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Judith McGrath

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Judith McGrath
Judith McGrath as Colleen Powell in Prisoner
Born(1947-04-21)21 April 1947
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Died20 October 2017(2017-10-20) (aged 70)
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Other namesJudy McGrath
OccupationActress
Years active1967–2012
Notable work

Judith McGrath (21 April 1947 – 20 October 2017) was an Australian actress. She was known for her roles as Colleen Powell in Prisoner, Matron Gribble in Round the Twist, Bernice Hudson in A Country Practice, and Yvonne 'Von' Ryan in All Saints.

Biography

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McGrath was known for her television roles, including soap operas Prisoner (1979–84), as Deputy Governor/Officer Colleen "Poface" Powell, A Country Practice (1992–93) as hippy Bernice Hudson and for her Logie Award-nominated role in the medical drama All Saints as Nurse Yvonne "Von" Ryan (1998–2009) and her comedy roles in children's series Round the Twist as Matron Cecilia Gribble.

McGrath was known for playing characters with a dry, often sarcastic wit.[1]

Early life

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Born in Brisbane, McGrath began her career at the Brisbane Arts Theatre, and was a member of Twelfth Night Theatre under artistic director Joan Whalley. She also played Grace in the 1969 film Age of Consent.

Career

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McGrath is probably best known to international audiences for her role in the cult Network Ten series Prisoner as fair-minded but sarcastic Deputy Governor Colleen" Poface" Powell.[2] Initially a minor character, appearing in 12 episodes in the first two series (1979–80), she became a permanent cast member in 1981 and went on to appear in a total of 263 episodes. She chose to leave the series, taping her final scenes in December 1983. Her farewell episode aired in May 1984 during the show's sixth season.[3]

After leaving Prisoner, McGrath appeared in guest roles in Neighbours in 1985 and The Flying Doctors in 1986 and 1988, before appearing in the first series of the children's television show Round The Twist in 1989, playing Matron Gribble.[4] She went on to be a regular cast member on A Country Practice as Bernice Hudson from 1992 until 1993.

McGrath played the long-running role of Yvonne "Von"' Ryan in television medical drama series All Saints on Network Seven from its debut in 1998, opposite co-star Georgie Parker. She was the only original cast member to stay with the series until it concluded in late 2009.[5]

Death

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McGrath died at a hospice in Brisbane at the age of 70 from lung cancer on 20 October 2017.[6][7]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Type
1969 Age of Consent Brisbane Girl - Grace (as Judy McGrath) Feature film
1986 Backstage Hotel Receptionist Feature film
2005 Fink Centrelink Woman Feature film
2010 Scone Wars Mavis Hepstead Film short

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1977 Bluey Mrs. Thompson Season 1, episode 22 (guest)
1977, 1980 Young Ramsay Rosemary Billings Season 1, episode 8 / Season 2, episode 5 (guest)
1978–80 Cop Shop Mrs. Bond Season 1, episode 23 (guest)
Leila Foley Season 2, episode 22 (guest)
Jane Hardy Season 2–3 (recurring, 4 episodes)
Eve Fleming Season 3, episodes 59 & 60 (guest)
1978 The Sullivans Miss Harvey Unknown season (recurring, 4 episodes)
1979 Skyways Mrs. Mason Unknown season (guest, 2 episodes)
Dr. Mendelshon Unknown season (guest, 2 episodes)
Zoe Lawrence Unknown season (guest, 1 episode)
1979–84 Prisoner Colleen Powell Seasons 1–3 (recurring, 31 episodes)
Seasons 3–6 (main role, 232 episodes)[a]
1984 Special Squad June Holgate Season 1, episode 26 (guest)
1985 Neighbours Margaret Haywood Season 1, episodes 67 & 68 (guest)
1986, 1988 The Flying Doctors Cynthia Cumberland-Brown Season 1, episode 18 (guest)
Caroline Longley Season 3, episode 22 (guest)
1986 Sword of Honour Dietician Miniseries (episode 4)
1987 Willing and Abel (unknown role) Season 1 (unknown episodes)
1987 Camera Script episode "Second Star On The Right"
1989 Round the Twist Matron Gribble Season 1 (main role, 9 episodes)
1992–93 A Country Practice Bernice Hudson Seasons 12–13 (main role, 149 episodes)
1995 Police Rescue Hazel Season 4, episode 3 (guest)
1996 Naked: Stories of Men Margaret Season 1, episode 3 (main role)
1998–2009 All Saints Yvonne 'Von' Ryan Seasons 1–12 (main role, 493 episodes)
2011–12 Winners & Losers Maria Crawley Seasons 1–2 (recurring, 3 episodes)

Self-appearances

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Year Title Role Notes
1982 Telethon 1982 Herself – Guest TV special
1984 26th Annual TV Week Logie Awards Herself[b] TV special
1992 The Main Event Herself TV series (1 episode)
1994 Day to Day Herself – Guest TV series (1 episode)
2001–02 The Weakest Link Herself TV series (2 episodes)
2007 49th Annual TV Week Logie Awards Herself TV special
2007 Channel 7 Telethon Herself TV special
2011 Today Tonight Herself[c] TV series, 1 episode
2011 Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation Herself TV series (1 episode)
2011 A Current Affair Herself[d] TV series (1 episode)

Notes

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  1. ^ Played a recurring role in Prisoner from Season 1, episode 48, until Season 3, episode 59. From Season 3, episode 60, she was upgraded to a main character.
  2. ^ Audience member with Prisoner cast.
  3. ^ With A Country Practice cast: Lorrae Desmond, Brian Wenzel, Helen Scott, John Tarrant, Josephine Mitchell, Wendy Strehlow, Michelle Pettigrove, Andrew Blackman & Emily Nichol.
  4. ^ With Prisoner cast: Carol Burns, Val Lehman, Jane Clifton, Elspeth Ballantyne, Patsy King & Margaret Laurence.

References

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  1. ^ Lane, Richard. Prisoner: Cell Block H.
  2. ^ "It's Saints and winners". Manchester Evening News. 20 April 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  3. ^ "Prisoner Shake-Up". TV Week: 9. 24 December 1983.
  4. ^ Children's show with a twist[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ Idato, Michael (26 October 2009). "All Saints fades away". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  6. ^ Knox, David (22 October 2017). "Vale: Judith McGrath". TV Tonight. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  7. ^ Smith, Sophie (23 October 2017). "Australia mourns loss of Logie nominated All Saints soap star". Herald Sun. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
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