dizzy
heights of mega-stardom. Bea Smith became a household name, alongside
Yvonne Goolagong and Vegemite. But what about the real woman behind
the awesome character of the domineering, matriarchal, majestic murderess
Queen Bea Smith? Where does fiction end and fact begin? Well,
they both have red hair - and there the similarities end. To our
knowledge, Val has never murdered anyone, nor bashed anybody while holding
them in a vice-like grip banged up against an industrial tumble-dryer.
She has, however, won three major awards for her portrayal of Bea, was
voted Australia's most popular TV actress and in-between managed to raise
a family single-handed.
Born in Perth, Western Australia in March 1943, Val's acting career did not begin until the early 70s. Married at 19 after spending a short time studying fine art, Val assumed the full-time job of army officer's wife and mother of three children. "I am enormously proud of my children and the way in which they handled my rise to fame. Cassandra (the eldest) is currently working in London, Joanne (24) is in her first year of college, completing a stage technical course, and Jason (21) is a water sports instructor. Both Cassie and Joanne appeared in Prisoner with me" - Cassie as Debbie, Bea's daughter, and Joanne as a young girl Bea encounters while on the run.
In 1967 Val's husband was posted to the Royal Military College of Science in Shrivenham, Berkshire. It was during this 18-month stay in Britain that Val directed her first play, 'A Woman in a Dressing Gown'. "The performance won an award in an amateur three-act play festival, and I also performed in the college's entry in the British Drama League Festival, which won the west of England finals." It was not until her return to Australia in 1969 that Val decided to become a professional actress. Separated from her husband, Val threw herself into theatre work, struggling to keep body, soul and family together. "It was damned hard work. With three children to support I just had to keep on working, even when I didn't feel like it." Eventually the hard slog paid off - and Val was offered the part of Bea Smith in Prisoner. It was no easy meal ticket. Grundy's punishing schedule meant working 13 hours a day, five days a week, 46 weeks a year. On set Val was the Equity rep for the Prisoner cast and fought for better conditions. Despite the fact that Prisoner was becoming a phenomenal worldwide success, the actors did not reap any of the benefits.
The pay was lousy and Grundy's attitude towards the actors was worse than to the fans. In fact, when the show and its stars won awards, there were no wild parties or even letters of congratulations from Grundy - it was just work as usual. So why do obviously talented actresses continue to work for Grundy despite their attitude? "The answer is quite simple. If you don't work for Grundy, you don't work at all. They are one of the largest production companies in Australia. You must understand that Australia does not have the same long-standing theatrical traditions as, say, Britain or the States. It is only over the past few years that the arts and theatre world is getting its act together. So you either work or starve."
Val has just finished performing in the 60th anniversary of an Australian play, 'The Touch of Silk' - her contribution to the bi-centenary celebrations. "Most of my work in the past five years, since I left Prisoner, has been centred on the stage - not entirely by choice.
"Unfortunately, in Australia, if an actor makes a success of a major TV role, they are usually denied the opportunity of creating any other strong roles on the screen. Fortunately for me, I am a stage-trained performer and can go back to live theatre in order to eat and drink regularly. I enjoyed my first few years with Prisoner but, after a while, I felt the scripts became very repetitive and I was a little disappointed that the conflicts facing the characters were always the same. So after four-and-a-half years I resigned, because I felt that I was no longer growing as an actor."
Despite the fact that Val left Prisoner in 1983, she is overwhelmed that Bea Smith remains so popular six years later, and that fan mail is still pouring in. "It is very hard for fans to understand why Australian actors do not respond to fan mail. When a show is finished, we no longer have a battery of publicity people to answer letters and send photos. The only photos we have left are personal property, our own souvenirs of the show, and we have no way of replacing them. As many of us spend a lot of time out of work (me too), it is simply impossible to meet the expense of posting out hundreds of photos. Angry letters from fans claiming that they have written six times and demanding attention can be extremely hurtful."
However, Val is absolutely delighted at the chance of being able to redress the balance when she visits Britain. "I am really looking forward to flying over in the summer, and I would like to thank everyone connected with the fan club for making it possible."
[Taken from the H-Block Herald -
January 1989]