Benita Collings (born 1940) is an Australian theatre, television and film character actress and children's television presenter best known for her role on ABC TV's '' Play School''. Collings has also featured in documentaries and commercials.

Career

Theatre, television and film

Collings started her career in 1955 at the Independent Theatre under Dame Doris Fitton and also trained in ballet and jazz, under Ronne Arnold. By 1960, she had joined the

Ensemble Theatre The Ensemble Theatre is an Australian theatre company and theatre, situated in the Sydney suburb of Kirribilli, New South Wales. History It is Australia's longest continuously running professional theatre group, having given its first perfor ...

under producer and director Hayes Gordon, appearing in numerous plays including a production of

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He received three ...

s, '' Last of the Red Hot Lovers'', directed by Jon Ewing, '' Absurd Person Singular'' and ''

Doctor in the House Doctor in the House may refer to: * Doctor in the House (novel), ''Doctor in the House'' (novel), a 1952 novel by Richard Gordon ** Doctor in the House (film), ''Doctor in the House'' (film), a 1954 British film adaptation of the novel *** Doctor i ...

''. Collings is best known for her long-running stint as a presenter for '' Play School'' on the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

(ABC) from 1969 until 1999. She was one of the longest-serving presenters after a 30-year tenure, and although is credited with appearing in the most episodes, her tenure on the show was surpassed by

Don Spencer Donald Richard Spencer (born 22 March 1937) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, and former children's television presenter. He had a long tenure as a host on ''Play School'' on both the Play School (Australian TV series), Australian ...

, who presented from 1968 until 1999 Collings described her first audition for '' Play School'' as awful because she didn't learn her script ahead of time. Two years later, Collings was invited back for a second audition based on her storytelling skills alone and got the part that invited her into the living rooms of thousands of Australian children in 401 episodes. Her time on '' Play School'' saw her educating children by singing songs, making crafts, discussing days of the week, reading stories and famously playing with such toys as Big Ted, Humpty and Jemima. Being an introvert, Collings took some time to accept the fame that '' Play School'' gave her, as she learned to accept compliments from strangers in the street. On working with her occasional on-screen companion, John Hamblin, Collings stated: "He was delicious to work with – wicked and such fun". Big Ted is Collings' favourite '' Play School'' toy character. In addition to her position as an Australian children's television presenter, Collings has been a screen performer, appearing in many of Australian television dramas, including ''

Homicide Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person. A homicide requires only a Volition (psychology), volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from Accident, accidenta ...

'', ''

Division 4 ''Division 4'' is an Australian television police drama series broadcast by the Nine Network and created by Crawford Productions airing between 1969 and 1975 for 301 episodes. Synopsis The series was one of the first to follow up on the enor ...

'', ''

Matlock Police ''Matlock Police'' is an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for The 0-10 Network (now known as Network 10) between 1971 and 1976. The series focused on the police station and crime in the Victorian town of Ma ...

'', ''

The Restless Years ''The Restless Years'' is an Australian soap opera which followed the lives of several Sydney school-leavers and the drama and relationships faced by young adults. It was created by Reg Watson and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation for N ...

'', '' The Sullivans'', ''

The Young Doctors ''The Young Doctors'' is an Australian early-evening soap opera originally broadcast on the Nine Network and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation, it aired from Monday 8 November 1976 until Wednesday 30 March 1983. The series is primarily s ...

'', '' Sons and Daughters'', ''

Rafferty's Rules ''Rafferty's Rules'' is an Australian television drama series which ran from 1987 to 1991 on the Seven Network. The producers of the series were Posie Graeme-Evans (1987–1988), and Denis Phelen. The directors were Graham Thorburn, Mike Sm ...

'' and ''

A Country Practice ''A Country Practice'' is an Australian television soap opera/serial which was broadcast on the Seven Network from 18 November 1981 until 22 November 1993, and subsequently on Network Ten from 13 April 1994 to 5 November 1994. Altogether, 14 ...

'' amongst others. Collings appeared in the feature film '' Knowing'' as the mother of

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Nicolas Cage, various accolades, including an Academy A ...

's character. In 2019, Collings took part in a comedy revue about older people and the young people they deal with called ''Senior Moments'', alongside John Wood and Geoff Harvey. Collings has expressed her concern with modern children being glued to technology rather than forming a connection with humans.

Filmography

Film

Television

Other appearances

References

External links

*
Benita Collings
at Entertain OZ, Australian entertainment directory

article in

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

Benita Collings
at Onya Soapbox talent agent {{DEFAULTSORT:Collings, Benita Living people Australian television actresses Australian film actresses 1940 births Australian children's television presenters Australian women television presenters