Myra Tania De Groot (4 July 1937 – 4 April 1988) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

-born theatre and television actress, and agent. She performed in the United Kingdom, United States, New Zealand and Australia.

Professional career

De Groot was born in

Westminster, London Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and performed as a child, from everything from a magician's assistant to a dancer, eventually appearing in West End comedy. Arriving in America from Britain in 1958 she appeared in roles for most of the 1960s there, appearing on TV series including ''

Bewitched ''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typi ...

'', ''

The Monkees The Monkees were an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. The band consisted of Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones (musician), Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork. Spurred by the success of ''The Monkees (TV series), Th ...

'', ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and four short stories, all of which involve a ...

'', and ''

Here Come the Brides ''Here Come the Brides'' is an American comedy Western television series from Screen Gems that aired on the ABC television network from September 25, 1968, to April 3, 1970. It was loosely based on Asa Mercer's efforts in the 1860s to import m ...

''. She performed at the noted

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

cabaret "Upstairs at The Downstairs" in Ben Bagley's last review (''Seven Come Eleven'') in 1962 with Hal Buckley, Nancy Preiser and Cy Young. She left America and then resided in New Zealand between 1972–1980, where she appeared in many theatre roles and the 1978 film ''Angel Mine''. She also directed stage plays. Her latter career was based in Australia, after having emigrated there in 1980, with roles in serials ''

The Sullivans ''The Sullivans'' is an Australian period drama television series produced by Crawford Productions which ran on the Nine Network from 15 November 1976 until 10 March 1983. The series tells the story of a fictional average middle-clas ...

'', two roles in ''

Prisoner A prisoner, also known as an inmate or detainee, is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement or captivity in a prison or physical restraint. The term usually applies to one serving a Sentence (law), se ...

'', a few telemovies and the film '' Norman Loves Rose''. Her final role was in ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...

'' as Eileen Clarke - a role in which De Groot appeared onscreen in the UK for fifteen months after she had died due to the fact the show aired significantly far behind the Australian airdate.

Filmography

FILM TELEVISION

Theatre

De Groot acted in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia in a variety of roles on stage: *''Frome Here and There'' - Royal Court Theatre, London (1955) *''Mister Venus'' - Prince of Wales Theatre, London (1958) - as "Married woman" *''Ulysses in Nighttown'' - Arts Theatre, London (May 1959) - as Kitty *''

Pieces of Eight The Spanish dollar, also known as the piece of eight (, , , or ), is a silver coin of approximately diameter worth eight Spanish reales. It was minted in the Spanish Empire following a monetary reform in 1497 with content fine silver. It wa ...

'' - Apollo Theatre, London (September 1959) *''Seven Come Eleven'' - Upstairs at The Downstairs, New York (August 1962) *''Riverwind'' - Westport Country Playhouse, Wesport, CT (July 1966) *''

Mame MAME (formerly an acronym of Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) is a free and open-source emulator designed to emulate the hardware of arcade games, video game consoles, old computers and other systems in software on modern personal computers and ...

'' - Honolulu Concert Hall, HI (June 1968) - as Agnes Gooch *''Mame'' - San Bernardino, CA (November 1970) - as Agnes Gooch *''There's a Leek in your Hat'' - Mercury Theatre, Auckland (October 1972) *''Tarantara! taranatara!'' - Mercury Theatre, Auckland (February 1976) *''Viva Mexico'' - North Shore Operatic Society, Auckland (March 1977) *''Noel & Cole'' - The Blue Cockatoo, Sydney (1982) *'' Torch Song Trilogy'' - Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney (1984) - as Mrs Beckoff *Spookhouse - Playbox Theatre, Melbourne (1987) *'' Nunsense'' - Comedy Theatre, Melbourne (1987) - as Sister Hubert

Personal life

Three times married, De Groot died from cancer, aged 50 on 4 April 1988. She is survived by five children and nine grandchildren.

References

External links

*
Article about Myra De Groot
* Brief excerpts o
Myra De Groot's appearances in Prisoner and Bewtitched
1937 births 1988 deaths British emigrants Immigrants to Australia Deaths from cancer in Victoria (state) Australian soap opera actresses 20th-century Australian actresses Actresses from London People from Westminster Actors from the City of Westminster {{Australia-tv-actor-stub