Jane Clifton (born 10 April 1949) is a

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

-born

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

actress, singer, writer and voice artist. She is best known for her role in TV serial ''

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. ...

'' as tough prison bookie Margo Gaffney. As a singer, she had a stint with

Jo Jo Zep Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons are an Australian blues and rock band that features the singer, songwriter and saxophonist Joe Camilleri (aka "Jo Jo Zep"). The band was active in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and had several Australian chart hits ...

and has recorded an album featuring Jenny Morris and

Wendy Matthews Wendy Joan Matthews (born 13 January 1960) is a Canadian-born Australian singer-songwriter who has been a member of Models and Absent Friends and is a solo artist. She released Top 20 hit singles in the 1990s including " Token Angels", " ...

, Mark Williams and

Marc Hunter Marc Alexander Hunter (7 September 195317 July 1998) was a New Zealand rock and pop singer, songwriter and record producer. He was the lead vocalist of Dragon (1973–11/1979, 8/1982–1989, 1995–11/1997), a band formed by his older brother ...

Biography

Family and citizenship

Clifton was born in Gibraltar to British Army parents. In 1961 she emigrated to

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Australia, before later settling in Melbourne. She became a naturalised citizen of Australia in 1992.

Radio and voice-over career

Clifton started out her career on Melbourne community radio stations 3CR and 3RMT-FM in the 1970s. She then worked for commercial stations 3AK,

Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors a ...

and

774 ABC ABC Radio Melbourne (official callsign: 3LO) is an ABC Local Radio station in Melbourne, Australia. It began transmission on 13 October 1924, and was Melbourne's second licensed radio station after 3AR. Most Local Radio stations in Victoria s ...

. Clifton has also done voice-over work for commercials and audio books.

Film, television and stage

Clifton has acted extensively in film and the stage and in various television programs. Beginning in cult favorites ''Stork'' (1971) and ''Pure S'' (1975), her films include '' The Clinic'' and '' A Slice of Life''. Her stage roles include ''

The Pack of Women ''The Pack of Woman'' was a cabaret devised by Australian performer and director Robyn Archer, first performed in London in 1981. Although funny and entertaining, the work also set out to shock audiences into examining the role of women in Wester ...

'' and ''

Mum's the Word Mum's the word is a popular English idiom. It is related to an expression used by William Shakespeare, in ''Henry VI, Part 2''. The word "mum" is an alteration of momme, which was used between 1350 and 1400 in Middle English with very close to the ...

''. She has also made a number of television appearances, starting in the mid 70s with the Crawford's series ''Division 4'', ''Homicide'' and ''Bluey'', ''Against the Wind'', ''Skyways'', ''Holiday Island'', ''

Sweet and Sour Sweet and sour is a generic term that encompasses many styles of sauce, cuisine and cooking methods. It is commonly used in East Asia and Southeast Asia, and has been used in England since the Middle Ages. Dickson Wright, Clarissa (2011) ''A Histor ...

'', ''

Carson's Law ''Carson's Law'' is an Australian television series made by Crawford Productions for the Ten Network between 1982-1984. The series was a period piece set in the 1920s and starred Lorraine Bayly as progressive solicitor Jennifer Carson. The ep ...

'' and ''

Shock Jock A shock jock is a radio broadcaster or DJ who entertains listeners and attracts attention using humor and/or melodramatic exaggeration that may offend some portion of the listening audience. The term is used pejoratively to describe provocative o ...

'', but her best-known acting role is probably that of tough prison bookie

Margo Gaffney *** People * Margo (actress) (1917–1985), Mexican-American actress and dancer * Margo (magician), American magic performer and actress * Margo (singer), Irish singer * Margo (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name ...

in ''

''. Clifton played the role for 107 episodes from 1980 until 1984 on an intermittent basis as the script allowed, having previously appeared in the minor role of Yvonne, from episode 9, and even appeared in the ''Prisoner in Concert'' special. Clifton also performed with

Betty Bobbitt Betty Ann Bobbitt (February 7, 1939 – November 30, 2020) was an American actress, director, singer, and playwright based in Australia, with a career that spanned over 60 years, encompassing theatre, television, and film. Bobbitt was best ...

and

Colette Mann Colette Mann (born 17 February 1950) is an Australian actress, singer, TV and radio presenter, choreographer and author/writer and media personality, she has been in the entertainment industry for over 50 years. Mann appeared in two Grundy Orga ...

as part of a three-woman troupe, The Mini Busettes, in the 1980s in RSLs across Australia. In September 2010, it was announced that Clifton would be joining the cast of ''

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 ...

'' as Judge Willow. Her scenes aired in November of that year. In 2015 she appeared in the television series ''

The Doctor Blake Mysteries ''The Doctor Blake Mysteries'' (also ''The Blake Mysteries'') is an Australian television series that premiered on ABC TV on 1 February 2013 at 8:30 pm. The series stars Craig McLachlan in the lead role of Dr. Lucien Blake, who returns home t ...

'' as Sister Josephine.

Music

Clifton is also a singer. In the late 1970s she was a member of new wave band Stiletto which had a number of releases on the Oz label.

Discography

Studio albums

Soundtracks

Singles

Awards and nominations

Countdown Australian Music Awards

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

'' was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974 to 1987, it presented music awards from 1979 to 1987, initially in conjunction with magazine ''

TV Week ''TV Week'' is a weekly Australian magazine that provides television program listings information and highlights, as well as television-related news. Content ranges from previews for upcoming storylines of popular television programs, particu ...

''. The TV Week / Countdown Awards were a combination of popular-voted and peer-voted awards. , - , 1984 , herself – "Girl on a Wall" , Best Female Performance in a Video , , -

Author

Clifton is the author of the novels ''Half Past Dead'' and ''A Hand in the Bush''.Writers on the Road
– State Library of Victoria

Filmography

FILM TELEVISION

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clifton, Jane 1949 births Australian film actresses Australian soap opera actresses Australian women novelists Living people Gibraltarian emigrants to Australia Singers from Melbourne Naturalised citizens of Australia 20th-century Australian actresses 20th-century Australian women singers 21st-century Australian actresses 21st-century Australian novelists 21st-century Australian women singers 21st-century Australian women writers Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons members