Elaine Joyce Knoesen (23 February 1939 – 17 September 2014) 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
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
for her role of fashion designer Vera Collins in the 1970s television
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
''
Number 96
96 (ninety-six) is the natural number following 95 and preceding 97. It is a number that appears the same when turned upside down.
In mathematics
96 is:
* an octagonal number.
* a refactorable number.
* an untouchable number.
* a semiperfe ...
''.
Career
Lee was born in 1939 in
Springs, Transvaal Province (present-day
Gauteng
Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'.
Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...
), and grew up on a
gold mine Gold Mine may refer to:
*Gold Mine (board game)
*Gold Mine (Long Beach), an arena
*"Gold Mine", a song by Joyner Lucas from the 2020 album '' ADHD''
See also
* ''Gold'' (1974 film), based on the novel ''Gold Mine'' by Wilbur Smith
*Gold mining
...
until her father, an electrician, died when she was nine. She was brought up by her mother and had a sister Barbara. A former waitress, her acting career began in the 1960s in Johannesburg where she became a stage manager for a theatrical company and acted extensively in the theatre and on radio, starring in productions throughout her native South Africa, as well as Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Lee emigrated to Australia where she became well known Vera Collins in ''Number 96'', starting in 1972.
Lee was known as a sex symbol through the role of Vera, a perpetually unlucky-in-love fashionista and clairvoyant. Lee was an original cast member of the series and a key figure in many of the show's major storylines. Vera was raped three times, including by her onscreen husband Harry Collins (
Norman Yemm
Norman Yemm (23 March 1933 – 3 February 2015) was an Australian actor, opera singer and sportsman.
Screen career (Film and TV)
Yemm's film roles include ''Night of Fear'' and ''The Fourth Wish''
On the small screen he may be best remembe ...
). Lee remained in the role of Vera for four and a half years, finally leaving in mid-1976. She appeared in the 1974 feature film version of ''Number 96'' in which she was raped by a group of bikers in the opening scene. Producer
David Sale said that ''Number 96'' was always going to be controversial and shocking, so we thought "start the film version with a rape sequence and get it over with".
A planned comedy spinoff from Number 96, called ''Fair Game'' and featuring Lee with
Lynette Curran
Lynette Curran is an Australian actress known for many roles in Australian television series and films, including the soap opera '' Bellbird'', and the films ''Country Town'' (1971) and ''Bliss'' (1985).
Theatre
She started acting in the th ...
and
Abigail
Abigail () was an Israelite woman in the Hebrew Bible married to Nabal; she married the future King David after Nabal's death ( 1 Samuel ). Abigail was David's second wife, after Saul and Ahinoam's daughter, Michal, whom Saul later married ...
, did not eventuate. Its pilot was divided up to create segments of three episodes of Number 96 (Episodes 1079-1081, airing in Sydney, November 1976).
Soon after leaving ''Number 96'' Lee was cast as headmistress Margaret Gibson in ''
Glenview High
''Glenview High'' is an Australian television drama series produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation for the Seven Network between 1977 and 1978.
Story
English teacher Greg Walker (Grigor Taylor) transfers from the country to Glenview High, a to ...
'', which ran between 1977-78. She then appeared in several productions of 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 ...
, in TV movies and panel shows, and made guest appearances in drama series such as ''
A Country Practice
''A Country Practice'' is an Australian television soap opera which broadcast on the Seven Network from 18 November 1981 until 5 November 1993, airing at 7:30 pm on Monday and Tuesday evenings. Altogether, 14 seasons and 1,058 episodes were p ...
''. She also continued her stage work, including the challenging one-woman show ''Turn on the Heat'', loosely based on the last two hours of
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
's life.
[Atterton, Margot (ed.) ''The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Australian Showbiz'', Sunshine Books, 1984; , p 230]
Lee made sporadic appearances in Australian feature films during the 1990s. In 1997, she played a regular role in the critically panned ''
Kingswood Country
''Kingswood Country'' is an Australian sitcom that screened from 1980 to 1984 on the Seven Network. The series started on 30 January 1980 and was a spin-off from the sketch on comedy program ''The Naked Vicar Show'' that had featured Ross Hig ...
'' spin-off situation comedy ''
Bullpitt!
''Bullpitt!'' was a short-lived Australian television comedy series which screened in 1997 to 1998 on the Seven Network, reprising the main character in the 1980s sitcom ''Kingswood Country''. It was written by Gary Reilly and Tony Sattler.
' ...
'', and she had a recurring role in ''
Heartbreak High
''Heartbreak High'' is an Australian television program created by Michael Jenkins and Ben Gannon that ran from 1994 to 1996 on Network Ten and 1997 to 1999 on the ABC, for seven series. It was also partially funded from 1996 by BBC2, with so ...
''.
In the 2000s Lee continued to make occasional appearances in Australian films and drama series, and she opened an acting school in Sydney with
Judi Farr
Judi Farr (born c.1938/1939), also credited as Judy Farr, is an Australian former actress of theatre, film and television best known for several situation comedy roles on Australian television. Farr has also appeared in Australian films such ...
. In 2001 she appeared in the medical drama ''
All Saints'' and in 2005 acted in soap opera ''
Home and Away
''Home and Away'' (often abbreviated as ''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip ...
''. Lee also presented a commentary on the 2006 DVD release of ''Number 96''
Personal life
Lee married South African-born Australian actor and comedian
Garth Meade
Garth Meade (born 1925, Johannesburg, South Africa, died 2002 Sydney) was a South African and later Australian actor and comedian, best known for his roles on television series and mini-series. He also worked numerously in cabaret and the clu ...
, with whom she had emigrated to Australia, in 1970. The marriage ended in divorce in 1976. Meade died of cancer in 2002, aged 77. A spiritual woman, Lee took up
tarot card reading
Tarot card reading is a form of cartomancy whereby practitioners use tarot cards to purportedly gain insight into the past, present or future. They formulate a question, then draw cards to interpret them for this end. A traditional tarot deck con ...
like her ''Number 96'' character, and had a strong belief in
reincarnation
Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is a ...
and the
occult
The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...
. Lee was a heavy smoker and suffered from related health issues including
emphysema
Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...
and subsequently had to use an
oxygen tank
An oxygen tank is an oxygen storage vessel, which is either held under pressure in gas cylinders, or as liquid oxygen in a cryogenic storage tank.
Uses
Oxygen tanks are used to store gas for:
* medical breathing at medical facilities and at home ...
. In her later years she fractured her hip, she died, aged 75, on 17 September 2014 in
Sydney, New South Wales
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountains ...
, Australia.
Elaine Lee at the time of Number 96, was a neighbour of actresses
Gwen Plumb
Gwendoline Jean Plumb AM BEM (2 August 1912 – 5 June 2002), was an Australian performer of international appeal, actress and comedian active in literally every form of the art genre, (except circus) including revue, pantomime, vaudeville, in ...
and her partner, actress
Thelma Scott
Thelma Marjorie Scott (17 June 1913 – 23 November 2006) 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 st ...
[Giles, NIGEL "Number 96: Australia's Most Infamous Address"]
Filmography
FILM
TELEVISION
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Elaine
1939 births
2014 deaths
Australian stage actresses
Australian television actresses
South African expatriates in Australia