Iconic Mainland Cheese ads actor Terry Procter dies aged 84

Procter featured in the famous Mainland Cheese commercials alongside Kevin Corcoran for more than a decade, through a number of campaigns, including “time poor”, “time to check the cheese” and famously, “good things take time”.

His son Charlie Procter confirmed to Stuff he died on Monday night.

He remembers his father as a hard-working family man, keen beer drinker, and a “good, hard bloke” who was known and loved by his Picton community as “the cheese man”.

“Those ads took them far, but they always gave their money away to people that needed it … they both did a lot for charity, and just wanted better for other people,” Charlie told Stuff.

“He was just one of those typical Kiwi blokes working the hard yards – he never thought he’d get to the point where he was in advertisements.”

Before taking the role of southern men patiently waiting for cheese to mature, neither Procter nor Corcoran had any acting experience.

Procter came into the role by chance – a man who loved to laugh, he had been out with friends on a fishing trip, and after sinking a few beers his jokes caught the attention of a talent scout.

“They were looking for a good sort of southern bloke to do these ads, but he wasn’t too keen at all,” Charlie said.

“It was my mother that pushed him, and he turned up in a pair of gumboots, a singlet, and a pair of glasses tied around a bit of string.

“He didn’t really want for much, but they took to him straight away.”

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Though Procter and Corcoran hadn’t met before becoming the faces of Mainland cheese together, the two struck up a close friendship that would last for the rest of their lives.

Those adverts followed the pair, who became synonymous with the catchphrase, “Good things take time” until 2010, when Procter and Corcoran were replaced by a new on-screen partnership – a grandfather and son.

When Corcoran died in Cromwell in 2012, aged 78, his death “broke (Procter’s) heart quite a bit”, Charlie said.

“In the end, they weren’t really bothered with the money. They just liked getting together, and with the other people who created these adverts,” Charlie said.

The duo’s legacy was strong across the south, where shop owners loved to take photos with Procter when he paid a visit.

Charlie once found himself in a pub sitting across from a photo of his father plastered on the wall.

His father’s resilience, passion, and words of wisdom will always stay with Charlie.

“I’m adopted into my family, and that’s the kind of person he was – there aren’t many men that’ll take on someone else’s kid. He was the type that was always there,” Charlie said.

“He always said to me, ‘Don’t let life consume you too much, just enjoy what you can actually hang onto’. I’ve never forgotten that.”