Bettina Welch
Bettina Welch | |
|---|---|
 Welch as Maggie Cameron in Number 96 | |
| Born | Bettina Catherine Welch 1922 Wellington, New Zealand |
| Died | 5 March 1993 (aged 70–71) Australia |
| Other names | Betty Welch[1] |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1940–1992 |
Bettina Catherine Welch (1922 – 5 March 1993) was a New Zealand-born Australia-based actress, primarily in radio and theatre and of the latter in television roles. She was best known for her role in television soap opera Number 96 as Maggie Cameron, a scheming businesswoman and fashion editor.
The series creator and writer David Sale, stated she was the first major bitch on television, long before Alexis Carrington (Joan Collins)[2]
Early life
[edit]Welch was born Wellington, New Zealand.[1]
Acting career
[edit]Welch started her acting career in theatre in 1940.[1] when she arrived in Sydney from New Zealand with her parents on holiday. In Sydney she won a competition that led to her join J. C. Williamson's theatre company, and she also began acting on Australian radio. Her training with J. C. Williamson led to a succession of theatre roles with the company.[3] She married Dermot Patrick O'Brien on 20 February 1945 at St Canice's Catholic Church, Rushcutters Bay, New South Wales.
Welch was best known for her long tenure in theatre, when British actor Robert Morley conducted an Australian theatre tour in 1949 she played his young mistress in his co-scripted play Edward, My Son.
Her other stage roles include Australian productions of Harvey with Joe E. Brown, Simon and Laura and The Deep Blue Sea with Googie Withers and John McCallum, the lead role opposite Emrys Jones in Double Image, and a featured role with Sir Robert Helpmann in Nude with Violin by Noël Coward.
Welch appeared as the enchantress Morgan le Fey in J. C. Williamson's production of Camelot in the early 1960s, a role she played for two and a half years. She subsequently took one of the lead roles in four-handed comedy Any Wednesday, appeared in productions of There's A Girl In My Soup, and The Band Wagon. The nurse in Loot, by Joe Orton featured in A Delicate Balance, playing Julia by Edward Albee and took the lead role in a production of Frederick Knott's Wait Until Dark, a role for which she was critically acclaimed.
Welch played in Melbourne and Sydney in Hal Porter's Australian play Eden House.[3] She had a major role in the Sydney Theatre Company's season of the Stephen Sondheim musical, A Little Night Music" at the Sydney Opera House in 1990.
Television roles
[edit]Welch started in TV roles from starting from the early 1960s with guest parts in Australian television drama series and she appeared in the Crawford Productions adventure series Hunter (1967), and also played various guest roles in the top-rated Crawford Productions police dramas Homicide and Division 4.
In 1971 Welch appeared in an episode of a situation comedy series called The Group, being cast after the show's writer David Sale, had earlier been impressed by the performance she gave in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation-Artransa Films science fiction children's series Phoenix 5 (1970), he promised to write a longer running part for her especially next time.
When Sale created soap opera Number 96 he kept his word, creating especially for her the role of corrupt businesswoman and fashion editor Maggie Cameron, featuring from the show's inception in March 1972, her character emerged as a popular bitch-figure in the top-rated serial. Welch says she partly based her characterisation of Maggie on the Mrs. Robinson character played by Anne Bancroft in film The Graduate.[4]she left the series temporarily the following year to again act on stage opposite Robert Morley, this time in How the Other Half Loves. She returned to the series after that, and also reprised the role in the feature film version in 1974, but by the following year the TV series had suffered a drop in ratings so a bomb storyline was developed as a dramatic way to write out several key characters. The story went to air in September, and Maggie was revealed to have been the person who planted the bomb and her character written out the series by being sent to prison. Welch returned for a guest appearance in 1976 when Maggie's trial was shown, and she appeared in the show's final episode in 1977 where it was explained that Maggie had been released from prison.
Post-Number 96 Welch continued to make appearances in television series, however in small guesting feature roles including Glenview High (1977), The Outsiders (1977), Young Ramsay (1978), and the legal drama Case for the Defence (1978). She had feature parts in television movies and feature films, including Undercover (1983), and guest starred in two episodes of A Country Practice.
Welch died in Australia in 1993, aged around 70-71.
Filmography
[edit]FILM
| Title | Year | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Number 96 | Maggie Cameron | Feature film |
| 1983 | Undercover | Dowager | Feature film |
| 1986 | Departure | Lady Bracknell | Feature film |
| 1991 | Gotcha | Grandmother | Film Short |
TELEVISION
| Title | Year | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Whiplash | Guest roles: Catha Cameron / Mary Dillon | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1962 | Suspect | Guest role: Lady Const | Teleplay |
| 1966 | Homicide | Guest roles: Julie Temple / Maggie Glasson | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1968 | Hunter | Guest role: Sheridan York | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1969;1970 | Division 4 | Guest role: Edna Shaw | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1970 | Phoenix Five | Guest role: Karella | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1970 | Division 4 | Guest role: Irene Kemp | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1971 | The Group | Guest role | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1972-1976 | Number 96 | Regular role: Maggie Cameron | TV series, 166 episodes |
| 1976 | Number 96 ... And They Said It Wouldn't Last | Herself / Maggie Cameron | TV special |
| 1977 | Maggi Ekhardt Show | Herself - Guest | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1977 | Number 96: The Final Episode | Herself / Maggie Cameron | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1977 | The Outsiders | Guest role: Sylvia Canning | ABC TV series AUSTRALIA/GERMANY, 1 episode |
| 1977 | Glenview High | Guest role: Fiona | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1978 | Young Ramsay | Guest role: Rhonda Thompson | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1978 | Case for the Defence | Guest role: Joan Lattimer | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1979 | Chopper Squad | Guest role: Mrs. Docker | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1979 | Skyways | Guest role: Jasmin Lamont | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1981 | ...Deadline... | Support role: Mrs. Ashby | TV film / pilot |
| 1981 | A Country Practice | Guest role: Mavis Carmody | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1984 | Bodyline | Guest role: Lady Randall Rogers | TV miniseries, 1 episode |
| 1986 | Kids 21st Birthday Channel Ten Telethon | Guest - Herself with Number 96 cast: Johnny Lockwood, Pat McDonald, Elizabeth Kirkby, Vicki Raymond, Sheila Kennelly, Wendy Blacklock, Harry Michaels, Chard Hayward, Frances Hargreaves & Abigail taped appearance. | TV special |
| 1987 | Butterfly Island | Guest role | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1988 | The Dirtwater Dynasty | Guest role: Mrs. Tilly Seymour | TV miniseries, 1 episode |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Bettina Welch".
- ^ Giles, Nigel "NUMBER 96: Australia's Most Notorious Address" published by Melbourne Books 2007
- ^ a b Atterton, Margot. (Ed.) The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Australian Showbiz, Sunshine Books, 1984. ISBN 0-86777-057-0 p 230
- ^ Maggie - The Tough Girl with a Soft Centre, TV Week, 19 October 1974, p 25