TRIBUTE PAID: Frank Whitten was a "wicked, irreverent man of lethal wit, a heart of gold and one of the best actors we’ll ever work with", Outrageous Fortune actress Robyn Malcolm said of her colleague.

Veteran actor Frank Whitten, best known for playing Outrageous Fortune's Ted "Grandpa'' West died during the weekend, his family and South Pacific Pictures, the production company behind the hit TV show, confirmed last night.

Whitten died peacefully in his sleep on Saturday morning. He was aged 68.

Aged in his late sixties, he began his acting career on the stage, but was known to most New Zealanders as Grandpa, the grubby, guileful master safe-cracker of the West family.

He played the role for all six seasons of the hit series, winning an Air New Zealand Screen Award for best supporting actor in 2007.

Before that, he played another beloved small-screen character, Speight's quintessential Southern Man.

For more than a decade, he delivered the sardonic line, "Good on ya mate,'' in the long-running ad campaign.

He also appeared in films, including a starring role in Vigil, Vincent Ward's first feature film.

Whitten headed back to the stage after Outrageous Fortune ended its run, appearing in an Australian production of Shakespeare's Measure For Measure last year.

Members of Auckland's acting community were understood to be gathering in bars last night to honour his memory.

South Pacific Pictures chief executive John Barnett said: "All of us are deeply saddened to hear of Frank Whitten's passing.



“Most recently we have been particularly proud to have worked with him through six seasons of Outrageous Fortune, as he brought the iconic role of Grandpa into the homes of hundreds of thousands of viewers, both in New Zealand and around the world. We will miss him very much.”



Speaking on behalf of her Outrageous Fortune cast mates, Whitten’s co-star and friend Robyn Malcolm said: “We feel deeply for Frank’s family and our thoughts, love and grief are with them.



"We were Frank’s screen family for only a few years but in that time we got to know him and adore him as a wicked, irreverent man of lethal wit, a heart of gold and one of the best actors we’ll ever work with. We all respected him enormously but in good ‘Outrageous’ spirit we treated him with the disrespect and irreverence he loved.



"Like his screen character he never said a lot but when he did it mattered. He’ll hate that we are saying lovely things about him, but tough Frank - you deserve it."



Whitten’s family will hold a small private funeral service this week.

See Frank Whitten as Speight's Southern Man:

- Stuff and The Dominion Post