Ida Elizabeth Lea

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(29 August 191630 October 2014), professionally known as "Elizabeth" Osbourne and Ida Elizabeth Jenkins, was an Australian actor and broadcaster, best known as the co-founder of the

Australian Broadcasting Commission 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-owned ...

's long-running children's radio program the '' Argonauts Club''.

Early career

Osbourne was born in

Brighton, Victoria Brighton is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 11 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Bayside local government area. Brighton recorded a population of 23,252 at the 2021 census. ...

, the only daughter of Mr and Mrs W. L. Osbourne and educated at

Firbank Grammar School , motto_translation = She conquers who conquers herself , city = Brighton , state = Victoria , zipcode = 3186 , country = Australia , coordinates = ...

. As a young girl she studied elocution with Ruth Conabere, sister of actor Syd Conabere (1918-2008), making successful entries in "South Street Competitions" at

Ballarat, Victoria Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. Within months of Vic ...

from 1929 to 1935. It was at the 1934 Melbourne Elocutionary Championships that she was spotted by ABC drama producer Frank Clewlow, who was acting adjudicator, and invited to act in radio plays.''The Golden Age of Australian Radio Drama'' Richard Lane, Melbourne University Press 1994 Her first major part was as Juliet opposite Harry Traynor's Romeo. Over the next two years she played most of Shakespeare's younger women. In 1938 she started at 3LO hosting the Victorian Children's Program as "Elizabeth". In 1939 ABC General Manager

Charles Moses Sir Charles Alfred Joseph Moses (21 January 19009 February 1988) was a British-born Australian administrator who was general manager of the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) from 1935 until 1965. A 1918 graduate of the Royal Military ...

decided to amalgamate all children's programs emanating from Sydney. Frank Clewlow, by now in Sydney himself, made sure she was appointed to head it. At first she was reluctant, as it was only a one-year contract and she was keen to visit Britain. After being promised an introduction to the BBC at the end of the year, she agreed.

Acting roles

Time and her contract allowed her to continue to act starring parts in: :'' Saint Joan'' by

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

(1939) :''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'' again, with

Nigel Lovell Nigel Tasman Lovell (27 January 1916 – 13 December 2001) was an Australian stage, radio, film and television actor, and producer of opera and both stage and radio drama. History Lovell was born in Sydney, a son of Tasman Lovell, Professor of ...

playing Romeo and

Peter Finch Frederick George Peter Ingle Finch (28 September 191614 January 1977) was an English-Australian actor of theatre, film and radio. Born in London, he emigrated to Australia as a teenager and was raised in Sydney, where he worked in vaudeville ...

as Mercutio :''

Martine Martine is a feminine given name and a surname. Given name * Martine Aubry (born 1950), French politician * Martine Audet (born 1961), Canadian poet * Martine Aurillac (born 1939), French politician * Martine Baay-Timmerman (born 1958), Dutch po ...

'' (adapted for radio by

Max Afford Malcolm R. Afford (8 April 1906 – 2 November 1954) known as Max Afford, was an Australian playwright and novelist. Biography Early years Afford was born in Adelaide, South Australia, the youngest son of Robert D. Afford of "Glenleigh", Sta ...

) with

Neva Carr Glyn Neva Carr Glyn or Neva Carr Glynn (born Neva Josephine Mary Carr Glyn, 10 May 1908 – 10 August 1975) was an Australian stage, film and radio actress born in Melbourne to Arthur Benjamin Carr Glyn (died 16 January 1923), a humorous baritone and ...

and

John Tate John Tate may refer to: * John Tate (mathematician) (1925–2019), American mathematician * John Torrence Tate Sr. (1889–1950), American physicist * John Tate (Australian politician) (1895–1977) * John Tate (actor) (1915–1979), Australian act ...

:'' Alcestis of Euripides'', produced by Lawrence H. Cecil with Peter Finch :''

Night Must Fall ''Night Must Fall'' is a play, a psychological thriller, by Emlyn Williams, first performed in 1935. There have been three film adaptations, '' Night Must Fall'' (1937); a 1954 adaptation on the television anthology series ''Ponds Theater'' sta ...

'' with

Lloyd Lamble Lloyd Nelson Lamble (8 February 1914 – 17 March 2008) was an Australian actor who worked in theatre, television, radio and film. He lived and worked for most of his life in the United Kingdom. Biography Personal life Lloyd Lamble was born in M ...

and

Winifred Green Winifred A. Green (1937 – February 6, 2016) was an American activist from Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement. She spent her life leading grassroots movements impacting youth and education, and was a white advocate for integrated educat ...

:the premiere of '' The Fire on the Snow'' as Narrator with Frank Harvey as

Robert Falcon Scott Captain Robert Falcon Scott, , (6 June 1868 – c. 29 March 1912) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–1904 and the ill-fated ''Terra Nov ...

(1941) :''

The Fortunes of Richard Mahony ''The Fortunes of Richard Mahony'' is a three-part novel by Australian writer Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson under her pen name, Henry Handel Richardson. It consists of ''Australia Felix'' (1917), ''The Way Home'' (1925), and ''Ultima Thule' ...

'' (adapted for radio by Frank Harvey) with Howard Craven (1950).

The Argonauts Club

Osbourne developed a new segment for the Children's Session that was to go down in Australian radio history: The Argonauts Club. The idea and much of the format had been formulated by

Nina Murdoch Madoline "Nina" Murdoch (19 October 1890 – 16 April 1976), also known by her married name Madoline Brown and pen name Manin, was an Australian writer and journalist, best known for her biographies and poetry, and travel writings, as well as ...

, but hers was the wording on the membership certificate and the words for the opening and closing themes for both the Children's Session and the Argonauts Club. And as "Elizabeth", she compered (later with co-comperes "Mac" (

Atholl Fleming Atholl Fleming MBE (6 December 1894 – 6 May 1972) was a British actor and an Australian radio personality. Early life He was the third of nine children of the Rev R. S. Fleming, a Scottish Baptist minister of Pitlochry and later Beckenham in ...

) and "Joe" (

Albert Collins Albert Gene Drewery, known as Albert Collins and the Ice Man (October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993),Skeely, Richard. "Albert Collins: Biography" Allmusic.com. was an American electric blues guitarist and singer with a distinctive guitar style. ...

). She enlisted

Ruth Park Rosina Ruth Lucia Park AM (24 August 191714 December 2010) was a New Zealand–born Australian author. Her best known works are the novels '' The Harp in the South'' (1948) and ''Playing Beatie Bow'' (1980), and the children's radio serial '' ...

to write a dramatised series ''The Wide-Awake Bunyip'', and played "Mouse" to Joe's Bunyip. This was later developed by Ruth Park into ''

The Muddle-Headed Wombat The Muddle-Headed Wombat is a fictional wombat featured in the radio serials and later in the children's books of the same name written by Australian author Ruth Park. The books are considered classics of Australian children's literature. History ...

'' radio series and books for children. She cajoled leading writers, musicians, adventurers, sportsmen and artists into appearing on the show. She did not want anything but the best for 'her' children. In 1946 she spent some time on a scholarship in London with the BBC to study children's programs in the UK. She remembered BBC productions as highly polished but inward-looking and ossified in the 1930s, as compared with her bright and innovative Australian program. In 1949 she married piano accompanist and organist Idwal Jenkins and, as a married woman, she was obliged under Public Service regulations to quit her post with the ABC. Her husband died two years later on 24 April 1951.

Later career and honours

Osbourne was to return to ABC radio in 1953 as (now widowed) Ida Elizabeth Jenkins, presenting the ''ABC Women's Session'' until 1960. She was selected as a national commentator for the high-profile 1954 Royal Visit. She returned again to run a more personal (and at times controversial) program ''At Home with Ida Elizabeth Jenkins''. She married again, and as Ida Elizabeth Lea was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in 1977. She died in Sydney on 30 October 2014, aged 98.

Bibliography

*''Down in the Gully'' (three part song) music by Lindley Evans, Allan & Co., Melbourne c1949. *''Song of the Gum Tree'' (three part song) music by Lindley Evans, Chappell & Co., Sydney c1962.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osbourne, Ida Elizabeth 1916 births 2014 deaths Australian radio personalities Australian women radio presenters Australian radio actresses Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Brighton, Victoria People educated at Firbank Girls' Grammar School Radio personalities from Melbourne Actresses from Melbourne