Pat McDonald (actress)

Patricia Ethell McDonald (1 August 1921[1] – 10 March 1990) was an Australian radio actor and actor of stage and television and the daughter of one of Australia's most prominent electric radio engineers and public servants, Arthur Stephen McDonald and his wife, milliner Edith Roseina Ethell.[2] Her grandfather, bootmaker John McDonald, was born in Victoria, and married Eliza Mary Stevenson.[3] Although she was not the first female Gold Logie winner in Australia, which was entertainer and TV host Lorrae Desmond, she was the first female character actor to win for serial Number 96.

Pat McDonald
Pat McDonald pictured right with Bunney Brooke, in Number 96
Born
Patricia Ethell McDonald

(1921-08-01)1 August 1921
Elwood, Victoria, Australia
Died10 March 1990(1990-03-10) (aged 68)
OccupationActor
Years active1939–1989
Known forNumber 96, Sons and Daughters
PartnerBunney Brooke
Awards4 Logie Awards (1 Gold 1974)

Number 96 and Sons and Daughters

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McDonald was best-known for two long-running soap opera roles. She played comical malaproping gossip Dorrie Evans in the popular serial Number 96 between 1972 and 1977 and then played Aunty Fiona Thompson in Sons and Daughters between 1981 and 1987. She was featured in both shows throughout their entire run, about five and a half years in each case. McDonald won four Logie awards, including the 1974 Gold Logie, for her work on Number 96.

Career

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McDonald was born in 1921, and at the age of 18 acted in the 1939 Australian film Seven Little Australians based on the novel by English children's literary writer Ethel Turner she played the twenty-year-old stepmother Esther. She much later appeared in an episode of the 1970 police drama The Long Arm. The role in Number 96 followed; she reprised the role in the 1974 feature film version of the series. McDonald won several Logie Awards as Best Actress for playing Dorrie, and a Gold Logie for Australia's most popular female personality in 1974. After Number 96 she played a regular role in the short-lived Australian situation comedy series The Tea Ladies (1978).

One of McDonald's final TV appearances was at the Logie Awards on 17 March 1989, when she took part in a production number called "Golden Girls", which celebrated female Gold Logie winners of years past. She performed the song with Lorrae Desmond, Hazel Phillips, Denise Drysdale, Jeanne Little, and Rowena Wallace.

McDonald, apart from being a staple of film and television since the late 1930s, had also been a regular theatre performer from 1940 until 1989.[4] Later in 1989 McDonald appeared in an episode of the hit British TV series In Sickness and in Health in which she played Raeline's mother. The episode aired in the UK in October 1989.

Personal life

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McDonald was married in 1941 to Captain Peter Hendry, a son of a reverend and doctor in the Australian Army.[5]

During the 1970s she was involved in a live-in lesbian relationship with Number 96 co-star Bunney Brooke. The two actors openly appeared in magazine articles about the suburban Sydney home (eastern end of Fox Valley Road, Wahroonga) they shared, and they freely discussed their international summer holidays together in press articles, although the true nature of the relationship was not explicitly stated.[6]

McDonald died after a lengthy illness of cancer of the pancreas at Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney,[7] on 10 March 1990, aged 68. Her partner, actor and casting agent Bunney Brooke, died ten years later.

Awards

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Institution Award Work
Logie Awards Gold Logie Number 96
Logie Awards Silver Logie for Most Popular Actress x 3 Number 96

Filmography

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Movies

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Year Film Role Notes
1988 Gaston en Leo in Hong Kong Zuster Olivia
1974 Number 96 Dorrie Evans Feature film based on TV series
1940 Wings of Destiny (billed as Patricia McDonald) Marion Jamieson
1939 Seven Little Australians Esther

Television

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Year Title Episode Role Notes
2008 Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! As self Feature film documentary (Archive Footage)
1989 In Sickness and in Health #4.7 Railene's Mother TV series, 1 episode
1989 The 29th Annual TV Week Logie Awards Herself with Rowena Wallace, Denise Drysdale, Lorrae Desmond, Hazel Phillips & Jeanne Little sing "Golden Girls". TV special
1988 TV A.M. Herself TV series UK, 1 episode
1986 Kids 21st Birthday Channel Ten Telethon Guest - Herself with Number 96 cast: Johnny Lockwood, Bettina Welch, Elizabeth Kirkby, Vicki Raymond, Sheila Kennelly, Wendy Blacklock, Harry Michaels, Chard Hayward, Frances Hargreaves & Abigail taped appearance. TV special
1984 The 1984 Annual TV Week Logie Awards Herself - Audience member TV Special
1983 The Body Corporate Lady Tustrain TV movie
1982 The Mike Walsh Show Herself with Joe Hasham, Ron Shand & Chard Hayward TV series, 1 episode
1982–1987 Channel 7 Perth Telethon Herself TV special
1982–1987 Sons and Daughters Regular cast Fiona Thompson TV series
1983 The Body Corporate Lady Tustrain TV movie
1982–1987 Sons and Daughters Regular cast Fiona Thompson TV series
1981 A Country Practice Alternatives (Parts 1 & 2) Lily Bauer TV series, 2 episodes
1980 The Mike Walsh Show Guest - Herself TV series, 1 episode
1979; 1980 The Mike Walsh Show Guest - Herself TV series, 1 episode
1978 Glenview High The Siren Guest role TV series, 1 episode
1978; 1979 The Mike Walsh Show Guest - Herself with Maggie Kirkpatrick TV series, 1 episode
1978 The Tea Ladies Regular role TV series
1978; 1978 The Mike Walsh Show Guest - Herself TV series, 1 episode
1977 Number 96: The Final Episode Herself with Ron Shand & Bunney Brooke TV special
1977 Telethon '77 Guest - Herself TV special
1976 Number 96: And They Said It Wouldn’t Last Herself with Bunney Brooke & Ron Shand TV special
1973 Sunday Magazine Herself - Guest (Number 96 Celebration: 300th episode) with Abigail, Ron Shand, Gordon McDougall & Johnny Lockwood TV series, 1 episode
1972–1977 Number 96 Regular cast Dorrie Evans TV series
1971 Dynasty The Coorabungle Deposit Guest role: Selma ABC TV Series, 1 episode
1971 Homicide The Terrible Stranger Guest role: Mrs. Davis TV series, 1 episode
1970 Division 4 Running Sheet Guest role: Betty Gregson TV series, 2 episodes
Man From Lightning Ridge Ruby Slater TV series
1970 The Long Arm Only a Wave Away Guest role: Miss Bacon TV series, 1 episode 18: "Only A Wave Away"

References

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  1. ^ "Births". The Argus. 3 August 1921. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  2. ^ Goot, Murray. "McDonald, Arthur Stephen (1891–1955)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  3. ^ Goot, Murray. "McDonald, Arthur Stephen (1891–1955)". adb.anu.edu.au. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  4. ^ "Pat McDonald".
  5. ^ "In The Theatres". Sydney Morning Herald. 22 May 1941. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  6. ^ Mercado, Andrew. Super Aussie Soaps, Pluto Press Australia, 2004. ISBN 1-86403-191-3 p 46
  7. ^ "Actress Pat, 'the ultimate professional', dies at 58 (sic)". Canberra Times. 11 March 1990. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
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