1. Thelma Marjorie Scott was an Australian character actress whose six-decade career in theatre, radio, film and Australian made her one of her country's most recognisable and beloved personalities.
20 Facts About Thelma Scott
1. 2.
Thelma Scott returned to make TV films in the early late 1950s and then became a star on television after it was launched in Australia.
3.
Thelma Scott became best known for roles in soap operas including Number 96 as Claire Houghton and Mrs Jennings in Richmond Hill.
4.
Thelma Scott began her career in the theatre in 1931 at the age of 18, having joined the firm of theatrical impresario Gregan McMahon's company "Gregan McMahon Players".
5.
Thelma Scott followed this with roles in productions of Six Characters in Search of an Author, Too Good to Be True and Wind in the Rain.
6.
Thelma Scott debuted in her first film in 1931, The Haunted Barn, a short produced by Efftee Studios and directed by Gregan McMahon.
7.
Thelma Scott was critically acclaimed in her 1934 performance as Tessa in the play The Constant Nymph.
8.
Thelma Scott chose to move in the direction of drama, opting for a role in the thriller Ten Minute Alibi, which had a successful run, touring Sydney and Melbourne.
9.
Thelma Scott subsequently signed with radio 2CH, emerging as one of Australia's biggest radio stars.
10.
Thelma Scott attracted both popular and critical praise for her work in the medium, and acted in countless radio productions throughout the 1940s.
11.
Thelma Scott won the Macquarie Radio Award in 1947 and, in 1949, again acted on film, playing family matriarch Jane O'Riordan in Charles Chauvel's epic Sons of Matthew.
12.
Thelma Scott acted on the London stage, appearing in An Evening with Beatrice Lillie at the Globe Theatre, replacing Constance Carpenter, who had left for America.
13.
Thelma Scott did her first television work in the UK, working on a BBC comedy series and hosting her own show, How to Manage Men.
14.
Thelma Scott returned to Australia in 1957, where her acting career continued on television.
15.
Thelma Scott acted in the early soap opera The Story of Peter Grey, the role of Lady Mayoress in the 1965 ABC science fiction series The Stranger followed by appearances in the rural serial Bellbird and guest roles in Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, Adventure Unlimited and Delta.
16.
Thelma Scott worked as a director on the opening night show of Channel Ten Sydney in 1965, titled TV Spells Magic, and did a stint as director on the daily chat show The Gwen Plumb Show.
17.
Thelma Scott soon befriended other residents such as Don and Vera, and formed business associations with Jack and Maggie.
18.
Thelma Scott later played the recurring role of Mrs Jennings in the soap opera Richmond Hill in 1988.
19.
Four-and-a-half years later, Thelma Scott died of a heart attack at the Royal North Shore Hospital, in Sydney.
20.
Thelma Scott was 93 years old, a fact noted by all the obituary writers who referred to her as the 'grand dame' of Australian actors.