Elizabeth Alexander (sometimes credited as Liz Alexander; born 21 August 1952) is an Australian actress, director and teacher.

Personal life

Alexander was born in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, but now lives in Sydney. She attended

All Hallows' School , motto_translation = God and Duty , city = Brisbane , state = Queensland , postcode = 4000 , country = Australia , coordinates = , type ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. She was married to actor

George Spartels George Bernard Spartels (born 25 April 1954) is an Australian actor, presenter, director, playwright and children's musician of Greek descent on his father's ancestry, and English and Irish on his mother's. He remains best known for his role on ...

from 1984 to 2006 and has two daughters. She currently works at

Queenwood School for Girls Queenwood School for Girls, often abbreviated as Queenwood, is a multi-campus independent non-denominational Christian co-educational primary and secondary day school for girls, located in the suburb of Mosman, on the Lower North Shore of Sydne ...

as a dramatic arts teacher.

Career

Alexanders' acting career began early with a part in the series '' Bellbird'' in 1967. However, it was straight from graduating at

National Institute of Dramatic Art The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian educational institution for the performing arts is based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, many of Australia's leading actors and directors trained at NIDA, including Cat ...

(NIDA) that she got her big break with the part of Esther Wolcott in 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 ...

(ABC) series ''

Seven Little Australians ''Seven Little Australians'' is a classic Australian children's literature novel by Ethel Turner, published in 1894. Set mainly in Sydney in the 1880s, it relates the adventures of the seven mischievous Woolcot children, their stern army father ...

''. Allegedly the producers had all but given up on the show, because they did not feel that they had found a suitable actress for the part, until they discovered Alexander. She was actually younger than actress Barbara Llewellyn, who played her stepdaughter Meg in the series, but producers and audiences felt that they were both convincing in their roles. The ten-part series delivered huge ratings when it was broadcast in 1973, and was also the first ABC series to enjoy international acclaim. It went on to win three

Australian Film Institute Awards The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industry, ...

and four Penguins, including best drama series and the 1974

George Wallace Memorial Logie for Best New Talent The George Wallace Memorial Logie for Best New Talent was an award presented annually at the Australian TV Week Logie Awards The Logie Awards (officially the TV Week Logie Awards; colloquially known as The Logies) is an annual gathering to ...

for Alexander as the sweet-tempered Esther. The series is now available on DVD. Alexander had a recurring guest role in the high rating Australian medical drama '' All Saints'' as the viper-like Dr. Alison Newell, ex-wife of Dr. Frank Campion, played by

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...

. She was not initially written as his ex-wife, as her character appeared before Howard joined the cast. Apparently, it was the sharp onscreen dynamic between Alexander and Howard in their early scenes together that made the writers decide to write this history into Alexander's character. Other television credits include: ''

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 ...

'' (she played Christine Jones, the overprotective conservative mother of

Melody Jones Melody Jones is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera ''Home & Away'', played by Celeste Dodwell. Dodwell originally auditioned for a separate part in the serial, but was offered the role of Melody instead. Dodwell s ...

), ''Silent Number'', '' Special Squad'', '' Chopper Squad'', ''

Farscape ''Farscape'' is an Australian-American science fiction television series, produced originally for the Nine Network. It premiered in the US on Sci-Fi Channel's SciFi Friday, 19 March 1999, at 8:00 pm EST as their anchor series. The series was c ...

'', ''

Murder Call ''Murder Call'' is an Australian television series, created by Hal McElroy for the Southern Star Entertainment and broadcast on the Nine Network between 1997 and 2000. The series was inspired by the ''Tessa Vance'' novels by Jennifer Rowe, both ...

'', ''Seven Deadly Sins (Pride)'', ''

Salem's Lot ''Salem's Lot'' is a 1975 horror novel by American author Stephen King. It was his second published novel. The story involves a writer named Ben Mears who returns to the town of Jerusalem's Lot (or 'Salem's Lot for short) in Maine, where he ...

'' and ''

Time Trax ''Time Trax'' is a science fiction television series that first aired in 1993. A police officer, sent two centuries into the past to a parallel Universe, must apprehend and return convicted criminals who have escaped prison in the future. This ...

'', a science fiction series in which she starred as a computer

hologram Holography is a technique that enables a wavefront to be recorded and later re-constructed. Holography is best known as a method of generating real three-dimensional images, but it also has a wide range of other Holography#Applications, applic ...

alongside

Dale Midkiff Dale Alan Midkiff (born July 1, 1959) is an American actor, best known for playing Louis Creed in the horror film ''Pet Sematary'' (1989) and Captain Darien Lambert in the TV series ''Time Trax''. Career Midkiff acted in off-Broadway plays lik ...

. Her film work includes: the lead role in ''

The Killing of Angel Street ''The Killing of Angel Street'' is a 1981 Australian thriller film loosely based on the Builders Labourers Federation (BLF) green bans against development in inner Sydney city waterside suburbs. It briefly touches on the real-life disappearance of ...

'' (which won an award at the Berlin Film Festival) opposite John Hargreaves, ''

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith ''The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith'' is a 1972 Booker Prize-nominated Australian novel by Thomas Keneally, and a 1978 Australian film of the same name directed by Fred Schepisi. The novel is based on the life of bushranger Jimmy Governor, the su ...

'', '' Summerfield'' with

Nick Tate Nicholas John Tate (born 18 June 1942) is an Australian actor popularly known for his roles as pilot Alan Carter in the 1970s science fiction television series '' Space: 1999'', and James Hamilton in the 1980s Australian soap opera '' Sons an ...

and

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...

, ''

Sebastian and the Sparrow ''Sebastian and the Sparrow'' is a 1988 Australian film directed by Scott Hicks.David Stratton, ''The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry'', Pan MacMillan, 1990 p355-356 Hicks says he wanted to make the film one he c ...

'' and ''The Journalist'' with

Sam Neill Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. Neill's near-50 year career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one o ...

. 2010 saw her appear in a thriller called ''The Clinic'' and in 2011 she made an appearance in

Fred Schepisi Frederic Alan Schepisi ( ; Kael, Pauline (1984). '' Taking It All In''. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. p. 55. born 26 December 1939) is an Australian film director, producer and screenwriter. His credits include '' The Chant of Jimmie ...

's '' The Eye of the Storm''. Her theatre credits are also numerous and include: Hermione in ''

The Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some criti ...

'', Portia in ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. Although classified as ...

'' for which she received glowing reviews, Martha in the

Sydney Theatre Company Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in The Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Thea ...

's production of ''

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' is a play by Edward Albee first staged in October 1962. It examines the complexities of the marriage of a middle-aged couple, Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they receive ...

'' for which she again received extremely positive reviews, Kate in another STC production of

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanne ...

's ''

Old Times ''Old Times'' is a play by the Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter. It was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Aldwych Theatre in London on 1 June 1971. It starred Colin Blakely, Dorothy Tutin, and Vivien Merchant, and was direct ...

'' and many more. She also played

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard Co ...

David Williamson David Keith Williamson AO (born 24 February 1942) is an Australian dramatist and playwright. He has also written screenplays and teleplays. Early life David Williamson was born in Melbourne, Victoria, on 24 February 1942, and was brought ...

's play '' Heretic''. The play, based on Mead's life and work, was the subject of much debate and controversy due to the very public row between the writer, Williamson, and the director Wayne Harrison over the play's production. Alexander has also directed a number of plays and written several screenplays, including a short film titled ''Memento'' (which was sold to Village Roadshow) which she also directed, about the emotional problems caused by the return of a father to his family, a young boy and his mother. She also directed a feature film, '' A Spy in the Family''. Alongside this she also does voiceover work.

Filmography

FILM

Television

TELEVISION

Theatre

* The Great – Catherine The Great (

) 200

http://www.australianstage.com.au/reviews/sydney/the-great--sydney-theatre-company-1534.html] *

– Kate (STC) 2005 * Heretic– Margaret Mead (Sydney Theatre Company) *

– Martha (Sydney Theatre Company) * Prin – Dibbs (Marian Street Theatre) * The Three Sisters – Irina * Butley (Old Tote Theatre) * Season At Sarsparilla (

Old Tote Theatre Company The Old Tote Theatre Company (1963–1978) was a New South Wales theatre company that began as the standing acting and theatre company of Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). It was the predecessor to the Sydney Theatre Company ...

) * Mothers and Fathers – Julia (Twelfth Night Theatre) * Uncle Vanya – Yelena (

Melbourne Theatre Company The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre com ...

) *

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

– Lady Macduff (Melbourne Theatre Company) * The Rivals – Julia (Melbourne Theatre Company) * Betrayal – Emma (Melbourne Theatre Company) * Arms and the Man – Raina (Melbourne Theatre Company) * Godsend – Jenny (Melbourne Theatre Company) * Maid's Tragedy – Lead (Melbourne Theatre Company) * She Stoops to Conquer – Kate (

Nimrod Theatre Company The Nimrod Theatre Company, commonly known as The Nimrod, was an Australian theatre company based in Sydney. It was founded by in 1970 by Australian actor John Bell, Richard Wherrett and Ken Horler, and gained a reputation for producing more "go ...

) * Wild Honey – Sasha (Nimrod Theatre) *

– Portia (Nimrod Theatre) * All's Well That Ends Well – Diana (Nimrod Theatre) * Tartuffe – Elmire (Nimrod Theatre) * A Winter's Tale – Hermione (Nimrod Theatre)

Director

* The Maids – Melbourne Theatre Company * Shorts – Sydney Theatre Company * Memento – (writer/director) short film * A Spy in the Family – feature film

Producer

* Foursome (short film)

Quote

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Elizabeth 1952 births 20th-century Australian actresses 21st-century Australian actresses Living people Actresses from Adelaide Australian film actresses Australian stage actresses Australian television actresses Logie Award winners National Institute of Dramatic Art alumni