Thelma Scott

Thelma Scott (17 June 1913, Melbourne, Australia – 23 November 2006, Sydney, Australia) was an Australian actress whose 70-year career in theatre, radio, Australian film and Australian television made her one of her country's most recognizable and beloved personalities.

A native of Melbourne, Thelma Scott began her career in the theatre at the age of 18 with the Gregan McMahon Players. Her first professional acting role was as Ilona Szabo in McMahon's 1931 production of The Play's the Thing at Melbourne's Comedy Theatre. She followed this with roles in productions of Six Characters in Search of an Author, Too Good to Be True and Wind in the Rain. In 1932 she appeared with Coral Browne in the comedy Take Two from One. In 1933 they again acted together, this time in Children in Uniform for Efftee Players.

A pioneer in many early Australia motion pictures she appeared in her first film in 1931, The Haunted Barn, a short produced by Efftee Studios and directed by Gregan McMahon. Following this came roles in feature films Diggers in Blighty and Harmony Row starring popular comedian George Wallace. The films premiered as a double bill in Melbourne in February 1933. Almost a year later, she and Wallace appeared together in the film A Ticket in Tatts.

During this period Scott also acted in radio plays, and she continued her theatre work. She was critically acclaimed in her 1934 performance as Tessa in the play The Constant Nymph. Based on this, she was offered a six-year contract with J. C. Williamson's theatre company, with the intention of grooming her for musical comedy. Scott chose to move in the direction of drama, opting for a role in the thriller Ten Minute Alibi, which had a successful run, touring Sydney and Melbourne. She subsequently signed with radio 2CH, emerging as one of Australia's biggest radio stars. She attracted both popular and critical praise for her work in the medium, and acted in countless radio productions throughout the 1940s. Her radio work included runs in two ongoing radio soap operas. The first, Big Sister, in which she starred as Ruth Evans, aired nationally for five years from 1942. After it ended, she acted in the serial Crossroads of Life. She won the Macquarie Award in 1947 and, in 1949, again acted on film, playing family matriarch Jane O'Riordan in Charles Chauvel's epic Sons of Matthew.

...
Wikipedia