Colleen Clifford

Colleen Clifford
Born Irene Margaret Blackford.
(1898-11-17)17 November 1898
Taunton, Somerset, United Kingdom
Died 7 April 1996(1996-04-07) (aged 97)
Sydney, Australia
Other names Colleen Blackford
Occupation actress
dancer
comedian
vocalist
theatre director
theatre producer
classical pianist
Spouse(s) Major. Douglas "Jerry" Clifford (1933-1953)
Awards John Campbell Fellowship
1992

Irene Margaret Clifford (née Blackford) (17 November 1898 – 7 April 1996), professionally known as Colleen Clifford, was a British-born performer, who worksd in England as well as in Australia in radio, stage, television and film as an actress, she was also a theatre director and producer, coloratura soprano, dancer, comedian and classical pianist who was a specialist in voice production, drama and music. In a career spanning nearly eight decades, she was one of the most popular actresses who later became known as the grand dame and matriarch of the entertainment profession and performing arts.

Clifford started her career in her native United Kingdom where was an early radio and television performer for the British Broadcasting Corporation during the 1930s and 1940s hosting cabaret and variety shows, 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. After emigrating to Australia in 1954, she was a highly recognizable character actress of stage and subsequently television in series and mini-series and in films.

Biography

Early life and career in England

Born in Taunton, Somerset, England as Irene Margaret Blackford to an entrepreneurial mother and a father who served in the British army. Colleen Clifford lived in various parts of England as well as New Zealand during her childhood. She studied classical piano in Belgium at the Brussels Conservatoire, before receiving a scholarship at the Royal Academy in London, after which she was active in British theatre as a London stage performer for almost thirty years before emigrating to Perth, Australia in 1954, after the death of her husband Douglass Clifford, 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 spending the next fifteen years helping 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.[1]

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.[1] Clifford made her television acting debut as a guest star on the soap opera Dynasty (not related to th eAmerican production)[2] and The Godfathers in 1971.[3] 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.[4]

In 1978, she guest starred on legal drama Case for the Defence.[5] A year later, she appeared on the cult series Prisoner: Cell Block H in a brief but memorable role as Edie Wharton,[6][7][8][9][10] an elderly woman imprisoned for vagrancy.[11] 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, in 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).[12] 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),[13] The Coca-Cola Kid (1985),[14] 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.[15]

She returned to A Country Practice playing several different roles between 1989 and 1993 ;[16] that same year, she starred in films Frauds (1993) [13][17] 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, New South Wales, Australia on 7 April 1996, at the age of 97.

References

  1. 1 2 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
  2. ↑ Storey, Don (2008). "Dynasty Episode Details". ClassicAustralianTV.com. Retrieved 2009-06-28.
  3. ↑ Storey, Don (2008). "The Godfathers Episode Details". ClassicAustralianTV.com. Retrieved 2009-06-28.
  4. ↑ Craig, Michael. The Smallest Giant: An Actor's Life. Crows Nest, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin, 2005. (pg. 173) ISBN 1-74114-565-1
  5. ↑ Storey, Don (2008). "Case For The Defence Episode Details". ClassicAustralianTV.com. Retrieved 2009-06-28.
  6. ↑ Terrace, Vincent. Television, 1970–1980. San Diego: A.S. Barnes, 1981. (pg. 161) ISBN 0-498-02539-X
  7. ↑ Terrace, Vincent. Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots & Specials: 1974–1984. Vol. 2. New York: Zoetrope, 1985. (pg. 333) ISBN 0-918432-61-8
  8. ↑ "Location Spotting – C". Prisoner Cell Block H Escapees. ThatEden.co.uk. 2002. Retrieved 2009-06-27.
  9. ↑ "Prisoner (1979–1987?)". OZTV Credits. 2004. Retrieved 2009-06-28.
  10. ↑ Hurst, Steve (2008-06-12). "Steve Hurst's reviews of Prisoner: Episodes 41–50". 1979 In Review. WWWentworth.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-28.
  11. ↑ "PCBH Characters, Section 11". WWWentworth.co.uk. 2001-03-03. Retrieved 2009-06-28.
  12. ↑ Variety's Film Reviews: 1983–1984. New York: R.R. Bowker, 1986. ISBN 0-8352-2798-7
  13. 1 2 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
  14. ↑ Willis, John. Screen World 1986 Film Annual. Vol. 37. New York: Random House, 1986. (pg. 159, 175) ISBN 0-517-56257-X
  15. ↑ 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 2009-06-28.
  16. ↑ Zuk, T. (1998). "A Country Practice: Episode Guide (1993)". Australian Television Information Archive. AustralianTelevision.net. Retrieved 2009-06-28.
  17. ↑ Willis, John. Screen World 1994 Film Annual. Vol. 45. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Corporation, 2000. (pg. 275) ISBN 1-55783-201-3

Further reading

  • Amadio, Nadine. "Never To Old." The Bulletin. 112.5725–5733 (1990): 90–91.
  • Blackman, Barbara. "Colleen Clifford interviewed by Barbara Blackman". National Library of Australia, 1985.
  • Blundell, Graeme. Australian Theatre: Backstage with Graeme Blundell. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-19-553767-X
  • Deveson, Anne. Coming of Age: Twenty-One Interviews About Growing Older. Newham, Victoria: Scribe Publications, 1994. ISBN 0-908011-28-8
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