Sheila Kennelly (born 28 December 1937) also credited as Sheila Kenneally, is a British-born Australian retired
character 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. ...
of theatre and music hall, television and film, with a career spanning over 50 years. From the late 1950s onwards, her early career was based exclusively in theatre and she didn't start her screen career until the late 1960s becoming well known for her roles in TV soap operas, serials, sitcoms and mini-series.
She is best known locally and internationally for her role 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
Floss McPhee in that series first year (with several guest stints), before being written out as producers wanted to concentrate on a younger and updated cast. Previously she was known locally as Norma Whittaker in ''
Number 96 and in sitcom ''
Kingswood Country''
[Oram, James "Home and Away" ''Behind the Scenes'']
Early life
Kennelly was born in
Brighton, Sussex, England in December 1937 and arrived with her family in Australia at an early age, where she attended North Sydney Girls High School before training at the ''
Independent Theatre''. She worked as a secretary at a radio station, before becoming a casting director and assistant, assigning aspiring actors into radio serials.
["Number 96 : Australia's. Most Infamous Address"]
Career
Stage
She started her career in stage plays in 1958, appearing with the
Old Tote Theatre and the
Nimrod Theatre Company, before undertaking a lengthy arts tour with ''
A View from the Bridge
''A View from the Bridge'' is a play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It was first staged on September 29, 1955, as a one-act verse drama with '' A Memory of Two Mondays'' at the Coronet Theatre on Broadway. The run was unsuccessful, ...
'' and starring in numerous roles with the
Neutral Bay Music Hall.
Television
Sheila had been a staple of the small screen since the late 1960s until retiring in 2008, firstly appearing in plays at the ABC, before taking soap opera and comedy relief roles
She became a household name in the hugely popular serial ''
Number 96'' as brassy bubbly barmaid Norma Whittaker, a comedy character opposite
Gordon McDougall. Norma's trademark catchphrase was calling everyone 'Ducky'. Whilst her husband, amateur inventor Les was killed off in the infamous bomb blast storyline, Norma remained with the series for years, returning for the final episode. Both characters also featured briefly in the ''
Number 96'' feature film version.
In one storyline, a fictional artist (played by
Owen Weingott
Owen Ash Weingott (21 June 1921 – 12 October 2002) was an Australian actor, director and drama teacher. Although primarily working in theatre, he appeared on radio and television in serials and made for television films and voice overs. Weing ...
) visits the apartment and requests to paint a nude portrait of Norma; the painting is subsequently hung in the wine bar. This famed portrait of Norma, was in reality painted by the network's art director Eunice Dyer, and was based on "
Chloé
Chloé () is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1952 by Gaby Aghion. In 1953, Aghion joined forces with Jacques Lenoir, formally managing the business side of the brand, allowing Aghion to purely pursue the creative growth of Chloé. It ...
" a painting at a Melbourne hotel. After the series' demise it was given to
Tom Oliver
Tom Oliver (born 12 June 1938) is a British naturalised Australian retired actor.
Oliver is best known locally and internationally for his long-running role in TV soap opera ''Neighbours'' as Lou Carpenter, a role he played for 25 years bec ...
, who housed it at a wine establishment business he owned in Sydney ''Jacks Sellers''
In a 2009 reunion with the cast of ''
Number 96'' on ''
Where Are They Now?'', Kennelly stated she had wanted to become a serious actor featuring in plays by such dramatists as
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...
and
Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
, but ended up in ''
Number 96'' instead as Norma, in which she used a blonde wig to disguise 'the real Sheila'.
From 1980 until 1984, she appeared opposite
Ross Higgins
Ross Higgins (14 June 1930 – 7 October 2016) was an Australian vaudevillian, character actor, television host, comedian, singer and voice actor. He was best known for his role as Ted Bullpitt in the 1980s television situation comedy seri ...
in the sitcom ''
Kingswood Country''. She played 'cheery wog', Rosa Berlucci who looked after Ted Bullpitt when his wife Thel played by
Judi Farr left him.
Throughout the 1980s, she continued to make appearances in serials such as ''
Glenview High
''Glenview High'' is an Australian television drama series produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation for the Seven Network between 1977 and 1978.
Story
English teacher Greg Walker ( Grigor Taylor) transfers from the country to Glenview High, a t ...
'', children's series ''
Secret Valley'', ''
The Flying Doctors'' and in a few guest roles in ''
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 ...
''
In 1987, she was given the choice of appearing in a small role in the film ''
Evil Angels''. She stated at the time she would have loved to have been in the film, purely to be able to say she had appeared with
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Known for her versatility and adept accent work, she has been described as "the best actress of her generation". She has received numerous accolades throughout her career ...
, but ultimately turned it down to appear in new
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, ...
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 one of 16 original characters. She played retired carnival worker
Floss McPhee for the first year of screening, but was eventually written out, as the producers wanted to concentrate on a younger cast and updated formula.
Kennelly's later roles included guest parts in ''
The Flying Doctors'', ''
Big Sky'' (in 1997), and medical drama ''
All Saints''.
Filmography
Film
Television
Theatre
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennelly, Sheila
British emigrants to Australia
Living people
Australian soap opera actresses
20th-century Australian actresses
21st-century Australian actresses
1937 births
Actresses from Brighton