Michael Boddy (8 March 193413 April 2014) was an English-Australian actor and writer. His best known works include co-writing the play '' The Legend of King O'Malley'' with

Bob Ellis Robert James Ellis (10 May 1942 – 3 April 2016) was an Australian journalist, screenwriter, playwright, filmmaker, and political commentator. He lived in Sydney with author and screenwriter Anne Brooksbank; they had three children. Early ye ...

Personal

Boddy was born in the village of Baldersby,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

. His father George Boddy was the local vicar. He studied at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

and the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

; two years of medicine were replaced by studies in natural sciences, classics and literature. He met his first wife, the poet and writer Margaret Scott, in England, and they migrated to

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

in 1959. There he taught at a

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

high school, while Margaret developed her career as a poet and writer. His second wife, whom he married in 1968 after moving to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

in 1965, was the artist Janet Dawson. She won the 1973

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, J. F. Archib ...

with a portrait of Boddy. Boddy and Dawson moved to Binalong, from where he wrote a regular food column for ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in 1 ...

''. He died in April 2014, aged 80; he was survived by Janet Dawson Boddy, two children (a third son predeceased him), six grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and a sister.

Select credits

*'' John Forrester Awaits the Light'' (1966) - TV Play *'' All Fall Down'' (1967) - TV play for the ABC *''

Intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their ...

'' (1967) - TV play *'' Breakdown'' (1967) - TV play *''

Tilley Landed On Our Shore "Tilley Landed On Our Shore" is a 1969 Australian television play. It was part of the ''Australian Plays'' series. Plot A comic account of Governor Phillips's 1788 landing in Australia. It is set in the modern day on the mythical island of Extra ...

'' (1969) *'' The Legend of King O'Malley'' (1970; with

) *'' Dead Men Running'' (1971) *''Hamlet on Ice'' (1971) *''Biggles'' (1970) *''Cash'' *''The Last Supper Show'' (1972) * '' Redheap'' (1972, TV series) *''Cradle of Hercules'' (1974) *''Lust for Power'' (1977) *''Crushed by Desire'' (1978) *''The Smallest Frog in the World''

References

External links

* * *
Biography
at National Gallery
Obituary
by

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boddy, Michael Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Australian male dramatists and playwrights Australian male actors English emigrants to Australia 1934 births 2014 deaths 20th-century Australian dramatists and playwrights