Elizabeth Alexander (actress)
Elizabeth Alexander | |
|---|---|
| Born | 21 August 1952[1] Adelaide, South Australia, Australia |
| Other names | Liz Alexander |
| Education | All Hallows' School National Institute of Dramatic Art |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1967–present |
| Spouse | George Spartels (1984–2006) |
| Children | 2 |
Elizabeth Alexander (sometimes credited as Liz Alexander; born 21 August 1952) is an Australian actress, director and teacher.
Early life
[edit]Alexander was born in Adelaide, South Australia, and attended All Hallows' School, a private girls school in Brisbane.[2] She went on to study acting at Sydney's National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA).
Career
[edit]Alexander's acting career began early with a part in the series Bellbird in 1967. However, it was straight after graduating from NIDA, that she got her big break with the part of Esther Wolcott in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) series Seven Little Australians. Allegedly, the producers had all but given up on the show, because they did not feel that they had found a suitable actress for the part, until they discovered Alexander. She was actually younger than actress Barbara Llewellyn, who played her stepdaughter Meg in the series, but producers and audiences felt that they were both convincing in their roles.
The ten-part series delivered huge ratings when it was broadcast in 1973, and was also the first ABC series to enjoy international acclaim. It went on to win three Australian Film Institute Awards and four Penguins, including best drama series and the 1974 George Wallace Memorial Logie for Best New Talent for Alexander as the sweet-tempered Esther. The series is now available on DVD.
Alexander had a recurring guest role in the high rating Australian medical drama All Saints as the viper-like Dr. Alison Newell, ex-wife of Dr. Frank Campion, played by John Howard. She was not initially written as his ex-wife, as her character appeared before Howard joined the cast. Apparently, it was the sharp onscreen dynamic between Alexander and Howard in their early scenes together that made the writers decide to write this history into Alexander's character.
Her other television credits include Home and Away playing Christine Jones (the overprotective conservative mother of Melody Jones), Silent Number, Special Squad, Chopper Squad, Farscape, Murder Call, Seven Deadly Sins, Salem's Lot and Time Trax, a science fiction series in which she starred as a computer hologram (alongside Dale Midkiff).
Her film work includes playing the lead role in The Killing of Angel Street (which won an award at the Berlin Film Festival) opposite John Hargreaves, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Summerfield with Nick Tate and John Waters, Sebastian and the Sparrow and The Journalist with Sam Neill. 2010 saw her appear in a thriller called The Clinic and in 2011 she made an appearance in Fred Schepisi's The Eye of the Storm.
Alexander's numerous theatre credits include playing Hermione in The Winter's Tale, Portia in The Merchant of Venice (for which she received glowing reviews), Martha in the Sydney Theatre Company's production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (for which she again received extremely positive reviews), Kate in another STC production of Harold Pinter's Old Times and many more. She also played anthropologist Margaret Mead in David Williamson's play Heretic. The play, based on Mead's life and work, was the subject of much debate and controversy, due to the very public row between the playwright, Williamson, and the director Wayne Harrison over the play's production.[2][3][4]
Alexander has also directed a number of plays and written several screenplays, including a short film titled Memento (which was sold to Village Roadshow) which she also directed, about the emotional problems caused by the return of a father to his family, a young boy and his mother. She directed the feature film, A Spy in the Family. She also directed a 1981 Sydney Theatre Company production of The Woman Tamer starring Mel Gibson.
Alexander also does voiceover work.
Personal life
[edit]Alexander was married to actor George Spartels from 1984 to 2006 and has two daughters. She currently lives in Sydney and works at Queenwood School for Girls as a dramatic arts teacher.[2]
Filmography
[edit]Film
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Ride a Wild Pony (aka Born to Run or Harness Fever) | Miss Hildebrand (teacher) | Feature film |
| 1977 | Summerfield | Jenny Abbott | Feature film |
| 1978 | The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith | Petra Graf | Feature film |
| 1979 | The Journalist | Liz Corbett | Feature film |
| 1981 | The Killing of Angel Street | Jessica | Feature film |
| 1981 | The Coming | Short film | |
| 1983 | One Last Chance | Short film | |
| 1988 | Sebastian and the Sparrow | Jenny Thornbury | Feature film |
| 1988 | Two Brothers Running | Barbara Borstein | Feature film |
| 2010 | The Clinic | Ms Shepard | Feature film |
| 2011 | The Eye of the Storm | Cherry Cheeseman | Feature film |
| 2022 | Blueback | Older Dora | Feature film |
As director
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Memento | Writer / director | Short film |
| 1983 | A Spy in the Family | Director | Feature film |
| 1985 | Emmett Stone | Writer / director | TV film |
| Foursome | Producer | Short film |
Television
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Bellbird | 1 episode | |
| 1973 | Seven Little Australians | Esther Wolcott | Miniseries, 10 episodes |
| 1974 | Behind the Legend | Guest lead role: Elizabeth Kenny | Episode: "Elizabeth Kenny" |
| 1974 | This Love Affair | Episode 6: "Seven-Tenths of a Second" | |
| 1974–1975 | Silent Number | Jean Hamilton | 38 episodes |
| 1975 | Ben Hall | Angela Mitchell | 8 episodes |
| 1976 | King's Men | 1 episode | |
| 1978 | Chopper Squad | Francis Carter | Episode 5: "Psychotic Lady" |
| 1978 | Case for the Defence | Jean | Episode 9: "A Plea of Insanity" |
| 1978 | The Scalp Merchant | TV film | |
| 1979 | Golden Soak | Janet Garrety | Miniseries, 6 episodes |
| 1980; 1981 | Cop Shop | Virginia Kingston / Sue McGregor | 4 episodes |
| 1981 | A Sporting Chance | Episode 4: "The Name of the Game" | |
| 1984 | Singles | Alison Kirk | 5 episodes |
| 1984 | Special Squad | Edith | Episode 8: "The Wurzburg Link" |
| 1986 | Ivanhoe | Voice | Animated TV film |
| 1987 | Rafferty's Rules | 1 episode | |
| 1987 | Willing and Abel | 1 episode | |
| 1991 | About Face | Nightingale Ward Sister | 1 episode |
| 1991 | G.P. | Carmen Gailey | 1 episode |
| 1993 | Seven Deadly Sins | Jill Pascoe | Anthology series, episode 2: "Pride" |
| 1993 | Bonjour la Classe | Nurse | 1 episode |
| 1993–1994 | Time Trax | Selma / Kit | 43 episodes |
| 1998 | Murder Call | Hilary Windsor | Season 2, episode 12: "Something Fishy" |
| 1999 | Alien Cargo | Rojean Page, Explorer Dolphin | TV film |
| 1999 | The Lost World | Mrs. Krux | 1 episode |
| 2000 | The Thing About Vince | Mrs. Rogers | Miniseries, 1 episode |
| 2002 | Farscape | Vella | 1 episode |
| 2003–2006 | All Saints | Dr. Alison Newell | 23 episodes |
| 2003 | Page to Stage | Performance Director | Film documentary |
| 2004 | Salem's Lot | Ann Norton (as Liz Alexander) | Miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 2008; 2019 | Home and Away | Christine Jones | 20 episodes |
| 2010 | Lost Girl | Kala | 1 episode |
| 2011 | Snobs | Helena | TV film |
| 2012 | Fatal Honeymoon | Cindy Thomas | TV film |
| 2013 | In Your Dreams | Magistrate | 1 episode |
| 2019 | Home and Away | Judge | 2 episodes |
| 2020 | The Secrets She Keeps | Renee Cole | 6 episodes |
| 2021 | Clickbait | Andrea Brewer | 7 episodes |
Theatre
[edit]As actor
[edit]As director
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | The Maids | Director | Melbourne Athenaeum with MTC |
| 1981 | The Woman Tamer | Director | Stables Theatre, Sydney with The King O'Malley Theatre Company & STC |
Quote
[edit]If fame just means 540 people a night then that's what it is, for the time being. Next week it could be millions of people and the week after that it could be none. That's what life is, you have to accept what you choose to do.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0018399/ IMDB [user-generated source]
- ^ a b c d Browne, Sheila (22 May 1996). "Liz seeks peace from the storms of the stage". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 31.
- ^ Williamson, David (8 April 1996). "Some Like It Hot – But I Don't". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 13.
- ^ Bennie, Angela (1 April 1996). "Question of belief as writer, director split over Heretic". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 3.
- ^ [1][2] Archived 1 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
