Julie Forsyth

Last updated

Julie Forsyth
Born
OccupationActress
Years active1984–present

Julie Forsyth is an Australian actress best known for her stage performances, and Lotis, the talking lift from Lift Off .

Contents

Early life

In 1976, Forsyth left home to attend Monash University in Melbourne. She enrolled to do a BA with the intention of going on to study education and become a teacher of French and English. After watching student plays however, she auditioned and was cast in Brecht’s A Man’s a Man.

Forsyth started going to see shows at the Pram Factory, and after auditioning, was cast in the one-woman show A Banquet of Vipers. When the Pram Factory closed its doors a year later, she became a member of the Australian Nouveau Theatre in 1981, and decided not to continue her university studies. [1]

Career

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Forsythe worked closely with director Jean Pierre Mignon at the Anthill theatre company in Melbourne. Her solo performance as a schoolboy in Kids' Stuff for Anthill, (first performed in 1984), toured Australia and festivals in Europe and Singapore. [2]

Her more recent work at Belvoir, Melbourne Theatre Company, Malthouse Theatre and other major Australian theatre companies has included roles in Patrick White’s The Ham Funeral and Night on Bald Mountain , Eugène Ionesco’s Exit the King , the stage adaptation of Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet , and Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days and Endgame . [3]

Forsyth has also appeared in many tv series and films. In 2010, she appeared in Dead Gorgeous in the main role as Haiwyn Sinclaire (a.k.a. Miss Sinclair). In 2013 she appeared in an episode of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (S2:E2), "Death Comes Knocking". More recently she appeared in the miniseries Joe vs Carole , based on Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin from the hit documentary Tiger King .

She co-starred alongside Paul Chubb in Stan and George's New Life as George (1992). More recently, she appeared in Academy Award-winning film The Power of the Dog (2021).

She has received multiple awards, including the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award and Helpmann Awards as both leading and supporting female actor in a play.

Acting credits

Film

YearTitleRoleType
1984 Strikebound Women’s AuxilaryFeature film
1987 Feathers Olila
1988Pleasure DomesVoiceover
1990Catch of the DayJaneAnimated short film
1990AyaMandyFeature film
1992 Stan and George's New Life George
1994 Babe Sheep (voice)
1994TrappedLeadShort film
1995 What I Have Written DoctorFeature film
1996Caleopy's LorikeetLaurie
1996 The Sound of One Hand Clapping Mrs Heaney
1998EdithvaleEdith
2003 Harvie Krumpet Lilliana Krumpetzki / Baby Harvie / Church singerAnimated short film
2004 Tom White TaniaFeature film
2006 Three Dollars Tailor.
2007 Romulus, My Father Nurse
2009PiñataFuneral Director.Short film
2009 Mary and Max Additional voicesAnimated feature film
2010SeamstressEnidFeature film
2012 Kath & Kimderella Queen Christina
2015 Holding the Man Aunty Gae
2021 The Power of the Dog Mrs Mueller
2023FoeJunior’s Mum

Television

YearTitleRoleType
1990 One Summer Again Annie McCubbinTV miniseries
1990WaterfrontMiss Hipple
1991–94 Lift Off Lotis (voice)TV series
1994 The Damnation of Harvey McHugh YvonneTV miniseries
1995Gettin' OnPrueTV series
1995–96 Mercury Tess MacDonald
1996HospitalNarratorDocumentary
1997Li'l MonstersMorbidda
1998Small Tales & TrueSara Donovan
2000 Eugénie Sandler P.I. Desk OfficerTV series
2002Fat Cow MotelPenny
2003 Kath & Kim SheilaTV series, season 2
2003 MDA Karen ReesTV series
2004The Brush OffBernice KaufmanTV movie
2007 Real Stories JaniceTV series
2010 Dead Gorgeous Haiwyn Sinclaire
2012 Winners & Losers Mrs Judy Faine
2013 Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries Mrs BolkonskyTV series, season 2, episode 2: "Death Comes Knocking"
2014 Wentworth Lorraine EvelynTV series, season 2
2021 Joe vs. Carole Anne McQueenTV miniseries

Theatre

YearTitleRoleType
1980Banquet of Vipers Pram Factory, Melbourne, Parks Community Centre for Adelaide Festival
1981Quick Death to InfinityThe Woman La Mama, Melbourne, Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart, Anthill Theatre, Melbourne
1981Pour en Finir avec le Jugement de Dieu (aka To Have Done with the Judgment of God) Anthill Theatre, Melbourne
1981 Exiles Mrs Gower Anthill Theatre, Melbourne
1982RuinsThe Old Woman Anthill Theatre, Melbourne
1982 The Hamletmachine MC Anthill Theatre, Melbourne
1982The White DoorSolo performance Anthill Theatre, Melbourne
1982 The Condemned of Altona Leni Anthill Theatre, Melbourne
1982The Stranger in the HouseThe Mother Anthill Theatre, Melbourne
1983 Tartuffe Dorine Anthill Theatre, Melbourne, Universal Theatre, Melbourne
1983Slow Love Anthill Theatre, Melbourne
1983Tengul Anthill Theatre, Melbourne
1983 Summer of the Seventeenth Doll Anthill Theatre, Melbourne
1984 Don Juan Charlotte Playhouse, Adelaide with STCSA, St. Vincent de Paul's Girls' Orphanage, Melbourne
1984 Romeo and Juliet Playhouse, Adelaide with STCSA
1984 The Time Is Not Yet Ripe Lady Pillsbury Playhouse, Adelaide with STCSA
1984; 1985; 1987; 1988; 1989Kids' StuffSchoolboy Anthill Theatre, Melbourne, Brown's Mart Theatre, Darwin, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide Festival, Donmar Warehouse, London, Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, Singapore Festival, Aarhus Denmark & Tasmania
1985 The Misanthrope Celimene Anthill Theatre, Wharf Theatre with STC
1985 Macbeth Lasy MacbethWarehouse, South Melbourne with Australian Nouveau Theatre
1987 The Cherry Orchard Madame Ranevskaya Anthill Theatre
1987 Uncle Vanya Sonia Anthill Theatre
1987The Thief / The Drought Anthill Theatre
1987An Ordinary Dream about a Journey North Anthill Theatre
1987 Three Sisters Olga Anthill Theatre
1988 Summer of the Seventeenth Doll Olive Melbourne Athenaeum, SLF Auditorium / Singapore Festival of the Arts
1989–90 The Imaginary Invalid ToinetteNew Fortune Theatre for Perth Festival, Anthill Theatre, Universal Theatre, Melbourne, Armoury Lawns, Adelaide
1989 Joan of Arc at the Stake Melbourne Concert Hall
1989 Happy Days Winnie Anthill Theatre
1990–91The Wooden ChildVoiceover artistCastlemaine Library Hall, Melbourne, Universal Theatre, Melbourne, Sydney Opera House
1990 Peer Gynt Universal Theatre
1991In the Cold Cold Morning LightBebe Anthill Theatre
1991 Endgame Anthill Theatre for Melbourne International Comedy Festival
1991 The Marriage of Figaro Suzanne Playhouse, Melbourne with MTC
1992The Crimson IslandMetelkin / Passepartout / ParrotRoyalty Theatre, Adelaide with Anthill Theatre for Adelaide Festival
1992The Chairs Anthill Theatre
1992 Life is a Dream Gasworks Theatre for Melbourne International Arts Festival
1992 The School for Wives Georgette Gasworks Theatre
1993The Stranger in the HouseThe Mother Anthill Theatre
1993 Mother Courage and her Children Mother Courage Gasworks Theatre
1993The Force of Habit Gasworks Theatre
1993Kids' StuffVictorian regional tour & Gasworks Theatre, Melbourne
1995 The Ham Funeral Mrs LustyBudinskis Theatre of Exile, Melbourne
1995Shorts Programme 1: Ned / The Flying Doctor / The Bear / Out at Sea Fairfax Studio with MTC
1995Shorts Programme 2: This Property is Condemned / Love / Family Running For Mr Whippy / Like Whiskey on the Breath of a Drunk You Love Fairfax Studio with MTC
1995–96Daze of Our LivesHousewife Fairfax Studio, Glen Street Theatre, Space Theatre, Adelaide with Handspan Theatre
1996 A Cheery Soul Mrs Watmuff / Little Girl #2 Playhouse, Melbourne with MTC
1997 The Comedy of Errors Courtesan Playhouse, Melbourne with MTC
1997 After Magritte and The Real Inspector Hound Mother / Felicity Playhouse, Melbourne with MTC
1997Mr SeptemberOld Courthouse Building, Geelong with Back to Back Theatre Company
1998 The Caucasian Chalk Circle Grusha Belvoir Street Theatre
1998-99 Cloudstreet Red Lamb / various rolesBerth 9, Darling Harbour, Sydney with Company B Belvoir for Sydney Festival, Playhouse, Adelaide with STCSA, Malthouse Theatre, Black Swan Theatre Company for Perth Festival, Zurich, London, Dublin
2000 The Chairs Old Woman Fairfax Studio with MTC
2000 The Ham Funeral The Landlady Belvoir Street Theatre
2000The Small PoppiesMrs WalshThe Butter Factory Theatre, Playhouse, Melbourne for Melbourne International Arts Festival, Belvoir Street Theatre for Sydney Festival, Dublin Festival
2001Man the BalloonMayor Flummery / Dr Hindenburg Fairfax Studio with MTC
2001 The Tempest Trinculo Playhouse, Melbourne with MTC for

Melbourne International Arts Festival

2001 The Old Masters Dorotea Fromm Wharf Theatre with STC
2002 Great Expectations Mrs Jo / Miss Skiffins / various roles Playhouse, Melbourne with MTC, Sydney Opera House]] with STC
2003 The Visit Ottolie Schill / Frau Siementhofer Playhouse, Melbourne with MTC
2003 Babes in the Wood Boingle Malthouse Theatre with Playbox, Melbourne
2004 The Miser Froisine Sydney Opera House with STC
2005 A Journal of the Plague Year Worgret Malthouse Theatre
2005 The Ham Funeral Landlady Malthouse Theatre
2005 The Metamorphosis Mrs Samsa Wharf Theatre, Malthouse Theatre with STC
2006; 2008 Babes in the Wood Boingle Malthouse Theatre, Sydney Opera House
2007 Exit the King Juliette Malthouse Theatre, Belvoir Street Theatre
2007 The Madwoman of Chaillot Mademoiselle Gabrielle Playhouse, Melbourne with MTC
2007 Dimboola Florence Delaney Malthouse Theatre (Rehearsed Reading)
2008Moving TargetEnsembleOdeon Theatre, Norwood, Malthouse Theatre with Adelaide Festival
2009 Happy Days Winnie Malthouse Theatre, Belvoir Street Theatre
2010 Elizabeth: Almost by Chance a Woman Elizabeth Malthouse Theatre
2009; 2012–13 The Book of Everything Mrs Van Amersfoort Belvoir Street Theatre, Seymour Centre, New Victory Theater, New York with MTC
2011Return to EarthWendy Waster Fairfax Studio, Melbourne with MTC
2013 Phèdre Oenone Malthouse Theatre, Sydney Opera House with Bell Shakespeare
2013 Romeo and Juliet Nurse Sydney Opera House with STC
2014 Private Lives Louise Southbank Theatre with MTC
2014 Night on Bald Mountain Miss Quodling Malthouse Theatre
2014The DreamPuck Playhouse, Canberra, Playhouse, Melbourne, Illawarra Performing Arts Centre with Bell Shakespeare
2015The Unknown Man on Somerton BeachVCA Art Courtyard with MTC
2015 Endgame Nell Southbank Theatre with MTC
2015Frogs Cry Wolf MTC
2016‘O’ The PlayAll Roles Big hART
2015–17The Popular MechanicalsRobin Starveling Space Theatre, Adelaide & SA regional tour with STCSA, Wharf Theatre with STC, Canberra Theatre Centre
2017The Real and Imagined History of the Elephant ManEnsemble Malthouse Theatre
2018 The House of Bernarda Alba Penelope Arts Centre Melbourne with MTC
2018 Accidental Death of an Anarchist Inspector Bertozzo Sydney Opera House with STC
2018BottomlessJudith / various drunks Fortyfivedownstairs
2019 Escaped Alone Mrs Jarrett Red Stitch Actors Theatre
2020Do Not Go Gentle... Malthouse Theatre
2024 The President Mrs FrolickThe Gate Theatre with STC

[4] [5]

Awards and nominations

YearNominated workAwardCategoryResult
1993Kids’ Stuff Green Room Awards Best ActressWon
1999 Cloudstreet Green Room Awards Best Ensemble Playing by a Cast of ActorsWon
2000The Chairs Green Room Awards Female Actor in a Lead RoleNominated
2001 The Tempest Green Room Awards Best Female Actor in a Supporting RoleNominated
2003 Great Expectations Helpmann Awards Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a PlayNominated
2005 The Ham Funeral Helpmann Awards Best Female Actor in a PlayNominated
2007 Exit the King Sydney Theatre Awards Best Actress in a Supporting RoleNominated
2008Moving Target Green Room Awards Best Ensemble Playing by a Cast of ActorsWon
2008 Exit the King Helpmann Awards Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a PlayWon
2009Julie Forsyth Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards Individual AwardWon
2009 Happy Days Sydney Theatre Awards Best Actress in a Lead RoleNominated
2009 Happy Days Green Room Awards Best Female Performer Lead RoleNominated
2010 Happy Days Helpmann Awards Best Female Actor in a PlayWon
2013 The Book of Everything Green Room Awards Best Ensemble Playing by a Cast of ActorsWon
2013 The Book of Everything Green Room Awards Best Female ActorNominated
2015 Endgame Green Room Awards Best Female Actor for EndgameNominated
2015 Endgame Helpmann Awards Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a PlayNominated
2015 Night On Bald Mountain Helpmann Awards Best Female Actor in a PlayNominated

[6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miranda Otto</span> Australian actress

Miranda Otto is an Australian actress. She is the daughter of actors Barry and Lindsay Otto and the paternal half-sister of actress Gracie Otto. Otto began her acting career in 1986 at age 18 and appeared in a variety of independent and major studio films in Australia. She made her major film debut in Emma's War in 1987 in which she played a teenager who moves to Australia's bush country during World War II.

Lisa Irene Chappell is a New Zealand actress and musician. She is known for her roles as Chelsea Redfern in Gloss (1987–1990), and as Claire McLeod in McLeod's Daughters (2001–2003), a performance which earned her two Logie Awards, for Most Popular New Female Talent and Most Popular Actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tammy MacIntosh</span> Australian actress

Tammy MacIntosh is an Australian actress known for portraying Dr. Charlotte Beaumont in the medical drama All Saints and Jool in the TV series Farscape. She is also known for her roles on television series The Flying Doctors, Police Rescue, Sea Patrol, the television film McLeod's Daughters which led to the acclaimed drama series of the same title, and played the role of Kaz Proctor in the prison drama series Wentworth, until her departure in June 2019.

Alan John Hopgood AM, also known as Alan Hopwood, was an Australian actor, producer, and writer. He wrote the screenplay for the 1972 film Alvin Purple and made appearances in television shows such as Bellbird, Prisoner and Neighbours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marina Prior</span> Australian soprano and actress

Marina Prior is an Australian soprano and actress with a career mainly in musical theatre. From 1990 to 1993, she starred as the original Christine Daaé in the Australian premiere of The Phantom of the Opera, opposite Anthony Warlow and later Rob Guest.

Lindy Davies is an Australian actress, director, actor trainer and performance consultant. She played Ruth Ballinger in the Australian soap opera Prisoner in 1985, and won the AFI (AACTA) Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1986 film Malcolm. She went on to be the head of drama at the Victorian College of the Arts for over 11 years until 2007, and worked as a performance consultant on films including Afterglow (1997) and Away From Her (2006) with Julie Christie.

Rosalind Hammond, often credited as Ros or Roz, is an Australian actress and writer who has worked for more than 20 years with an extensive career in theatre, film and television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nadine Garner</span> Australian actor (born 1970)

Nadine Lynette Garner is an Australian actor who started her career as a teen performer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pamela Rabe</span> Canadian-born Australian actress

Pamela Rabe is a Canadian–Australian actress and theatre director. A graduate of the Playhouse Acting School in Vancouver, Rabe is best known for her appearances in the Australian films Sirens, Cosi and Paradise Road, and for starring as Joan Ferguson in the television drama series Wentworth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robyn Nevin</span> Australian actress

Robyn Anne Nevin is an Australian actress, director, and stage producer, recognised with the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards and the JC Williamson Award at the Helpmann Awards for her outstanding contributions to Australian theatre performance art. Former head of both the Queensland Theatre Company and the Sydney Theatre Company, she has directed more than 30 productions and acted in more than 80 plays, collaborating with internationally renowned artists, including Richard Wherrett, Simon Phillips, Geoffrey Rush, Julie Andrews, Aubrey Mellor, Jennifer Flowers, Cate Blanchett and Lee Lewis.

Julie Eckersley is an Australian actress, comedian, writer, producer and head of Scripted at SBS Australia.

Jan Cornall is an Australian singer, comedian and writer. Known for her contributions to queer music through the group Baba Yaga during the 1970s and the hit musical Failing in Love Again (1979), Jan Cornall was a leader in the women's comedy and cabaret resurgence of the early 1980s. She has contributed to Australian community theatre, addressing issues facing regional and rural women, and had a long involvement in forging cross cultural links with Indonesian and Australian writers and artists.

Gerald William Connolly is an Australian comedian, actor, impressionist and pianist. He is best known for his satirical caricatures of public figures such as Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Neville Wran, Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke, Paul Keating, John Howard, Bill Collins and Dame Joan Sutherland, amongst many others.

Naomi Price is an Australian stage actress and singer, best known for appearing in the fourth season of the Australian version of The Voice, finishing in fifth place, and her roles in original cabarets Rumour Has It: Sixty Minutes Inside Adele and Wrecking Ball

Tania Karen de Jong is an Australian soprano, social entrepreneur, businesswoman, motivational speaker, and event producer. She is the Founder of Creative Innovation Global, Creative Universe, Creativity Australia, Dimension5, Music Theatre Australia, Pot-Pourri, and The Song Room, and co-founder of Mind Medicine Australia. De Jong was named as one of the "100 Most Influential People in Psychedelics" globally by Psychedelic Invest in 2021.

Jemma Rix is an Australian theatre performer, who has played the role of Elphaba in the Melbourne, Sydney, Australian and Asian touring companies of Wicked. Rix first performed the role in the shortened 30-minute version of the show at Universal Studios Japan. She was an original cast member of the Australian premiere production as the standby for Elphaba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zahra Newman</span> Australian actress

Zahra Newman is an Australian actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elise McCann</span>

Elise McCann is an Australian actress and musical theatre performer most well known for originating the role of Miss Honey in the Australian production of Matilda the Musical and as Lucille Ball in Everybody Loves Lucy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgina Naidu</span>

Georgina Naidu is an Australian actress, stage writer and university lecturer. From Melbourne, she began acting from an early age and completed her professional training with the Victorian College of the Arts in 1994. She began her film career taking small roles, such as Mary in the 1998 film Dead Letter Office. Her television career has also been formed of many guest roles in Australian drama series. Her role as Phrani Gupta in the 1998 Australian Broadcasting Corporation drama SeaChange heightened her profile. The actress continued to play numerous roles in film and television over the two decades that followed. She also studied law and became a university lecturer.

Australian Nouveau Theatre, also known as the Anthill Theatre, was a Melbourne-based theatre company under the direction of Jean-Pierre Mignon. Operating from 1980 to 1994, it concentred on classic European drama, often in experimental productions.

References

  1. https://rest.neptune-prod.its.unimelb.edu.au/server/api/core/bitstreams/49be8832-ff1c-5448-8353-9cf1b78b34dd/content
  2. "ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 'Kids Stuff attains cult status". The Canberra Times . Vol. 69, no. 21, 644. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 20 July 1994. p. 26. Retrieved 13 May 2019 via National Library of Australia.
  3. Blundel, Graeme (13 March 2010). "Julie Forsyth, miracle worker". The Australian . Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  4. https://ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/2873
  5. https://creativerep.com.au/artists/julie-forsyth/
  6. https://creativerep.com.au/artists/julie-forsyth/