| Des Clarke | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neighbours character | |||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Paul Keane | ||||||||||||||
| Created by | Reg Watson | ||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Reg Watson | ||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1985–1990 | ||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 18 March 1985 | ||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 11 October 1990 | ||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former, regular | ||||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 19 November 1956 | ||||||||||||||
| Home | Adelaide | ||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Banker Co-owner of Daphne's Coffee Shop |
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Desmond Kingsley "Des" Clarke is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Paul Keane. He made his first on screen appearance on 18 March 1985, the show's first episode.
Engaged to be married. After a mess after his bucks party, the wedding was called off and he ended up having Daphne Lawrence move in with him. They got married a year later and had a son named Jamie. Unfortunately, Daphne died after a car crash and Des lived alone with his son until 1990 when he moved away to Perth with a widow. Des was characterised by his large ears, one scene found him attempting to overcome this by sticking his ears back with chewing gum. In 2003, when Jamie returned, it was revealed that Des was in a hospital battling depression.
In 2010 to celebrate Neighbours' 25th anniversary Sky, a British satellite broadcasting company profiled 25 characters of which they believed were the most memorable in the series history.[1] Des is in the list and describing him they state: "Say Des, think Daphne. You can't be a happy couple in a soap for long, and the Clarkes were no different, as Daphne was mowed down by a car in 1988. You also can't be single in a soap for long, either, so it was only a matter of time before Des saw Jane, the ex-girlfriend of his adoptive son Mike 'Guy "out of Memento" Pearce' Young. He left for a new life with a fellow widow, but misery continued to haunt him even off screen: his son Jamie briefly appeared in 2003, with Des apparently having suffered depression and putting his son into care."[1]
British tabloid newspaper The Daily Mirror joked over Des and Keane's appearance branding him as "Jug-eared", they also labeled him as the "lovable bank manager".[2] Orange UK describe Des as a "Jug-eared Mr Nice" and state he was one half of the serial's most popular couples.[3]