Judith McGrath (21 April 1947 – 20 October 2017) was an Australian actress. McGrath was known for her television roles, including soap opera's ''

Prisoner A prisoner (also known as an inmate or detainee) is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement, captivity, or forcible restraint. The term applies particularly to serving a prison sentence in a prison. ...

'' (1979–84), as Deputy Governor/Officer Colleen "Poface" Powell, ''

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 ...

'' (1992–93) as hippy Bernice Hudson and for her

Logie Award The Logie Awards (officially the TV Week Logie Awards; colloquially known as The Logies) is an annual gathering to celebrate Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The first ceremony was held in 1959 as the ...

-nominated role in the medical drama '' All Saints'' as Nurse Yvonne "Von" Ryan (1998–2009) and her comedy roles in children's series ''

Round the Twist ''Round the Twist'' is an Australian children's comedy television series based on stories by author Paul Jennings that follows the supernatural adventures of the Twist family. The series was created and produced by Patricia Edgar, and develope ...

'' as Matron Cecilia MGribble. McGrath was known for playing characters with a dry, often sarcastic wit

Early life

Born in

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 ...

, McGrath began her career at the

Brisbane Arts Theatre Brisbane Arts Theatre refers to both an independent theatre company in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and the building in which it resides. __TOC__ Theatre company history Brisbane Arts Theatre was founded in 1936 as Brisbane Amateur Theatr ...

, and was a member of

Twelfth Night Theatre 250px, Twelfth Night Theatre The Twelfth Night Theatre is an established Australian entertainment venue located in Bowen Hills, in Brisbane, Queensland. Many notable actors, both international and Australian, have performed there. The Twelfth N ...

under artistic director

Joan Whalley Joan Agnes Whalley, OAM, (December 1927 – 27 August 2021) was an actress, teacher and artistic director of Twelfth Night Theatre in Bowen Hills, Brisbane, Australia from 1962 to 1976. Early years Whalley was born in December 1927 and went ...

. She also played Grace in the 1969 film ''

Age of Consent The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent is unable to legally claim ...

''.

Career

McGrath is probably best known to international audiences for her role in the cult

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

series ''

'' as fair-minded but sarcastic Deputy Governor Colleen" Poface" Powell. Initially a minor character, appearing in 12 episodes in the first two series (1979–80), she became a permanent cast member in 1981 and went on to appear in a total of 263 episodes, before leaving the series in 1984. After leaving ''Prisoner'', McGrath appeared in guest roles in ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons an ...

'' in 1985 and ''

The Flying Doctors ''The Flying Doctors'' is an Australian drama TV series produced by Crawford Productions that revolves around the everyday lifesaving efforts of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, starring Andrew McFarlane as the newly arrived Dr. T ...

'' in 1986 and 1988, before appearing in the first series of the children's television show ''

Round The Twist ''Round the Twist'' is an Australian children's comedy television series based on stories by author Paul Jennings that follows the supernatural adventures of the Twist family. The series was created and produced by Patricia Edgar, and develope ...

'' in 1989, playing Matron Gribble. She went on to be a regular cast member on ''A Country Practice'' as Bernice Hudson from 1992 until 1993. McGrath played the long-running role of Yvonne "Von"' Ryan in television medical drama series '' All Saints'' on Network Seven from its debut in 1998, opposite co-star

Georgie Parker Georgina Parker (born 16 December 1964) is an Australian television soap actress and has also appeared in film and theatre. She is a double Gold Logie winner, best known for her acting roles in Australian soap operas; as Lucy Gardiner (later T ...

. She was the only original cast member to stay with the series until it concluded in late 2009.

Death

McGrath died in Brisbane at the age of 70 on 20 October 2017.

Filmography

FILM TELEVISION

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McGrath, Judith 1947 births 2017 deaths Actresses from Brisbane 20th-century Australian actresses 21st-century Australian actresses Australian film actresses Australian soap opera actresses Australian stage actresses