Barbara Mary Vernon (25 July 1916 – 16 April 1978) was an Australian playwright, screenwriter, editor and radio announcer. Her plays included ''

The Passionate Pianist ''The Passionate Pianist'' is an Australian television film, or rather a live one-off television play, which aired in 1957 on ABC. This was part of ABC's twice monthly presentations of live plays during the late-1950s (one live play each month i ...

'' and ''

The Multi-Coloured Umbrella ''The Multi-Coloured Umbrella'' is an Australian play written by Barbara Vernon. Plot The play is set at a house in Bondi Beach belonging to the Donnellys, an upwardly mobile family who are bookmakers at Randwick Racecourse. The younger son, Jo ...

''. She was the head writer and script editor of the ABC TV drama series '' Bellbird'', the longest such series produced by the ABC, she also wrote the film adaptation of that series entitled ''

Country Town A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while th ...

''Jane Connors, 'Vernon, Barbara Mary (1916–1978)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/vernon-barbara-mary-11922/text21359, published first in hardcopy 2002, accessed online 5 June 2016.

Biography

Vernon was born on 25 July 1916,

Inverell, New South Wales Inverell is a large town in northern New South Wales, Australia, situated on the Macintyre River, close to the Queensland border. It is also the centre of Inverell Shire. Inverell is located on the Gwydir Highway on the western slopes of the ...

the youngest child of four to medical practitioner Murray Menzies Vernon and Constance Emma Elliot (née Barling). She attended the New England School in

Armidale, New South Wales Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. It ...

, before entering the

Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) was formed in March 1941 after considerable lobbying by women keen to serve, as well as by the Chief of the Air Staff, who wanted to release male personnel serving in Australia for service ov ...

in 1943, rising to rank of

Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...

, before being discharged in 1946. She joined radio the Northern Broadcasters radio station radio 2NZ. Vernon started to write plays because she was involved with amateur drama and they could not afford to pay for the copyright of plays. Her first play was "Naked Possum" in 1956, staged by Dame Doris Fitton, her second professionally performed play was the award-winning "The Multi-Coloured Umbrella" and this was the first Australian play broadcast by Australian television. She retired in 1976 and died from a cardio in

Darlinghurst, New South Wales Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Sydn ...

on 16 April 1978 at St Vincents Hospital aged 61

Select Works

*''

'' (1957) – adapted for TV. *''

'' (1958) – adapted for TV in 1958 *'' Bellbird'' (1967) – head writer, script editor *''The Sleeping Planet'' (1968) – play *'' Pastures of the Blue Crane'' (1969) (TV series) – script editor *''

Lane End (TV series) ''Lane End'' is a 1972 Australian TV series. It is a follow up to '' Bellbird'', made by many of the same creative team. It is set in Paddington, New South Wales and told the continuing story of a group of characters who worked and lived there. ...

'' (1972) – head writer, script editor *'' Certain Women''- contribution's as editor (unknown episodes)

References

External links

* *
Biography
at Australian Dictionary of Biography
Complete TV script ''Fireflies''
at National Archives of Australia
Complete script ''King Tide Running''
at National Archives of Australia Australian dramatists and playwrights 1916 births 1978 deaths Australian Anglicans Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II 20th-century Australian women Royal Australian Air Force airmen Women in the Australian military Women in World War II Military personnel from New South Wales {{Australia-writer-stub