Nicole Kidman’s father dies in a fall in his Singapore hotel room

Mike Gallagher

Sep 12, 2014 - 10:12

Sep 12, 2014 - 10:29

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Nicole Kidman’s father dies in a fall in his Singapore hotel room

Close ... Actor Nicole Kidman with her father Antony Kidman. Source: AP

Nicole Kidman's father died of a heart attack shortly after completing his moing exercise at a Singapore hotel he was staying in, according to reports.

The Sydney psychologist is believed to have collapsed when he was at the club's restaurant, after completing his moing exercise.

A doctor and members of the private hotel, The Tanglin Club, who were present at the time tried to resuscitate Dr Kidman before paramedics arrived and he was taken to hospital,The Straits Times reported.

Police confirmed that a man in his 80s died at Tan Tock Seng Hospital about 10am and are now investigating the exact cause of death.

A friendly of the family earlier confirmed that he had suffered a fall, while visiting his youngest daughter Antonia and six grand children who all live in Singapore.

icole Kidman's family is in 'shock' following the death of the actress's father Dr Anthony Kidman who fell in a Singapore hotel room.

Nicole's publicist and long-time friend of the Kidmans, Wendy Day, told Daily Mail Australia that the 'family is in shock and is grieving' and is yet to make any statement regarding the well-respected Sydney psychologist's death.

Dr Kidman was visiting his daughter, Antonia, and his grandchildren who live in Singapore and suffered the fall after eating breakfast.

'The family is in shock and is grieving...I think that some time and privacy is needed to deal with this shock and tragedy,' she said.

She confirmed that Dr Kidman suffered a fall in a hotel room in Singapore, but that was all the information she had at hand.

A hospital source was reeling from the shock of the news. 'We don't know how to deal with this at the moment or how to digest the fact he's gone,' the source told News Corp Australia.

Dr Kidman was a clinical psychologist at Royal North Shore Hospital and a director of health psychology at the University of Technology Sydney.

UTS Vice-Chancellor Professor Attila Brungs said in a statement that Dr Kidman contributed a lot as a colleague and a researcher during his 43 years of service.

'It is with great sadness that we lea of Dr Tony Kidman's sudden passing. During his 43 years at the University of Technology, Sydney, Tony has contributed greatly – as a colleague, as a researcher, and as a health practitioner,' he said in a statement.

'Tony will be missed by all at UTS. Our thoughts are with his family at this time.'

The Royal North Shore Hospital was not immediately commenting on Dr Kidman's death, while a woman at the Kidmans' home declined to comment when approached by Daily Mail Australia.

She said she didn't feel 'comfortable' saying anything to the media yet.

A Sydney business owner known to the family, said: 'The Kidman family are regular customers for our shop.'

'With respects to the family, we are not really comfortable with commenting on what has happened to Anthony.'

A police spokesperson told Reuters they were investigating the death as 'unnatural.'

He declined to give details, but the term 'unnatural death' in Singapore often refers to falls or other accidents.

Network Ten reported earlier that Dr Kidman was visiting Nicole's younger sister Antonia who lives in Singapore with her husband Craig Marran and her six children.

As well as his work as a clinical psychologist, he has done research into the psycho-social impact of diseases, including breast cancer.

He was also ran community service seminars on aspects of mental health, was a regular speaker on radio and television and wrote for academic jouals and the general public.

He was awarded an Order of Australia in 2005 for his contributions to clinical psychology.

The family was last seen together in Sydney back in January for Dr Kidman and his wife, Janelle's 50th wedding anniversary.

In June this year, a beaming Nicole Kidman, 46 walked the red carpet with her father and husband Keith Urban at the Swisse Celebrate Life Ball in Melboue.

In one of his last public statements, Dr Kidman wrote of the pointless pursuit of happiness.

In the article titled 'Forget happiness, search for meaning', Dr Kidman wrote about the importance of striving for achievable goals in life, with a focus on being contented with what you have rather than on a life of material wealth.

Nicole Kidman was bo in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1967, while her parents were studying abroad.

The family moved to Sydney's North Shore when the actress was four.

Nicole Kidman has previously been quoted describing her father as a 'great' man that she could rely on at any time of the day.

'He's a great father, I can call him at three in the moing and he's there for me,' she said.

'By the time I was a teenager, I had developed skills as a writer, and my father encouraged me to think about a career in joualism.'

'I began keeping a diary, which I maintain to this day. I used to fill whole notebooks with my writings.'

'My parents thought it was nice to develop my imagination, but they never seriously thought that anything would ever come of it.'

She said her family once told her that she couldn't become an actress because of her height.

'They said that I couldn't be an actress because I would be taller than all my leading men, so I thought I would be a writer instead.'

But despite this she said her parents have always been supportive of her career in acting.

'They allowed me any artistic outlet I wanted.'

'Each weekend I'd go to the theatre at Phillip Street. I used to just lock myself in there for the whole weekend. I thought it was fantastic. I'd be teased a lot though, because I'd be going off to the theatre instead of going to the beach with the boys and all the girls. I felt like an outsider because of that.'