Jump to content

Colleen Clifford

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 1.42.188.128 (talk) at 04:27, 26 June 2020. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Colleen Clifford
Born
Irene Margaret Blackford.

(1898-11-17)17 November 1898
Taunton, Somerset, England
Died7 April 1996(1996-04-07) (aged 97)
Edgecliff, Sydney, Australia
Other namesColleen Blackford
Occupations
  • Actress
  • dancer
  • comedian
  • singer
  • theatre director, producer and owner
  • classical pianist
  • elocution, music and drama teacher
[1]
Years active1900–1953 (England); 1954–1992 (Australia)
SpouseMajor Douglass (Jerry) Clifford (m 1933-1954)
AwardsJohn Campbell Fellowship
1992

Irene Margaret Clifford (née Blackford) (17 November 1898 – 7 April 1996), known professionally as Colleen Clifford, was a British-born performer, who worked in her native England as well as New Zealand and, later in her career, Australia. As an actress she worked in all facets of the industry: radio, stage, television and film. She was also a theatre founder, director and producer, coloratura soprano, dancer, comedian and classical pianist who was a specialist in voice production, drama and music. She was also a commercial advertiser, spokeswoman and charity worker and released her own memoirs. She worked across stage and screen with stars including Laurence Olivier, Noel Coward and Bette Davis, and trained Australian actors such as Judy Nunn, Paula Duncan and Melissa George.

Clifford started her career in her native United Kingdom where she was an early radio and television performer for the British Broadcasting Corporation during the 1930s and 1940s hosting cabaret and variety shows, and appearing in West End theatre and during the Second World War, becoming a feature of news broadcasting and war concerts. Clifford was, at one time, featured on a 15-minute radio show showcasing her singing and musical performances. She emigrated to Australia in 1954, and from 1959 became a highly recognisable character actress of stage and subsequently television ad films from the early 1970s in soap operas, series, mini-series, telemovies and theatrical features, often portraying eccentric elderly women. She was a grand dame and matriarch of the arts and entertainment industry and alongside Queenie Ashton was one of the oldest working actors in Australia. She died aged 97.[2]

Biography

Early life and career in England

Born in Taunton, Somerset, England as Irene Margaret Blackford to an English-born mother and George Taunton Constable Clifford, a Major in the British army, who served in his regiment worldwide including France and Belgium, at which time Clifford was raised by an aunt in London. She had two brothers. Her paternal grandfather from Somerset also served in the army as a Major and was a recipient of the VC, her paternal youngest uncle, Ned was killed in the Boer War.[1] Clifford lived in various parts of England including Farnham, Stropeshire, Surry, Kensington and Cornwall as well as New Zealand during her childhood, where her father worked as a cadet on a cattle station in Masterton, before purchasing a stock run in Taranaki. She studied classical piano in Belgium at the Brussels Conservatoire, before receiving a scholarship to the Royal Academy in London, but stating musical theatre was favoured more, she curtailed a musical career, to become active in British theatre as a stage performer for almost thirty years, starting with a production of Hubert Henry Davies, The Mollusc. She emigrated to Perth, Australia in 1954, after the death of her husband who was a member of The Royal Air Force. She continued her theatrical career there. She founded the Perth Theatre Guild and Drama School and taught voice production, drama and music, and spent the next fifteen years helping to develop and train talent for the theatre. She staged six successful musicals using entirely local talent and without importing professional actors. These included stage productions of Annie Get Your Gun (1959), starring Leone Martin Smith in the title role, Oklahoma (1961) and South Pacific (1962) at His Majesty's Theatre, Perth and Move Over, Mrs Markham[3]

Television and film

Clifford moved from Perth to Sydney in 1969 where she regularly performed at the Old Tote Theatre and although she remained in the theatre, she began appearing in plays for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and taking on regular television and film roles.[3] Clifford made her television acting debut as a guest star in the series Dynasty (not related to the American production)[4] and The Godfathers in 1971.[5] While touring in New Zealand in 1972, Clifford fell ill and was unable to perform for the first few shows. Being under a "no play, no pay" policy with the theatre company, meaning payment would be withheld from an actor during an illness, she was forced to remain in her Wellington apartment with no means of support. Clifford was then in her late-70s and, with rent money and doctor bills piling up, Michael Craig, and Honor Blackman and other members of the company raised enough money to financially support Clifford until she was well enough to rejoin the cast.[6]

In 1978, she guest starred on legal drama Case for the Defence.[7] A year later, she appeared in the popular series Prisoner (also known as Prisoner: Cell Block H) in a brief but memorable role as Edie Wharton,[8][9][10][11][12] an elderly woman imprisoned for vagrancy.[13] That same year, she made another guest appearance on The Young Doctors.

She took a three-year absence to return to the theatre full-time but, from 1981, began playing a recurring role as Miss Bird on A Country Practice. She also appeared in the television miniseries 1915 (1982) and the historical drama film Careful, He Might Hear You (1983).[14] She spent the next decade starring in a variety of supporting roles in film and television. These included appearances on television shows Mother and Son and Five Mile Creek, and films Where the Green Ants Dream (1984),[15] The Coca-Cola Kid (1985),[16] Double Sculls (1986), The Year My Voice Broke (1987) and Barracuda (1988). In 1990, the 92-year-old Clifford starred in the latest version of her one-woman show A Nightingale Still at It in Berkeley Square. She was awarded the John Campbell Fellowship for her contribution to theatre two years later.[17]

She returned to A Country Practice playing several different roles between 1989 and 1993 ;[18] that same year, she starred in films Frauds (1993)[15][19] and This Won't Hurt a Bit (1993) marking her final film and television roles. Clifford suffered a heart attack in 1995, and was fitted with a pacemaker, she died in Sydney, Australia on 7 April 1996, at the age of 97.

Filmography

Clifford had a long career in England, particularly in theatre before emigrating to Australia in 1954; the following documents her Australian credits only. Clifford made her debut in 1959 in TV series Spotlight, the first production in Western Australia, and her final appearance in guest roles in soap opera A Country Practice.

Year Title Roles
1959 Spotlight Performer
1971 The Godfathers Miss Lovelace
1971 Dynasty
1975 Behind the Legend Mrs. Aeneas Gunn
1976 The Young Doctors Agnes Brewer
1978 Case for the Defence
1979 Prisoner Edie Wharton
1982 1915 (miniseries) Mrs. Stanton
1983 Careful, He Might Hear You (film) Ettie
1984 Mother and Son Old lady at nursing home
1984 Where the Green Ants Dream (film) Miss. Strewlow
1984 Five Mile Creek Mrs. Watkins
1984 Sweet and Sour Mrs. Green
1985 The Coca-Cola Kid (film) Mrs. Haversham
1986 Double Sculls (TV film) Mrs. Fenwick
1987 The Year My Voice Broke (film) Gran Olson
1987–1988 Rafferty's Rules (TV series) Mrs. Murdock
1988 Barracuda (TV film) Mrs. Hennessey
1993 Frauds Mrs. Waterson
1993 This Won't Hurt a Bit (TV series) Lady Smith
1981–1993 A Country Practice 3 roles
Miss. Bird (1981–1982 )
Freda Spinner (1990)
Mrs. Grainger

References

  1. ^ a b "Colleen Clifford interviewed by Barbara Blackman". 1985 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ Gray, Darren, Colleen Clifford: a biography. ISBN 9781495938320
  3. ^ a b Hough, David. A Dream of Passion: The Centennial History of His Majesty's Theatre. Perth: UWA Press, 2004. (pg. 170–171) ISBN 1-920843-09-4
  4. ^ Storey, Don (2008). "Dynasty Episode Details". ClassicAustralianTV.com. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  5. ^ Storey, Don (2008). "The Godfathers Episode Details". ClassicAustralianTV.com. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  6. ^ Craig, Michael. The Smallest Giant: An Actor's Life. Crows Nest, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin, 2005. (pg. 173) ISBN 1-74114-565-1
  7. ^ Storey, Don (2008). "Case for the Defence Episode Details". ClassicAustralianTV.com. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  8. ^ Terrace, Vincent. Television, 1970–1980. San Diego: A.S. Barnes, 1981. (pg. 161) ISBN 0-498-02539-X
  9. ^ Terrace, Vincent. Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots & Specials: 1974–1984. Vol. 2. New York: Zoetrope, 1985. (pg. 333) ISBN 0-918432-61-8
  10. ^ "Location Spotting – C". Prisoner Cell Block H Escapees. ThatEden.co.uk. 2002. Retrieved 27 June 2009.
  11. ^ "Prisoner (1979–1987?)". OZTV Credits. 2004. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  12. ^ Hurst, Steve (12 June 2008). "Steve Hurst's reviews of Prisoner: Episodes 41–50". 1979 in Review. WWWentworth.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 February 2009. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  13. ^ "PCBH Characters, Section 11". WWWentworth.co.uk. 3 March 2001. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  14. ^ Variety's Film Reviews: 1983–1984. New York: R.R. Bowker, 1986. ISBN 0-8352-2798-7
  15. ^ a b Lentz, Harris M. Science Fiction, Horror & Fantasy Film and Television Credits: Filmography. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2000. (pg. 1116, 1669) ISBN 0-7864-0951-7
  16. ^ Willis, John. Screen World 1986 Film Annual. Vol. 37. New York: Random House, 1986. (pg. 159, 175) ISBN 0-517-56257-X
  17. ^ Dockers, M.G.; Betty Blundell (2003). "1898". Ladies First: Celebrated Women from the 7th to 20th Century. UKOnline.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 July 2007. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  18. ^ Zuk, T. (1998). "A Country Practice: Episode Guide (1993)". Australian Television Information Archive. AustralianTelevision.net. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  19. ^ Willis, John. Screen World 1994 Film Annual. Vol. 45. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Corporation, 2000. (pg. 275) ISBN 1-55783-201-3

Further reading

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Colleen_Clifford&oldid=964545450"