Susan Cruickshank (31 August 1946 – 8 December 2009), commonly known as Su Cruickshank, was an Australian jazz singer, actress and writer. She was regarded as one of the finest female jazz singers in Australian history.

Early life

Cruickshank was born in

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area, w ...

, the eldest of four children. She grew up in the suburb of Adamstown in a musical family. Her father played double bass and her paternal grandmother had been a singer.

Career

"In the 1970s Cruickshank moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and worked as a singer in a variety of low-end jazz clubs. She returned to Australia in 1979 and began to rise to public prominence, notably through successfully hosting a string of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

's annual

Jazz in the Domain Jazz in The Domain was (until a name change in 2010) the first of several large, public, open-air concerts that take place in The Domain, Sydney during the local summer holiday month of January. As the first major public event of the Sydney Festi ...

summer outdoor concerts. She subsequently appeared in many Australian film and television roles and was especially well known for her role in the 1988 surprise hit (in Australia) film ''

Young Einstein ''Young Einstein'' is a 1988 Australian comedy film written, produced, directed by and starring Yahoo Serious. It is a fantasized account of the life of Albert Einstein which alters all people, places and circumstances of his life, including r ...

'' and, from 1992, for her regular appearances on

Bert Newton Albert Watson Newton (23 July 1938 – 30 October 2021) was an Australian media personality. He was a Logie Hall of Fame inductee, quadruple Gold Logie award-winning entertainer and radio, theatre and television personality and presenter. Newt ...

's top-rating nationally-broadcast morning entertainment show '' Good Morning Australia''. In 1993-4 she hosted her own talk show on ABC TV called ''In Company with Su Cruickshank'' and she continued to make frequent guest appearances in a wide variety of Australian drama, comedy and light entertainment programs for the rest of the decade, as well as appearing in a number of TV commercials. She maintained a long-running fortnightly radio spot on the nationally broadcast

ABC Local Radio ABC Local Radio is a network of publicly owned radio stations in Australia, operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ABC Local Radio stations broadcast across the continent using terrestrial transmitters and satellites. Its programm ...

'' Overnights'' program and is often remembered for her appearances on the nationally televised World Series Debates that were a gala event of the

Melbourne International Comedy Festival The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the second-largest international comedy festival in the world. Established in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typicall ...

in the early 1990s. A large woman, Cruickshank briefly co-owned a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

themed restaurant in

Newtown, New South Wales Newtown, a suburb of Inner West, Sydney's inner west, is located approximately four kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, straddling the Local government areas of New South Wales, local government areas of the City of Sy ...

in the late 1990s and often made use of her size in her on-stage and on-screen personas and it became a signature part of her public image.

Death

Cruickshank suffered from a long-term illness in her last years and she died on 8 December 2009. A memorial concert was held to celebrate her life in her home town of Newcastle a week after her death.

Personal life

Cruickshank married and divorced in the 1970s and then never remarried. She had two stepchildren, Effie and Saabeah Theos, to her Ghanaian partner of eight years.

Acting roles

Film

*'' Somewhere in the Darkness'' (1998) *''Your Move: An Emergency Life Saving Adventure'' (1997) *''

'' (1988) *''

Those Dear Departed ''Those Dear Departed'', also known as ''Ghosts Can Do It!'', is a 1987 Australian black comedy film directed by Ted Robinson and starring Garry McDonald, Pamela Stephenson and Su Cruickshank.David Stratton, ''The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bu ...

'' (1987) *''

Playing Beatie Bow ''Playing Beatie Bow'' is a popular Australian children's novel, written by Ruth Park and first published on 31 January 1980. It features a time slip in Sydney, Australia. Plot summary Lynette Kirk has been a happy child, cheery about her paren ...

'' (1986) *''Undercover (1984) *''

Fatty Finn ''Fatty Finn'' was a popular long-run Australian comic strip series, created in 1923 by Syd Nicholls. It ran in syndication until the creator's death in 1977. History In 1923 Syd Nicholls, a senior artist at Sydney's ''Evening News'', was aske ...

'' (1980)

Television

*'' E Street'' *''

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 ...

'' * ''

The Young Doctors ''The Young Doctors'' is an Australian early-evening soap opera originally broadcast on the Nine Network and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation, it aired from Monday, 8 November 1976 until Wednesday, 30 March 1983. The series is primar ...

'' as Bathsheba Smith (1981) *''

Stock Squad ''Stock Squad'' is a 1985 Australian television film directed by Howard Rubie and starring Martin Sacks, Gerard Kennedy, Kris McQuade, and Richard Meikle. It focuses on the rural crime division.Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1 ...

Publications

*Cruickshank, Su, ''Bring A Plate to The Mortdale Scout Hall – The Autobiography of a Fat Tart Complete with Recipes'', Sun Books, 1992,

References

External links

*
Cruickshank at the National Film and Sound Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruickshank, Su 1946 births 2009 deaths People from Newcastle, New South Wales Australian jazz singers Australian film actresses Australian television actresses Australian memoirists Actresses from New South Wales Australian women memoirists 20th-century Australian women singers 20th-century memoirists