Elisabeth Kirkby

Born in Bolton, Lancashire, (now Greater Manchester) north-west England to James Burton Kirkby and Frances Robinson[1] and Kirkby's acting career began in the United Kingdom where she spent three years working for the war effort with the Auxiliary Territorial Service, and as an entertainer, writer and producer for Stars in Battledress. She then spent fifteen years living in Malaya, writing, producing and directing for radio and the arts. Then she moved to Australia, where she wrote and produced documentaries and education programs for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and acted on television in guest starring roles. These included roles in The Rovers, in Crawford Productions' espionage drama Hunter and their police drama Homicide. Then came the role of Lucy Sutcliffe in soap opera Number 96, which made Kirkby a household name. The character of Lucy was devised by writer David Sale, who based her and her husband Alf Sutcliffe (played by James Elliott) after his own parents from Lancashire, England, even naming the character of Lucy after his mother. "The only difference," said Sale, "was my parents from native England loved Australia, so to make it a little interesting we would have the character of Alf, as the typical whinging Pommy, who was also longing to return to the United Kingdom, despite Lucy's disapproval."[2]

Kirkby was an original cast member of Number 96 which premiered March 1972. Unsure of how long the series would last, the producers offered the original cast contracts lasting just six weeks.[3] The show became Australia's 10th highest-rated television program in 1972, was the number 1 highest rating program in 1973 and 1974, and the 6th highest rated program for 1975.[4] Lucy endured a moaning layabout husband in whinging Pom Alf, along with a series of dramatic health concerns in the serial: a breast-cancer scare, blindness, and an unplanned pregnancy followed by a troubled birth. The episode in which it was revealed that Lucy's tumour was benign proved to be Number 96's highest-ever rated episode. In late 1973 the show had a feature film spin-off featuring much of the show's current cast, including Kirkby, reprising their television roles.

In October 1975 Alf and Lucy were written out of Number 96 as part of a remodelling of the show in the wake of declining ratings. On leaving the serial Kirkby went straight into a theatre run in Melbourne, appearing in The Jockey Club Stakes alongside Robert Coote and Wilfrid Hyde White in late 1975. Kirkby and White had previously met 30 years previously in the entertainment division of the army during World War II.[5] Kirkby subsequently made guest appearances on Australian drama series such as Glenview High (1977), and again appeared in Homicide.