Claire Mary Elizabeth Dunne (born 1937), is an Irish-born Australian actress, author, lecturer and broadcaster. Her first name is also found as Clare.

1960s Australian celebrity

Dunne was a popular Australian television and film personality of the 1960s. She starred as "Kay" in the seminal Australian film ''

They're a Weird Mob ''They're a Weird Mob'' is a popular 1957 Australian comic novel written by John O'Grady (writer), John O'Grady under the pen name, pseudonym "Nino Culotta", the name of the main character of the book. The book was the Debut novel, first publishe ...

'' (1966) and was also a regular on ''

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' ( ...

'' with

Maggie Tabberer Margaret May "Maggie" Tabberer (nee Trigar, born 11 December 1936) is an Australian fashion, publishing and media/television personality, who is a dual recipient of the Gold Logie, and who founded her own fashion label and PR companies. She ...

. Her fame within Australia in the 1960s was described by

Thomas Keneally Thomas Michael Keneally, AO (born 7 October 1935) is an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, and actor. He is best known for his non-fiction novel ''Schindler's Ark'', the story of Oskar Schindler's rescue of Jews during the Holocaust, wh ...

: * ''"Clare Dunne, she was a goddess to me. She was this exquisite bone-structured Irish woman who was beloved on the media in Australia."

Multicultural broadcasting pioneer

Dunne went on to pioneer multicultural broadcasting in Australia as a Foundation Director of what went on to become the

Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World ...

, as well as a presenter and a producer or radio and television for SBS. In 1986, then-Prime Minister

Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and union organiser who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (A ...

delivered a "series of blows aimed at multiculturalism", including a decision to close the Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs and proposed legislation that would merge SBS into the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

. Dunne was a vociferous opponent of both changes. She said at the time: ''"I think there is going to be an uproar. There seems to be an undeclared Government change of policy about multiculturalism. Last week it was announced that the Institute of Multicultural Affairs would be closed. Now it is the SBS-ABC merger in spite of the fact that only six months ago the Government decided to let it be independent."'' There was indeed an uproar, eventually leading the Prime Minister to call off the merger. She was awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in 1999 for "service to multiculturalism, particularly through the promotion of Celtic culture, and to ethnic broadcasting".

Author

Dunne has published three books: *''People under the skin: an Irish immigrant's experience of Aboriginal Australia'' (1988) *''

Mary MacKillop Mary Helen MacKillop RSJ (15 January 1842 – 8 August 1909) was an Australian religious sister who has been declared a saint by the Catholic Church, as St Mary of the Cross. Of Scottish descent, she was born in Melbourne but is best known fo ...

: No Plaster Saint'' (1994) *''

Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philo ...

: Wounded Healer of the Soul'' (2000)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunne, Claire 1937 births Living people Australian television actresses Australian film actresses Australian non-fiction writers Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Australian people of Irish descent