Rowena Wallace
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Rowena Wallace (born 23 August 1947) is an English-born Australian stage and screen
actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...
, most especially in the genre of television
soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
. She is best known for her Gold Logie-winning role as conniving Patricia "Pat the Rat" Hamilton/Morrell/Palmer in '' Sons and Daughters'', being the first soap star to win the Gold Logie. After leaving the series and being replaced in the role by Belinda Giblin, Wallace returned in the final season as Patricia's sister Pamela Hudson. She started her career on the small screen in the late 1960s in serial '' You Can't See 'Round Corners'' as well as appearing in that serial's film version and then had regular roles in TV series including
Crawford Productions Crawford Productions is an Australian Media (communication), media production company, focused on radio and television production. Founded in Melbourne by Hector Crawford and his sister, actress and voice artist Dorothy Crawford, the company, a ...
''
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 ...
'', '' Number 96'' and '' Cop Shop'' and in 1980–1981 became well known for her stint as Anne Griffin in cult series ''
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 ...
.'' After '' Sons and Daughters'', she subsequently appeared primarily in guest roles and cameos in numerous TV serials, before again returning to more permanent fixtures in regular roles from 2000 to 2003 in ''
Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip to Kangaroo Point, N ...
'' as June Reynolds, 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 ...
'' in 2007 as Mary Casey and in ''
Deadly Women ''Deadly Women'' is an American true crime documentary television series produced by Beyond International Group and airing on the Investigation Discovery (ID) Television, network. The series focuses on murders committed by women. It is hosted ...
'' as gangland figure Judy Moran in 2012. She has appeared as herself as a panellist on talk show ''
Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...
'' and featured regularly on Bert Newton's popular morning breakfast show '' Good Morning Australia''.


Early life

Rowena Wallace was born in
Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
, West Midlands, England, as an only child. She moved to Australia with her parents when she was five, settling in the state of Queensland. Her father was a pilot for Ansett Airlines. Initially she grew up in
Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...
and later moved to
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
at the age of 12 years. There, she attended
Kedron State High School Kedron State High School is a Queensland public secondary school which is located in the inner-northern suburb of Kedron in Brisbane, Australia. The school was opened in 1956, to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding North Brisbane populat ...
. After finishing school she became interested in acting and was taken by her mother to dancing lessons at, and was also persuaded to join, the Twelfth Night Theatre under the artistic direction of Joan Whalley. At age fifteen, having left school and attended a business college at the insistence of her parents, Wallace decided to become an actress. She joined an advertising agency while still performing in the theatre at night.


Career


Early roles

Wallace's first television role was in Brisbane as an entertainer on the variety show Theatre Royal hosted by George Wallace Jnr (no relation). She also presented the afternoon news and weather and a children's show. While she was working in Brisbane,
Barry Creyton Barry Creyton (born 1939) is an Australian actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, composer and director, he has also worked in the United Kingdom and the United States. He became best known nationally alongside Carol Raye and Gordon Chater, ...
persuaded the producers of a new series to fly Wallace down to Sydney to audition for the lead role in their show. As a result Wallace won the role of Margie Harris in '' You Can't See 'Round Corners'' in 1967 and moved to Sydney. She would also feature in the 1969 film version. After completing ''Round Corners'', she went on to star as the juvenile lead in a short-run TV series called ''The Rovers''; meanwhile, she also starred in the hit comedy stage production between takes of ''The Rovers'' with
John McCallum John McCallum (born 9 April 1950) is a Canadian politician, economist, diplomat and former university professor. A former Liberal Member of Parliament ( MP), McCallum was the Canadian Ambassador to China from 2017 to 2019. He was asked for ...
and Googie Withers. The show, '' Relatively Speaking'', played to packed audiences in Melbourne. On 12 February 1970, the film '' Squeeze a Flower'' had its world premiere in Sydney. Wallace starred in the movie as the female lead, opposite international Italian film star
Walter Chiari Walter Annicchiarico (8 March 1924 – 20 December 1991), known as Walter Chiari , was an Italian stage and screen actor, mostly in comedy roles. Biography Walter Annicchiarico was born in Verona, Italy on 8 March 1924 to a family originall ...
. By 1972, she had found work intermittently. In 1973 she married George Assang, some 20 years her senior, a
Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately ...
-born jazz singer and actor known professionally as Vic Sabrino. The marriage lasted just over a year, and Wallace has had no long-term relationships since then. "The Rovers" was a production that soon led to the '' Number 96'' smash hit TV series. Produced by NLT Productions, executive producer was Bill Harmon and producer Don Cash, who would become famous for creating ''Number 96''. The series was created by Roger Mirams and starred Rowena Wallace, Edward Hepple,
Noel Trevarthen Noel Trevarthen was a New Zealand actor who worked largely in England and Australia, active from 1959 to 1999. Trevarthen was first based in England where he starred in '' Riviera Police'' and in extended run of ''Watch It, Sailor'' at the Apo ...
and child actor Grant Seiden. The storylines revolve around the adventures of the crew of the ''Pacific Lady'', an island schooner owned by Captain Sam McGill (or 'Cap' for short), played by Hepple, Bob Wild (a freelance photographer) played by Trevarthen and Rusty Collins, a wildlife journalist (played by Wallace).


''Number 96'' and ''Prisoner''

In the late 1970s she appeared frequently on Australian television, with an ongoing role in the soap opera '' Number 96'' in 1975–1976, followed by a regular role in the police drama '' Cop Shop'', playing policeman's wife Pamela Taylor. After leaving that series she played a mentally unbalanced remand prisoner named Anne Griffin 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 ...
'' for several weeks in late 1980.


''Sons and Daughters''

Rowena Wallace's most famous role was in the soap opera '' Sons and Daughters'', in which she played Patricia Dunne/Hamilton/Morrell/Palmer, starting in 1981. Nicknamed "Pat the Rat", the character became an immensely popular ' bitch' figure in the series; it was the series' most famous character. In 1984 Wallace won a Gold Logie for the portrayal during an era when Gold Logies were usually won by major television personalities and hosts but not actors. She was the first woman soap actress to win the award since it was opened up to Most Popular Australian Personality. She was not the first female to win the Gold Logie, that honour going to Australian actress Lorrae Desmond. Wallace also received four Silver Logies. Wallace left ''Sons and Daughters'' after three years, with her final scenes going to air early in 1985 just after her Gold Logie win. Wallace claimed in a reunion documentary that she left due to exhaustion from playing such an intense character. She also claimed she regretted walking away from the role as she did not get the later acting offers she had anticipated. The popularity of her character led to it being recast, with Belinda Giblin assuming the role of a returning Patricia after extensive cosmetic surgery had altered her facial features. Late in the show's run, with ratings in decline, Wallace was returned to the series in an attempt to boost the show's popularity. With Giblin remaining in the show, Wallace now played a new character, that of Patricia's long-lost identical twin sister Pamela. Her return lasted ten weeks but did little to halt the show's dwindling ratings, and the show was cancelled shortly afterwards.


''Home and Away'' and ''Neighbours''

Between years 2000 and 2003 Wallace appeared in the weeknight soap opera ''
Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip to Kangaroo Point, N ...
'' as June Reynolds. In 2007 Wallace joined the cast of ''
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 ...
'' for several months. She played Mary Casey, an unstable woman who ended up in prison for the
false imprisonment False imprisonment or unlawful imprisonment occurs when a person intentionally restricts another person's movement within any area without legal authority, justification, or the restrained person's permission. Actual physical restraint is n ...
of Pepper Steiger. Mary's cellmate turned out to be Sky Mangel.


Other roles

In 2012 Wallace starred as Melbourne gangland matriarch Judy Moran in the
Foxtel NXE Australia Pty Ltd, trading as the Foxtel Group, is an Australian pay television company that operates cable television, direct-broadcast satellite, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April ...
series ''
Deadly Women ''Deadly Women'' is an American true crime documentary television series produced by Beyond International Group and airing on the Investigation Discovery (ID) Television, network. The series focuses on murders committed by women. It is hosted ...
''. In September 2016 Wallace had a cameo in Wonthaggi Theatrical Group's production of ''
Little Shop of Horrors Little Shop of Horrors may refer to: * '' The Little Shop of Horrors'', a 1960 American film * ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (musical), a 1982 musical based on the 1960 film * ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (1986 film), a 1986 American film based on th ...
'' as the narrator.


Personal life

Wallace was briefly married to George Assang from 1973 to 1974. At the age of nineteen, Wallace was diagnosed with
scoliosis Scoliosis (: scolioses) is a condition in which a person's Vertebral column, spine has an irregular curve in the coronal plane. The curve is usually S- or C-shaped over three dimensions. In some, the degree of curve is stable, while in others ...
. She has required painkillers almost continuously since then. Between July 1999 and November 2003, Wallace was collecting a disability support pension, despite being actively employed by television series such as '' Water Rats'', ''
Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...
'' and '' Good Morning Australia''. In October 2005, she was charged with
social security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...
fraud, and given a suspended sentence of six months' imprisonment. In August 2010, Wallace was the subject of a '' Today Tonight'' special feature on the
Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...
, where she was reportedly nearly broke and on the verge of becoming homeless. The following week, a number of offers to take her in were made by Australians around the country. In March 2011, she was the subject of more media coverage, this time because the unit she occupied at subsidised rent in Wonthaggi, Victoria was due for demolition in August 2011 and she feared she would have nowhere to live. The rent in Wonthaggi had doubled or even tripled due to the Victorian Desalination Plant being constructed nearby, but her pension would not even cover her rent.


Filmography


Film


Television


Television (as self)


Theatre

Source:


Awards


References


External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Rowena 1947 births Living people Actresses from Brisbane Actresses from Coventry English emigrants to Australia Australian film actresses Australian stage actresses Gold Logie winners Australian actors with disabilities Australian soap opera actresses Naturalised citizens of Australia