No.  I was a beginner.  I was right in from the very start.  In fact, in the second episode Bea and I were released because my 28 years, I think, was up and then I was lonely and my daughter rejected me and I shoplifted to go back.  Then after about 13 or 14 weeks, Carol, who played Franky, and I left because they were going to do two hours per week instead of one hour per week.  But then they brought me back twice.

Why did you leave?  Was two hours too much for you?

Yes.  The standard was very good making one hour per week, and I thought that two hours per week was too much like hard work.  Three or four of us left, but then they brought Mum back.

Were you wanting to come back at this stage?

Oh I was quite happy to come back.  When someone says work you jump, and I didn't have to work too hard.  But I enjoyed it.  I went back and my grand-daughter appeared.  She had a baby or was pregnant, so I looked after her.  Then they brought me back again, but then I died off stage.  The Prisoner girls rang me up and said look you're dead and you've left us 25,000 dollars.  It was a bit of a shock, but I said well I thought I won't be going back to that again.

In Sons and Daughters, after nine weeks in that, which was very hard work , I died in that too.  So this is terrible.  I die in everything.

It's nice to stay alive so you can keep popping back.

Did you find that Mum was the original oldest Prisoner in the programme, and when you left did they try and make Lizzie fill your position?

Not quite.  Lizzie was an original too.  I don't know whether her character was older than mine, but we were such different types.  I was there for euthanasia.  I wasn't a criminal as such.  It was just that euthanasia in Melbourne carries 18 years or something like that.

Lizzie was a petty crim.  She was light-fingered.  No one took Mum's place.  I got on with the screws and with the girls.  I enjoyed it very much.

Was this based on fact?

Well I gather that there was someone like my character who had helped their husband die.

Did you enjoy the outside scenes?

Yes.  The gardening was done at Channel 10.  That is where the garden was and where Prisoner was made.

It was all a long time ago.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I look back on it with great affection.

When you first heard about this, did you audition for the role, and was there much delay from when you did it?

I was playing at the Melbourne Theatre Company.  I got this call and I auditioned at Channel 10, and much to my surprise I was offered the part.

There was no delay at all.  When I finished the play, we started.  Nowadays it is a lot harder to get roles.  Certainly when you get older there are less roles.

Do you keep in contact with other cast members?

No.  I think that Val (Bea) and Carol (Franky) are both in England.  Sheila (Lizzie) isn't very well.

Was there something major that happened on the set when you joined the programme?

Yes.  In the first 13 weeks the director died.  He started Prisoner and had done the first few episodes.  He was such a nice man.

Was your contract originally for 16 weeks?

No.  They were all for 13 weeks.  At about episode nine or ten they decided to go on with it for two hours per week.

Are the hours long on the sets?

I can't think of Prisoner but on Sons and Daughters I was on my feet from 8 am until 8 pm, for every scene.  About 21 scenes.

Only soap operas do as many hours.

What are you doing at the minute?

I am doing a play called Alive and Kicking.  It's about old people.  It is a long part.  I have to work very hard because the character I am playing isn't very sympathetic.  I have to work very hard to get people to like her and not hate her.  It isn't easy, but it is good to get back to the theatre.

When were you last in a theatre?

1983 in Melbourne with the Melbourne Theatre Company.  I did a David Williamson play.  It is eight years, but it is like riding a bike - you never forget it.

So you have been in the business quite a while?

Yes, a long time.  50 years in Actors Equity.

I started off in England before the Second World War.  I trained there.  I did quite a lot of theatre work.  Then I came back to Australia and then went back to England in 1948.  I did a lot of Repertory work for the BBC, and also films.
 
Did you settle down in Australia?

There was a war on so I came back to Australia against my will.  I was an announcer on ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission).  This was my war job.  I didn't want to go into a factory so I did something that was suitable.  Then, when I finished that, I went back to radio.  This was before television.  Then in 1948, I went back to England to pick up my theatrical career, which I did.  I also did a few films.

Would you call yourself a theatre actress compared to a television actress, and which do you prefer?

I trained in the theatre so I suppose I am a theatrical actress.

I am enjoying the play I am doing at the minute, although I'm beginning to think that turning out every night is a bit of a grind.  Perhaps I'm a day person.

Films, I think, are more enjoyable, but of course they are few and far between.

[Taken from the H-Block Herald - Summer 1991]
 

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