Philippa Baker, credited also as Phillippa Baker (born 1932)[3][1])note: not related to Australian actress Lesley Baker). is an Australian retired actress of radio, theatre and television in series and teleplays and telefilms (although appeared in a couple of features)
Baker started her career in theatre and in the early 1950s, before spending five years appearing in the Gwen Meredith radio series Blue Hills, moving to the new medium of television she featured in televised plays, before taking several cameos in a few TV soap operas, primarily for Crawford Productions,
However, she is best known for in the soap opera Number 96, in the 1970s as a comedy duo with Johnny Lockwood, as Russian deli worker Roma Lubinski, she later marries his character Aldo, but due to the series falling ratings, both characters were subsequently killed off in a bomb blast storyline. Baker and Lockwood also featured in the film version in 1974.
Baker post-96 had several small role's in telmovies and miniseries, but did however appear in the Yahoo Serious film Young Einstein in 1988, in a cameo as Freud's mum. She left the acting industry the following year in 1989, after more than 35 years of performing, returning to her regular day work as a librarian until officially retiring.[1][2]
Baker however became best known for playing Roma in top-rated soap opera Number 96. She joined as Russian emigrant Roma Lubinski early in the show's run in 1972, becoming a comedy double-act with Johnny Lockwood, who played her character's soon-to-be husband Aldo, the deli proprietor. They reprised their roles in the 1974 feature film version of Number 96. They were written out of the serial in late 1974 with all the attached publicity, but returned several weeks later: it was always planned as a temporary absence and the media stories a publicity stunt.
By August 1975 the program's ratings had entered a slump and a drastic revamp of the show was planned. The writers decided to write out several high-profile characters, so in early September 1975 the show's famous bomb blast killed four residents including Roma and Aldo. In 1976 Baker and co-star Lockwood appeared in ...And They Said It Wouldn't Last, a retrospective celebrating the 1000th episode of Number 96.
In 1977, she appeared in the guest role of Mrs. Jamieson (Dennis Jameison's mother) in the soap opera The Young Doctors.
Through the 1980s Baker made various appearances in theatre, television and film. She had small roles in the films Annie's Coming Out (1984) and Young Einstein (1988).
Number 96 is an Australian primetime soap opera that aired on 0-10 Network from 13 March 1972 to 11 August 1977, originally broadcast in the primetime slot of 8:30 pm for 5 x half-hour episodes every weeknight, then later 2 x one hour episodes screened per week.
Patricia Ethell McDonald was an Australian radio actor and actor of stage and television and the daughter of one of Australia's most prominent electric radio engineers and public servants, Arthur Stephen McDonald and his wife, milliner Edith Roseina Ethell. Her grandfather, bootmaker John McDonald, was born in Victoria, and married Eliza Mary Stevenson. Although she was not the first female Gold Logie winner in Australia, which was entertainer and TV host Lorrae Desmond, she was the first female character actor to win for serial Number 96.
Bettina Catherine Welch 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.
Abigail Rogan is an English-born retired actress particularly of television soap operas and film and was also briefly a vocalist.
Rowena Wallace is an English-born Australian stage and screen actress, most especially in the genre of television soap opera. She is best known for her Gold Logie-winning role as conniving Patricia "Pat the Rat" Hamilton/Morrell/Palmer in Sons and Daughters, being the first soap star to win the Gold Logie. After leaving the series and being replaced in the role by Belinda Giblin, Wallace returned in the final season as Patricia's sister Pamela Hudson.
Anne-Louise Lambert, also credited as Anne Lambert, is an Australian actress. She is best known for her role as Miranda in the 1975 film Picnic at Hanging Rock.
Sheila Kennelly, also credited as Sheila Kenneally, is a British-born Australian retired character actress of theatre and music hall, television and film, with a career spanning over 50 years. From the late 1950s onwards, her early career was based exclusively in theatre and she didn't start her screen career until the late 1960s becoming well known for her roles in TV soap operas, serials, sitcoms and mini-series.
Joseph Fürst was an Austrian-born international film and television actor known for his English language roles in Britain and Australia, after first appearing on the Canadian stage.
Elaine Joyce Knoesen better known professionally as Elaine Lee, was a South African-born actress of radio and theatre and stage. She made her film debut in her native South Africa in 1968, but became best known in Australia for her role of fashion designer Vera Collins in the 1970s television soap opera Number 96.
John Sidney Lockwood was a British variety entertainer, comedian and actor, who also became notable in Australia after emigrating to that country.
Wendy Blacklock AM is an Australian-born retired theatre actress and theatrical entrepreneur, radio and television actress, comedienne, producer, writer, singer, dancer and choreographer who has appeared in numerous performance roles, both locally and in the United Kingdom, and has been referred to as "The Grand Dame of the Stage".
Candida Raymond is an Australian actress of film and television during the 1970s and early 1980s.
Judith Kuring known Jude Kuring is an Australian actress who appeared in theatre, film and television during the late 1970s and early 80s. She remains best known for her stint as the recurring character of petty criminal Noeline Bourke in the soap opera Prisoner in 1979 until 1980.
Dina Mann, also credited as Diana Mann, is an Australian actress and casting director recognised for several television soap opera and film roles from 1970 until 1985, after which she worked as a casting director until 2014. She is probably best known for her role as Debbie Chester in the latter years of TV serial Number 96 in which she featured from 1975 until 1977, in 137 episodes.
Vivienne Garrett is an Australian-based theatre, film and television actress. She is a theatre director, acting and voice coach and also a qualified yoga instructor and therapist. She was born in Sydney, NSW and now lives in Western Australia. Garrett graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in 1970.
Lynn Carol Rainbow-Reid credited also as Lynne Rainbow, is an Australian-based former theatre and television actor and voice artist, who was educated at Ascham School, The Sorbonne and Dante Alighieri in Italy. Lynn was the daughter of Judge Alfred Rainbow and the granddaughter of Sir Benjamin Fuller a theatrical entrepreneur. During the 1970s she was married to actor Tom Oliver.
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. Having started her career in the early 1930s in theatre and film productions, she became one of the nation's biggest radio performers, during the 1940s featuring in productions such as Big Sister and Blue Hills. She returned to make TV films in the early late 1950s and then became a star on television after it was launched in Australia. She became best known for roles in soap operas including Number 96 as Claire Houghton and Mrs. Jennings in Richmond Hill.
Deborah Kennedy is an Australian character actress recognised for several television and film roles, especially for her appearance in the famous Australian Yellow Pages advertisement with the line "Not happy, Jan!".
Chantal Contouri is a Greek Australian television and film actress and former dancer, best known for her role in the 1970s soap opera Number 96, as nurse Tracy Wilson, later revealed to be the serial killer known as the infamous "pantyhose strangler".
Number 96: The Movie is an Australian drama film, released in 1974 and based on the television soap opera of the same title that was then running on the 0-10 network. The film features nearly all the show's regular cast, and was created by the show's creative team, Cash Harmon Productions with the screenplay by David Sale and Johnny Whyte and directed by Peter Benardos and Brian Phillis.
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