Elizabeth Brenda "Liddy" Holloway (27 March 1947 – 29 December 2004) was a New Zealand actress and television scriptwriter.

Career

Born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

, New Zealand, the daughter of a politician, Phil Holloway, Liddy Holloway originally worked as a journalist. She switched to acting and had a long career in the theatre. She also acted in Australia in the early 1980s, with acting roles in feature films ''

Squizzy Taylor Joseph Theodore Leslie "Squizzy" Taylor (29 June 1888 – 27 October 1927) was an Australian gangster from Melbourne. He appeared repeatedly and sometimes prominently in Melbourne news media because of suspicions, formal accusations and some co ...

'' and ''The Clinic''. She also acted on Australian television, appearing in guest roles in several episodes of

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 ...

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. ...

'', a series for which she also wrote some scripts. Holloway moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

briefly in 1990 to give Hollywood a try, but did not stay long. She eventually garnered international attention for her recurring role as Hercules' mother on the syndicated adventure series, ''

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' is an American television series filmed in New Zealand, based on the tales of the classical Greek culture hero Heracles (Hercules was his Roman analogue). Starring Kevin Sorbo as Hercules and Michael Hurst as ...

'', a role she played intermittently from 1995 to 1998. Holloway also found wide recognition in her home country through her 1992–1998 lead role of Alex McKenna in the popular soap opera ''

Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital, first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992. It is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously ...

''. Holloway was also a writer for the series, and for other television series such as ''

Shark in the Park ''Shark in the Park'' is a New Zealand police procedural. It revolved around the professional and private lives of a group of officers at a Wellington police station under the command of Inspector Brian "Sharky" Finn. The title came from the i ...

''. Holloway was the first person to champion making the book '' The Whale Rider'' into a feature film. She fought with the Film Commission because she wanted a writing credit for her work on the 2002 feature. In 2002 Holloway portrayed Dorthy Moxley, mother of murder victim

Martha Moxley Martha Elizabeth Moxley (August 16, 1960 – October 30, 1975) was a 15-year-old American high school student from Greenwich, Connecticut, who was murdered in 1975. Moxley was last seen alive spending time at the home of the Skakel fa ...

, in the American

television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

'' Murder in Greenwich'', which, although set in Connecticut, was filmed in New Zealand.

Death

On 29 December 2004, Liddy Holloway died, aged 57, from liver cancer. She was survived by three children, Francesca Holibar, Mark Harlen, and actor/musician

Joel Tobeck Joel Tobeck (born 2 June 1971 in Auckland, New Zealand) is an actor known for his roles in the television series ''Tangle'', ''The Doctor Blake Mysteries'', ''Xena Warrior Princess'', ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'', and '' Young Hercules'' ...

, who appeared with her on ''Shortland Street''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Shortland Street interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holloway, Liddy 1945 births 2004 deaths 20th-century New Zealand women writers 20th-century New Zealand writers Australian soap opera writers Australian television actresses Australian women screenwriters Deaths from cancer in New Zealand Deaths from liver cancer New Zealand film actresses New Zealand television actresses People from Auckland Actresses from Wellington City Women soap opera writers New Zealand soap opera actresses 20th-century Australian screenwriters 20th-century New Zealand journalists 20th-century Australian women