthquake, another by fire, and so on. Alf opened a business with Jesse McGregor, who was a crook in his younger days; they opened a bait store which they called 'Alf and Jesse's Baits and Bits Store'. However, the place was burnt down by a madman.
In 1995, Ailsa went through a period of depression following an armed hold-up at the Diner. She was on tranquilisers and had a vision of Bobby coming out of the fridge one night. Alf tried to help her, but to no avail. Alf had a few near heart attacks and was constantly told to slow down, and tone down the flames and not lose his temper so much. Despite this, he still continued his busy life. Duncan had an accident on council lands which ended in him being in hospital for a long time. This angered Alf and since then he lost interest in the council.
Around this time, Alf learned he had an illegitimate daughter, Quinn Jackson, conceived decades previous. When Quinn arrived in the Bay, Alf did his best to make her feel at home. At the same time, Alf was involved in setting up a hotel in the area, which brought him into conflict with his friends Pippa and Michael. Wanting revenge on Alf for abandoning her and leaving her with an uncaring stepfather, Quinn leaked a report to her boyfriend Steven Matheson showing that the impact on the Bay would be a lot more severe than Alf had claimed. When she found out Alf hadn't known about her and would have wanted to be involved in her life if he had, Quinn tried to get the report back but Steven had already had it published and the hotel idea was stopped by local opposition. After apologising to Alf, Quinn left the Bay and they have had very little contact since.
Despite his old fashioned ways, he is a good-natured person who means well. He was shocked when female lifeguard Shauna Bradley was employed, but eventually accepted it. Alf would later welcome Shauna to the family when it was revealed that she was in fact Ailsa's daughter from a rape Ailsa had suffered while in prison. Alf received a devastating blow at the end of the 2000 season when Ailsa suffered a fatal heart attack. Ailsa's funeral was held in the 2001 Season Premiere and although it's been tough, Alf has in a sense recovered from losing the love of his life. After Ailsa's death, Alf found it more and more difficult to control Duncan, who in the end moved away from Summer Bay to live with his Aunt Morag in the city.
A couple of years later, Alf started to get absent-minded which resulted in him forgetting people's names, threatening to fire Leah Patterson from the Diner (which he couldn't, since she was a partner) and on one occasion answering the Diner's phone thinking it was the Bait Shop, upon which Alf had a sudden angry turn and threw every customer in the Diner out. At first, it appeared that Alf had Alzheimer's Disease, but one night he came home to the Diner to find Ailsa working in the kitchen as if nothing had happened to her.
He kept the secret that he believed that he was with Ailsa for months, but his behaviour got worse, even violent at times (at one point he even pushed Morag down a flight of stairs), until it eventually transpired that he had a brain tumour, but not wishing to be separated from Ailsa again, Alf refused to have the operation, despite everyone in town urging him to do it. Soon, the Ailsa vision turned evil and started to scare Alf; finally, he agreed to have the operation. During the operation, his heart suddenly stopped, and while the surgeons tried desperately to revive him, Alf underwent a vision in which he was shown by an angelic version of Ailsa – dressed in heavenly white – what Summer Bay would be like in a future without him, and it was a very sorry place indeed. The town had been virtually taken over by Josh West, who was turning it into a more city-like place. He was married to Hayley Smith, who was clearly unhappy with her marriage, although she tried to hide it. The Diner was shut down, as Leah and her son VJ had returned to the city, and Donald had become a disspirited man, whose only reason for living was to try and prevent the demolition of the Surf Club. Colleen Smart was a sad old woman who was living alone at the Caravan Park (paid for by a now wealthy author Max Sutherland) and Noah Lawson was an alcoholic after Seb Miller, Alf's great nephew, had stolen his bike and was killed on it. Realising how important he was, Alf was able to pull through the operation and recover, while at the same time fully accepting Ailsa's death...
Alf was looked after while recovering by Donald and Seb, and Alf persuaded Donald to take up his retirement and live with his girlfriend in Queensland. However Seb didn't want to leave Summer Bay, so it was decided that Seb would move in with Alf. However some people were convinced that Alf hadn't fully recovered from the tumour, after trying to persuade Josh and Hayley to break up (after his vision) in the middle of a packed diner. When Donald left for Queensland, Alf left with him for an extended holiday. Alf returned after a month in Queensland fully recovered from the tumour and complete with a new zest for life. Seb moved in with him, and the two got along really well, and since he was no longer living alone, Alf found himself far more cheerful than he had been in a long time.
Everything was pretty much fine for the next several months, although there was an incident where Seb stole Noah's bike for a joyride, causing Alf, in a rage, to smash it up with a sledgehammer (he later paid for a new bike). Also, Alf entered his first relationship since Ailsa with Maureen, Colleen's long-lost daughter, although she later left the Bay.
Soon Duncan came home for the first time in years to stay with Alf for a while, however it soon turned out that, rather than choosing to stay with his father, Duncan actually had no where else to go while Morag's apartment was being renovated. It was obvious that Seb and Duncan weren't getting along, due to Duncan's friendship with Seb's girlfriend (and Duncan's ex) Jade Sutherland. Jade was already going off the rails after finding out that, due to a mix-up at the hospital when she was born, she was given as a baby to the wrong parents. Everything came to a head a few days later...
Robbie and Hayley decided to hold a huge birthday bash for their respective 17th and 21st birthdays, since they shared the same birthdate. Duncan however invited gatecrashers, and the party soon turned out of control. Eventually Alf was horrified to learn that Duncan, Jade and Seb (who was trying to stop the two) had gone for a joyride in Robbie's new car. The car went over a cliff, and while Duncan had jumped clear, Seb and Jade were missing. The two were soon found, and while Jade only had minor injuries, Seb's spine had been shattered and he learned that he would never walk again.
Alf was very concerned for Seb, and admitted that he felt far closer to Seb than Duncan. Donald arrived in the Bay to check on Seb, and Seb decided to live with his grandfather. Alf was furious with Duncan after finding out he had not only invited the gatecrashers but was also taking drugs. He and Morag decided that he shouldn't return to live with her and that he should stay in the Bay. However Duncan's behaviour got far worse and, in the end, he left the Bay to live with Roo in New York.
Over the next few months, Alf tried to keep a brave face, but he was becoming depressed, and for a while allowed a coin to make all of his decisions for him. This caused him to sell his half of the Diner to Irene Roberts, and Alf came out of his depression and decided to enjoy his retirement. A couple of months later, Alf had several run-ins with a young tearaway named Eric Dalby, and the two had a mutual loathing of each other (given that Dalby had set fire to the Surf Club kiosk and blamed Henry Hunter for the crime), but he also discovered that 'The Guv', who had looked after Dani during her spell in prison, was his first true love Viv Standish, who had suddenly left him decades ago because she was Catholic while he wasn't.
Viv was dying, and Morag arranged for her to be given parole for her last few weeks. Meanwhile there was shock around the Bay when Dalby appeared to have murdered his father while he was being beaten by him (Dalby had been on the receiving end of beatings for years). After showing Viv around the bay, she confessed that the true reason she had left him was that she had discovered she was pregnant with their child, and was too afraid to tell him. Alf forgave her, and she died in his arms. Alf was devastated, but was determined to find the son he never knew he had! Alf did some digging, and Colleen remembered a couple who had adopted a baby at around the same time that Viv would have given birth. Alf was shocked to find the couple's name was 'Dalby'. Alf realised that not only was his son dead, but the boy who he hated, Eric, was his grandson and was currently charged with murdering Owen.
Alf decided that Eric had enough to worry about, and kept the information to himself, but Eric escaped from hospital and went on the run. Alf was upset, and spent the majority of the next few months following leads, all of which led to dead ends. Meanwhile it turned out that Owen had died not from the blow to the head that Eric had given him but a heart attack, meaning Eric was no longer charged with murder.
During the plane crash, Alf was helping with rescue efforts when he heard that Eric had turned up in the bush. Alf was originally going to keep the news that he was Eric's grandfather to himself, until Morag persuaded him otherwise. Alf told Eric the full story, and the shocked and confused teenager ran off. Alf worried about his grandson, until he turned up the next morning at the diner giving the two a chance to talk. However the small amount of headway the two made during the day (including Eric deciding to go by the name of 'Ric') was almost destroyed when Alf entered his flat to find Ric injecting himself with a needle. Instantly jumping to the wrong conclusion, Alf angrily demanded to know what his grandon thought he was doing over Ric's pleas of innocence. It was only after Ric ran off that Alf saw that he had been injecting himself with insulin (Alf was previously unaware Ric was diabetic). Alf caught up with Ric and apologised for his outburst and while Ric accepted the apology, the two agreed they didn't know enough about each other to just start living together and Alf took Sally and Flynn up on their earlier offer and Ric moved into Summer Bay House. Alf and Ric's relationship continued to grow especially when Alf learned Ric had a liking for fishing. However, the day the two were due to go on a camping trip, Alf received news from Duncan that Roo had been seriously injured in a traffic accident in New York. Alf caught the first available flight to New York to be with his daughter.
Weeks later, Alf returned to the Bay and instantly became partner in Noah's Bar due to the recent space created when Josie Russell had been bought out following her and Jesse's break-up. It turned out that running around in New York made Alf realise how much he enjoyed being busy and decided to put his retirement on hold. However he had an even bigger surprise in store as he had returned with Martha McKenzie, his granddaughter that Roo gave birth to and had given up for adoption. Later that year, the town of Summer Bay celebrated Alf's 60th birthday, with past citizens returning for the occasion, including his sisters Celia and Barbara, whom Alf hadn't seen for years. Duncan also returned to visit his father, and as a result of Roo nearly dying in the traffic accident he now regretted his earlier actions in the Bay and sought his father's forgiveness. While Alf pretended to be getting along with Duncan at the party, he clearly felt uncomfortable and found any excuse to leave his side, causing Duncan to storm out of the party. The night ended in tragedy when a car carrying Alf, Kim, Ric, Martha and Chloe (who had recently returned to the Bay) was hit head-on by a driver who drove straight at them and then fled the scene. While Alf, Ric and Kim only suffered superficial injuries and Chloe suffered a broken arm, Martha was seriously injured and was nearly paralysed. However Chloe, while originally in high spirits while in hospital, suddenly died due to a blood clot caused by the broken arm. Alf was convinced that Duncan was responsible for the accident and upon running into him a couple of days later grabbed him and angrily accused him of killing Chloe. When the police deduced that Duncan couldn't have been responsible (the culprit was later revealed to be a drunken Jesse McGregor), Alf tracked his son down and the two finally made up. Duncan left for New York later that day and both were pleased they were now on good terms.
When Alf learned Flynn was dying, he visited him on his death bed and promised he would look after Sally. When it became clear Sally wasn't coping well with being alone, Alf moved back into Summer Bay House with her. Not long after, Alf stood against Josh West as mayor. Realising that Alf was more popular with the locals than him, Josh set Alf up so it appeared he had been stealing from the Surf Club to pay for his campaign. Alf was found guilty of embezzlement and sent to prison, resulting in Josh winning the election, but released when it was discovered Josh had bribed the judge.
Alf later noticed that his eyes were playing up. Since there was a family history of glaucoma, he believed he was going blind and refused to see a doctor. Ric eventually took him to the doctor and it was revealed that he was suffering from cateracts, which could be corrected with minor surgery. Although he wasn't supposed to drive, Alf ended up moving a ute that was blocking in another car while everyone else was out and accidentally ran over Sally's daughter Pippa. Pippa survived but Sally found it hard to forgive and forget. After spending several days sleeping on his boat, he eventually did move back in with Sally and when he was reluctant to start driving again after his operation she was the one that persuaded him. Afterwards he departed on a fishing tour with some old friends.
Since Sally Fletcher's departure from Summer Bay Alf is very upset and lost with out best friend Sal (like a daughter to him).
[edit] Family Tree
- Gordan Stewart (father, deceased), married to Sarah Jane Stewart (mother, deceased), had a relationship with Mavis Hickey (deceased)
- Alf Stewart, married to Martha Baldivis (wife, deceased) and Ailsa Hogan (wife, deceased), had a relationship with Viv Standish
- Ruth Stewart (daughter, with Martha), had a relationship with Brett Macklin
- Martha MacKenzie (granddaughter) married to Jack Holden (grandson-in-law, divorced)
- Duncan Stewart (son, with Ailsa)
- Owen Dalby (son, with Viv, deceased), married to wife, deceased
- Ric Dalby (grandson) had an affair with Viv Anderson
- Unborn baby (great-grandchild)
- Ric Dalby (grandson) had an affair with Viv Anderson
- Quinn Jackson (illegitimate daughter)
- Ruth Stewart (daughter, with Martha), had a relationship with Brett Macklin
- Morag Bellingham (sister) married to Richar Bellingham (divorced), had an affair with Donald Fisher
- Bobby Simpson (niece, deceased) married to Frank Morgan (divorced), and Greg Marshall
- Sam Marshall (adoptive great nephew)
- Bobby Simpson (niece, deceased) married to Frank Morgan (divorced), and Greg Marshall
- Celia Stewart (sister)
- Barbara Stewart (sister) married to Donald Fisher (divorced)
- Alan Fisher (nephew, deceased) had a one night stand with Anna Miller (deceased)
- Seb Miller (great nephew)
- Rebecca Fisher (niece) married to Travis Nash
- Unnamed son (great nephew)
- Alan Fisher (nephew, deceased) had a one night stand with Anna Miller (deceased)
- Debra Stewart (rarely heard of sister)
- Colleen Smart (long lost half-sister) married to Les Smart (divorced)
- Maureen Evans (niece)
- Lance Smart (nephew) married to Debbie Smart
- Maggie Smart (great niece)
- Alf Stewart, married to Martha Baldivis (wife, deceased) and Ailsa Hogan (wife, deceased), had a relationship with Viv Standish
[edit] References
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