Thelma Scott

Thelma Marjorie Scott (17 June 1913 – 23 November 2006) was an Australian character actress whose six-decade career in theatre, radio, film and Australian made her one of her country's most recognisable and beloved personalities. Having started her career in the early 1930s in theatre and film productions, she became one of the nation's biggest radio performers, during the 1940s featuring in productions such as ''Big Sister'' and '' Blue Hills''. She returned to make TV films in the early late 1950s and then became a star on television after it was launched in Australia. She became best known for roles in soap operas including ''Number 96'' as Claire Houghton and Mrs. Jennings in '' Richmond Hill''.

Theatre

Thelma Scott began her career in the theatre in 1931 at the age of 18, having joined the Gregan McMahon's 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.

Film

Scott appeared in many early Australia motion pictures starting in the early 1930s, until 1949, although in non-starring roles, with the exception of '' Sons of Matthew''. She debuted 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''.

Radio

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''.

Touring England

In 1951 she travelled to London, where she was later joined by her former Sydney housemate, actress Gwen Plumb. Scott acted on the London stage, appearing in ''An Evening with Beatrice Lillie'' at the Globe Theatre, replacing the departed Constance Carpenter. Scott also did her first television work in the UK, working on a BBC
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