Agnes Gavin (1872–1947), was an Australian actor and screenwriter in the

silent film era A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

. She worked in collaboration with her husband John Gavin throughout her career. She wrote the majority of his films and was arguably the first specialist screenwriter in the history of the Australian film industry. In newspapers she was advertised as the "well known picture dramatizer" and was praised for creating "cleverly constructed stories". Many of her films are considered lost.

Early life

She was born in Sydney as Agnes Adele Wangenheim. At the age of eighteen, she married Barnett Kurtz, and became Agnes Kurtz. Barnett Kurtz had attempted to divorce Agnes in March 1897. Kurtz read a letter to the court in which Agnes said she wanted a divorce; Agnes said she did not want to divorce and wrote the letter just to annoy her husband; the divorce was not granted. In December 1897 Agnes sued for the divorce on the grounds of adultery by her husband and it was granted. Their divorce was highly publicized. On 3 October 1898 Agnes married stage actor John Gavin, and for many years they worked together in Vaudeville and Bland Holt's stage company. In 1904, Agnes Gavin was accused of abusing her neighbor with violent language, as well as menacing her with a hammer and threatening to chop down her door with an ax. The court ordered her bound to the peace for six months. In her first marriage she had a daughter named Isadore, who died on 12 September 1913. John Gavin died in 1938 and Agnes followed in 1947. The couple is survived by two daughters and several grandchildren.

Career

In 1910, Gavin and her husband made their first film together, ''Thunderbolt'', produced by

H. A. Forsyth Henry Albert ('Bert') Forsyth, known professionally as H. A. Forsyth (and informally as Bert Forsyth), was a pioneer of Australian film production during the Silent film, silent era. From about 1907 to 1909 Forsyth worked as a travelling pict ...

. John Gavin played the main character. In their next film with Forsyth, '' Moonlite'', Gavin played an aboriginal girl named Bunda Bunda while wearing

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

. Agnes Gavin then went on to write several films for

Crick Crick may refer to: Places * Crick, Monmouthshire, Wales * Crick, Northamptonshire, England * Crick Road, Oxford, England People with the name * Crick (surname) Other uses * Crick, the cricket from ''Beat Bugs'' * Francis Crick Institute ...

and Finlay, which her husband directed. In 1911, her husband started his own production company, the Gavin Photo-Play Studio. She wrote the films he directed, occasionally playing in them alongside her husband. The pair were best known for making films about bushrangers such as Captain Thunderbolt, Captain Moonlite, Ben Hall and Frank Gardiner, and convict-era melodramas. An article about the making of ''Ben Hall'' said the "dramatisation of the book" was in her "capable hands." She adapted her 1917 film '' The Murder of Captain Fryatt'' into a play: ''Captain Fryatt; Or, For King and Country''. In 1918 she and her husband moved to Hollywood, returning briefly to Australia in 1922 and then permanently in 1925.

Filmography

*'' Thunderbolt'' (1910) *'' Moonlite'' (1910) (also known as: Captain Moonlite) *'' Ben Hall and his Gang'' (1911) *''

Frank Gardiner, the King of the Road ''Frank Gardiner, the King of the Road'' is a 1911 Australian film about the bushranger Frank Gardiner, played by John Gavin, who also directed. It is considered a lost film. Plot The movie consists of 25 scenes. Frank Gardiner, real name Fran ...

'' (1911) *''

Keane of Kalgoorlie ''Keane of Kalgoorlie, or a Story of the Sydney Cup'' is a 1911 Australian silent film set in the racing and gambling circles of Sydney, based on a popular play by Edward William O'Sullivan and Arthur Wright, adapted from the novel by Wright. ...

'' (1911) *'' The Mark of the Lash'' (1911) *''

The Drover's Sweetheart ''The Drover's Sweetheart'' is a 1911 film from the team of Agnes and John Gavin. It was the first film they made for their own production company after leaving Stanley Crick and Herbert Finlay on 19 July 1911 and seems to have been made at Gav ...

'' (1911) *''

Assigned to his Wife ''Assigned to his Wife'' is a 1911 Australian silent film from director John Gavin. It is a convict-era "military romantic melodrama". Plot The film is set in the early 1840s in England and Van Diemen's Land and concerns Jack Throsbie (John Ga ...

'' (

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

) *''

The Assigned Servant ''The Assigned Servant'' is a 1911 Australian silent film about a convict who is transported to Van Diemen's Land. It was made by the husband-and-wife team of John and Agnes Gavin and is considered a lost film. Plot In England, Ralph Frawley i ...

'' (1911) *''

An Interrupted Divorce ''An Interrupted Divorce'' is a 1916 Australian short comedy film directed by John Gavin starring popular vaudeville comedian Fred Bluett. It was in three parts. It was originally known as ''The Revue Girls''. Its release was delayed due to the ...

'' (

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * ...

) *'' Charlie at the Sydney Show'' (1916) *'' The Martyrdom of Nurse Cavell'' (1916) *'' The Murder of Captain Fryatt'' (1917) *''

His Convict Bride ''His Convict Bride'' is a 1918 Australian silent film from the team of John and Agnes Gavin. It was a convict-era melodrama. Plot In 1813 England, Bess Shelgrove rejects a suitor, Adam Wilson who works as a bank clerk. Seeking revenge, Adam st ...

'' (1918) (also known as: ''For the Term of Her Natural Life'') *''

Trooper O'Brien ''Trooper O'Brien'' is a 1928 Australian silent film from the team of John and Agnes Gavin. It was a melodrama set during the "Ned Kelly era" about an orphaned girl raised by a policeman in the bush. It is one of the rare early Australian films ...

'' (1928) (originally ''The Key of Fate'')

Scripts

*''The White Hope'' (announced 1911) *''Outlaw Ned Kelly and His Gang'' (registered on 27 December 1917) *''Binda's Mistress of the Girl of the Soil'' (registered in 1930)

Books

*''Golden Heart, or Odds On'' (1923) *''Money Down Brown'' (1926)Copyright registration
at

National Archives of Australia The National Archives of Australia (NAA), formerly known as the Commonwealth Archives Office and Australian Archives, is an Australian Government agency that serves as the national archives of the nation. It collects, preserves and encourages ...

Plays

*''Captain Fryatt; or, for king and country : dramatised from the scenario'' (1917)

References

External links

*
Agnes Gavin
at Women Film Pioneers Project
Agnes Gavin
at Trove
Agnes Gavin
at

Australian Woman's Register Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal ...

Agnes Gavin
at

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gavin, Agnes 1872 births 1948 deaths Australian women screenwriters Writers from Sydney Women film pioneers 20th-century Australian screenwriters 20th-century Australian women writers