It gives us immense pleasure in bringing you our very own interview with Sheila Florance, who is without a doubt one of the best actresses who graced the Prisoner cast.  We consider this interview to be our greatest achievement over Grundy, and we remain eternally grateful to Sheila for taking the time and trouble to correspond with us.  So sit back, crack open a tinnie and celebrate with us as we take you on a guided tour of the life and times of one of Australia's most highly regarded actresses.

Sheila Florance was born in 1916 in St Kilda, a suburb of Melbourne, the eldest of two children.  Her father was a language and arts teacher who encouraged Sheila to go into the acting profession.  So at the age of 16 she joined The Little Theatre Co. as an apprentice actress.  With her heart set on a stage career, Sheila came to England in 1935 and appeared in many of London's West End theatres.  Sheila also appeared on the stage of Scarborough's famous opera house.  In fact, it was while she was living in Yorkshire that Sheila received the news that her husband who was serving in France had been killed in action during the 1944 Normandy landings.  "The news put me right into a depression.  I had two children with another on the way.  There I was out on a farm in the middle of the Yorkshire countryside, miles away from civilization, a widow with no relatives on that side of the world."  However, with the support of friends Sheila managed to survive.  In 1952 Sheila remarried in a spectacular ceremony at Nottingham's Roman Catholic Cathedral.  Her second husband Jan was a Polish fighter pilot who, despite being shot down three times in the war, walked down the aisle on crutches.

Sheila and Jan returned to Australia in 1951, where Sheila resumed her acting career .  She spent the next eight years with the Union Theatre Company.  In 1962 she fulfilled a lifelong ambition by playing Lady Macbeth.  "I was still in school uniform when I saw Dame Sybil Thorndyke as Lady Macbeth and she was so magnificent I wanted to be like her."  Sheila's stage career flourished, and she picked up many awards along the way.  In 1977 she was chosen for the part of Lizzie in Prisoner, and soon became an international cult figure.  When Prisoner was screened in the USA 'I love Lizzie' t-shirts became a crucial fashion item.

Besides propelling Sheila (and the rest of the cast) into the world's spotlight, Prisoner consistently broke new ground in the world of TV.  The original cast was made up of professional stage actresses who had learned their craft through the theatre.  However, as Prisoner became established, the producers started casting less experienced actresses, which Sheila did not wholly approve of.  "I think it's sad when we see youngsters fresh out of acting school scoring lead parts in top TV series.  Some of them don't even know how to act, so where do they go after playing a starring role?"  (We have a sneaky suspicion they all flee to Neighbours.)  The show also became a training ground for young directors - something else which Sheila did not approve of.  "Sometimes we resented the way these people seemed to be serving their apprenticeship at our expense."  Needless to say Sheila has never appeared in any other Grundy productions "and never will again".

Despite these conflicts, Sheila will never forget the wonderful time she had on the Prisoner set.  "My friendships with other members of the Prisoner cast will last forever."  Sheila considers Val Lehman (Bea) to be one of her closest friends, and assures us she will 'put the hard word' on Val regarding the fan club.  Sheila left Prisoner in 1983, after appearing in 418 episodes, and received many awards for her portrayal of Lizzie.  Although not working at the moment, Sheila says she will never retire from the acting profession.  "I love it too much."  And that's the best news we've heard in ages.

[Taken from the H-Block Herald - November 1988]
 

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