'Crocodile Dundee' and 'Prisoner: Cell Block H' star Betty Bobbit dies at 81

Actress Betty Bobbitt, who starred in the Crocodile Dundee movies opposite Paul Hogan and in Prisoner: Cell Block H, has died at 81.

She had been in hospital for five days after suffering a major stroke last week.

Her son Christopher Hill said in a statement posted to Facebook that she had died peacefully, and had been 'in no pain'.

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“Sadly, mum passed away this morning at 10:20am after five nights in hospital,” he wrote. “She was peaceful and in no pain. Thank you for your support and apologies if I can't respond to everyone but I will try. I will post more later.”

Following her stroke last week, he told followers: “My mum has been a legend, an inspiration, a mentor and icon for so many. She is comfortable and not in any pain that we can tell, but the prognosis is not good. She is not expected to recover.”

A staple of Australian TV, she was born in New York, but moved to Australia when she was offered a job on a variety show in Melbourne, where she met her husband, the artist Robin Hill.

She went on to star in dozens of Australian TV shows, from A Country Practice to Flying Doctors.

However, it was for the role of Judy Bryant in Prisoner: Cell Block H, a role she took in 1980, that she was best known.

Originally signed up for just a handful of episodes, she went on to star in almost 430, becoming the show's second longest-serving star.

She also snagged cameo roles in Crocodile Dundee II, Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles, and most recently, the spoof The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee, released this summer.

Last year, she appeared in Neighbours with her former Prisoner co-stars Colette Mann, who plays Sheila Canning in the long-running soap, and Jackie Woodburne who plays Susan Kennedy, to mark the 40th anniversary of the cult prison series.

Watch: The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee trailer