Ningali Josie Lawford, also known as Ningali Lawford-Wolf and Josie Ningali Lawford, (1967 – 11 August 2019) was an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Isl ...

actress known for her roles in the films ''

Rabbit-Proof Fence The State Barrier Fence of Western Australia, formerly known as the Rabbit-Proof Fence, the State Vermin Fence, and the Emu Fence, is a pest-exclusion fence constructed between 1901 and 1907 to keep rabbits, and other agricultural pests from th ...

'' (2002), ''

Bran Nue Dae __NOTOC__ ''Bran Nue Dae'' is a 1990 musical set in Broome, Western Australia, that tells stories and of issues relating to Indigenous Australians. It was written by Jimmy Chi and his band Kuckles and friends, and was the first Aboriginal Aust ...

'' (2009), and '' Last Cab to Darwin'' (2015), for which she was nominated for the

AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role The AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role is an award presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), a non-profit organisation whose aim is to "identify, award, promote, and celebrate Australia's greatest ach ...

Early life and education

Ningali Josie Lawford was born in 1967 on Christmas Creek Station, a

cattle station In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stat ...

in Wangkatjungka, near

Fitzroy Crossing Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: ** FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Bea ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, where her father, a stockman, and mother, a

domestic Domestic may refer to: In the home * Anything relating to the human home or family ** A domestic animal, one that has undergone domestication ** A domestic appliance, or home appliance ** A domestic partnership ** Domestic science, sometimes c ...

, worked. She was a member of the Walmadjari (Tjiwaling) people, and of the Wangkatjunga language group. After attending Kewdale Senior High School in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, she spent a year in Anchorage, Alaska, on an American Field Scholarship. Lawford trained in dance at the Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre in Sydney.

Career

Lawford made her acting debut in the musical ''

'', which premiered in Perth in 1990. She later appeared in the 2009 film version. In 1994, Lawford premiered her

one-woman show A solo performance, sometimes referred to as a one-man show or one-woman show, features a single person telling a story for an audience, typically for the purpose of entertainment. This type of performance comes in many varieties, including auto ...

, ''Ningali'', in Perth. It was co-written by stage directors

Robyn Archer Robyn Archer, AO, CdOAL (born 1948) is an Australian singer, writer, stage director, artistic director, and public advocate of the arts, in Australia and internationally. Life Archer was born Robyn Smith in Prospect, South Australia. She b ...

and Angela Chaplin, whom she had met the previous year. The show toured internationally and won the Fringe First Award for Best New Production at the 1995 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the 1996 Green Room Award for Best Actress in a One Woman Show. Other theatre roles included ''Aliwa'' for Company B Belvoir (2001),

Uncle Vanya ''Uncle Vanya'' ( rus, Дя́дя Ва́ня, r=Dyádya Ványa, p=ˈdʲædʲə ˈvanʲə) is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1898, and was first produced in 1899 by the Moscow Art Theatre under the dir ...

(2005) and Jandamarra (2008) both for

Black Swan Theatre Company Black Swan State Theatre Company (formerly The Black Swan Theatre Company) is Western Australia's state theatre company. It runs an annual subscription season in Perth at the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia, tours its productions reg ...

. In 2000, the satirical comedy ''Black and Tran'' premiered at the Melbourne Comedy Festival. It was a collaboration between Lawford and Vietnamese comedian Hung Le. It addressed "the issue of racial discrimination by ridiculing the stereotypes of Aboriginal and Vietnamese cultures". Lawford played Maude, the mother of protagonist Molly, in the 2002 film ''

''. In 2015, Lawford played the role of Polly in the film '' Last Cab to Darwin'', for which she received an

AACTA Award The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industry, ...

nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role. In 2017, Lawford voiced the character of Nanna on the

National Indigenous Television National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the half-hourly nightly ''NITV News'' ...

(NITV) animated series '' Little J & Big Cuz'', which features Indigenous Australian characters. Lawford was involved in the development of '' The Secret River'' at the Sydney Theatre Company, narrating its return Sydney season and national tour in 2016,

Adelaide Festival The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...

performances in 2018 and

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

performances in 2019. She died of complications following a severe asthma attack while in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, Scotland, during the tour, aged 52.

Personal life

Lawford had five children and two grandchildren. She moved to Kalbarri later in her career to pursue a break away from being an actress and to also spend more time raising her children before returning to film.

Works

Film

Stage

Television

Awards and nominations

She won awards for her one-woman theatre show Ningali, Aliwa, Uncle Vanya and Jandamarra.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawford, Ningali 1967 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Australian actresses 21st-century Australian actresses Actresses from Western Australia Australian film actresses Australian stage actresses Australian television actresses Deaths from asthma Indigenous Australian actresses Indigenous Australians from Western Australia Indigenous Australian dancers