Doreen Warburton (22 March 1930 – 19 July 2017) was an Australian actress, director, and theatre co-founder.

Biography

Evelyn Doreen Warburton was born in London on 22 March 1930. At 18 she began her theatre career with the

Theatre Workshop Theatre Workshop is a theatre group whose long-serving director was Joan Littlewood. Many actors of the 1950s and 1960s received their training and first exposure with the company, many of its productions were transferred to theatres in the West E ...

, a company where all performers received equal pay and which toured, not just England but also to Scandinavia and Germany. In 1953 she migrated to Australia to join her family, who had arrived in 1949 and seeking radio work. She made her Australian stage debut in ''

The Shop at Sly Corner ''Code of Scotland Yard'' is a 1947 British crime film directed by George King and starring Oskar Homolka, Muriel Pavlow and Derek Farr. It was originally released as ''The Shop at Sly Corner'', being based on the popular stage play of that t ...

'' at the opening of the Apollo Theatre in Manly and then toured New South Wales in '' Love From a Stranger''. Warburton became a full-time actress in 1959 when she joined the Young Elizabethans and toured Australia for three years bringing Shakespeare's plays to school children. With actors

Ben Gabriel Ben Gabriel (25 February 1918 – 25 April 2012) was an Australian actor, director, voice artist and theatre founder. Gabriel had numerous appearances in stage and radio roles and in film and television. Biography He was born as James Vernon Gab ...

Edward Hepple Edward Hepple (4 June 1914 – 3 September 2005) billed variously as Eddie Hepple and Ted Hepple, was an Australian actor, voice artist, producer, director, playwright and television scriptwriter, known for his roles in theatre, television seri ...

Robert McDarra Robert Bundy McDarra (1931– 23 December 1975) variously credited as Robert McDara and Bob McDara was an Australian stage, television and film actor. He won the 1973 AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his work on the film '' 27A'' ...

Terry McDermott Terence McDermott (born 8 December 1951) is an English former football midfielder who was a member of the Liverpool team of the 1970s and early 1980s, in which he won three European Cups and five First Division titles. He was capped 25 times ...

and Walter Sullivan, she was co-founder of the Q Theatre in 1963. Initially giving lunchtime performances at Circular Quay, the company also visited building sites and factories across Australia to bring theatre to the workers. In 1977 the company moved to a permanent venue in Penrith, opening with the musical '' Lock Up Your Daughters''. As artistic director, Warburton oversaw 81 productions for Q Theatre from 1977 until her retirement in 1989. In 1979 she was the first woman to direct a play at the Sydney Opera House. Warburton was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the

1979 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1979 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate ...

for service to theatre.

Personal

Warburton married fellow actor Ben Gabriel in 1969, who predeceased her in 2012. She died at

West Gosford West Gosford is a suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the local government area. West Gosford is home to the Henry Kendall cottage and was home to the Gosford Classic Car Museum prior to its 2019 ...

on 19 July 2017.

Selected filmography

* ''

They're A Weird Mob ''They're a Weird Mob'' is a popular 1957 Australian comic novel written by John O'Grady under the pseudonym "Nino Culotta", the name of the main character of the book. The book was the first published novel by O'Grady, with an initial print run ...

'', 1966 * ''

Nickel Queen ''Nickel Queen'' is a 1971 Australian comedy film starring Googie Withers and directed by her husband John McCallum. The story was loosely based on the Poseidon bubble, a nickel boom in Western Australia in the late 1960s, and tells of an outback ...

'', 1971 * ''

Archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

'', 1985 * ''

Wendy Cracked a Walnut ''Wendy Cracked a Walnut'' (also known as ''...Almost'') is a 1990 Australian romantic fantasy/comedy film directed by Michael Pattinson and starring Rosanna Arquette and Bruce Spence. Plot Wendy is unhappy with her life and with her preoccupied ...

'', 1990 * ''

Ned Kelly Edward Kelly (December 1854 – 11 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout wi ...

'', 1970

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Warburton, Doreen 1930 births 2017 deaths Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire Australian theatre directors 20th-century Australian actresses