Chris Gardner (writer)

Last updated

Chris Gardner was the pen name for Marjorie Gardner, an English-Australian writer of television, radio and theatre. [1]

Contents

She was born in England and emigrated to Australia in the 1950s, settling at Woody Point, Queensland. Gardner started writing when briefly bed-ridden due to a slipped disc then became more serious about it when she joined a Brisbane radio group in 1956. [2]

Her radio plays were produced by the ABC. She also wrote for stage and television. [3] Her stage play The Pub at Pelican Creek was commended in the 1958 General Motors play competition. [4] Her television play Dark Under the Sun featured one of the first interracial romances on Australian television. [5]

Select credits

Related Research Articles

Autumn Affair is an Australian television series made by and aired by Network Seven station ATN-7, and also shown in Melbourne on Nine Network station GTV-9. Television in Australia had only been broadcasting since 1956 and Seven was the first commercial station to make drama a priority. It premiered 24 October 1958 and continued until 1959. The series was the first ever Australian television soap opera. It was also the second regular Australian-produced dramatic television series of any kind, with previous locally produced drama consisting of religious series The House on the Corner, and one-off plays largely aired on ABC.

Ronald Grant Taylor was an English-Australian actor best known as the abrasive General Henderson in the Gerry Anderson science fiction series UFO and for his lead role in Forty Thousand Horsemen (1940).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muriel Steinbeck</span> Australian actress (1913–1982)

Muriel Myee Steinbeck was an Australian actress who worked extensively in radio, theatre, television and film. She is best known for her performance as the wife of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith in Smithy (1946) and for playing the lead role in Autumn Affair (1958–59), Australia's first television serial.

The Touch of Silk is a 1928 Australian play by Betty Roland about a French girl who marries a former Australian soldier after World War I.

Roundabout is a television movie, or rather a live television play, which aired on Australian television in 1957. Broadcast 4 January 1957 on ABC station ABV-2, it is notable as the first example of television drama produced in Melbourne.

The Multi-Coloured Umbrella is a 1957 Australian stage play written by Barbara Vernon. It was produced professionally, was adapted for television and radio, and inspired two prequels.

Fair Passenger is a 1957 Australian television film which aired on ABC. It was the first one-hour television drama produced in Melbourne, and aired there live on 17 July 1957.

The Twelve Pound Look is a 1956 live television play which aired on Sydney Australia station ABN-2 during the opening night of the station. Based on a British stage play by J.M. Barrie, it is significant as it was the very first drama produced for Australian TV.

The General Motors Hour was an Australian radio and television drama series.

Swamp Creatures is a play by the Australian author Alan Seymour. He wrote it for radio, stage and TV. It was Seymour's first produced play.

Patricia Hooker was an Australian writer who worked extensively in England. She wrote for TV, radio and the stage.

Ned Kelly is a 1942 radio play by Douglas Stewart about the outlaw Ned Kelly. It was later adapted into a stage play which was in turn adapted for television.

Christopher Muir was an Australian director and producer, notable for his work in TV in the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1980s he was head of ABC Television drama.

<i>The House of Mancello</i> 1962 Australian film

The House of Mancello is a 1962 Australian TV drama shot in Melbourne about a new Australian family.

William Sterling was an Australian producer and director. He was born in Sydney, New South Wales.

The Crater is a 1948 Australian radio play by Sumner Locke Elliot that was later adapted for American television.

The Illusionists is a 1955 stage play by Morris West about an advertising agent who longs to paint. It was a verse drama, like his later play The Heretic.

The Bombora is a 1957 Australian radio play by Coral Lansbury that was performed on the ABC. It was very highly regarded. The ABC production was broadcast on the BBC in September 1958. It was one of the first ABC productions for this to happen.

<i>Margaret Catchpole</i> (radio play)

Margaret Catchpole is a 1945 Australian radio drama by Rex Rienits about Margaret Catchpole. It was one of several dramatisations of Australian historical figures by Rienits.

Drive a Hard Bargain is a 1957 Australian play by Oriel Gray.

References

  1. Rees, Leslie (1987). Australian drama, 1970-1985 : a historical and critical survey. Angus & Robertson. p. 381. ISBN   978-0-207-15354-9.
  2. "Q'land housewife writes TV drama". TV Times Qld. 4 February 1960. p. 5.
  3. "Untitled". The Age. 12 April 1962. p. 15.
  4. Tennant, Kylie (19 December 1958). "Talent without experience in play contest". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 2.
  5. "Excellent drama lacked viewers". The Age. 1 April 1960. p. 31.
  6. "All the Radio Programmes", ABC Weekly, Sydney, 19 (43), 23 October 1957, retrieved 11 September 2023 via Trove
  7. "Tuesday June 14", ABC Weekly, Sydney, 19 (24), 15 June 1957, retrieved 11 September 2023 via Trove
  8. 'Place in Australian Plays' Eunice Hanger The Australian Quarterly Vol. 34, No. 2 (Jun., 1962), pp. 67-73 (7 pages)
  9. "Sundry Shows", The Bulletin, Sydney, N.S.W: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 81 (4213), 9 Nov 1960, retrieved 11 September 2023 via Trove
  10. "Tuesday June 3", ABC Weekly, Sydney, 20 (22), 28 May 1958, retrieved 11 September 2023 via Trove
  11. "In evening gown, she bottled peaches". The Australian Women's Weekly . Vol. 29. Australia. 16 May 1962. p. 13. Retrieved 31 January 2017 via National Library of Australia.
  12. "Drama on radio". The Age. 29 April 1965. p. 25.
  13. "ABC-TV finds the road to Asia". The Canberra Times . Vol. 39, no. 11, 021. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 7 December 1964. p. 17. Retrieved 11 September 2023 via National Library of Australia.