Valerie Muriel Jellay (born Valerie Jelly; September 1927 – 6 May 2017) was an Australian vaudevillian, actress, soubrette, dancer, author and TV personality. At the time of her death, she was the widow of fellow

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 Au ...

vaudevillian, actor and comedian

Maurie Fields Maurice Fields (born Maurice Sheil, 4 August 1926 – 18 December 1995) was an Australian vaudeville performer, actor and stand-up comedian. Career Fields became a well-known face on television first thanks to his comic sketches on live progra ...

; together they were in general considered to be a duo act in the entertainment industry. She was the mother of comedian and actor

Marty Fields Marty Fields (born 18 December 1961) is an Australian comedian, host/mc, actor, writer, musician, singer, and radio presenter from Melbourne. Professional career The son of Australian actors Maurie Fields and Val Jellay, Fields has had lon ...

. Her early career had been in vaudeville and on stage before becoming a staple on the small screen in 1957. She started performing at just four years old and was still performing in her 80s.

Biography

Jellay's life in show business began in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

, working with the

Tivoli circuit The Tivoli Circuit was a successful and popular Australian vaudeville entertainment circuit featuring revue, opera, ballet, dance, singing, musical comedy, old time black and white minstrel and even Shakespeare which flourished from 1893 to th ...

in Australia. Her career began with dance lessons in 1931. She later moved into comedy and drama in the different media of stage, radio, film and television. She married Australian actor Maurie Fields in 1960 and was married until his death in 1995. They appeared together as comedy regulars on HSV 7's "Sunny Side Up", along with Hal Lashwood, Syd Heylen and Honest John Gilbert, then later as husband and wife in the television series ''

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 ...

''. She was also a regular on '' Good Morning Australia'' with

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 ...

, reviewing the latest movies, and also appeared on ''

Hey Hey It's Saturday ''Hey Hey It's Saturday'' was a long-running variety television program on Australian television. It initially ran for 28 years on the Nine Network from 9 October 1971 to 20 November 1999, with a recess in 1978. Its host throughout its entire ...

'' with her son Marty. She appeared in 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. ...

'' in four different character roles most notably as landlady Mabel Morgan, and 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 ...

'' as

Connie O'Rourke '' Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Reg Watson and first broadcast on 18 March 1985. The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the soap in 2000, by order of first appearance. All characte ...

. She appeared in many guest roles in Australian soap operas. Jellay died on 6 May 2017 after having slipped into a coma and being on life support arising from complications of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

; she was 89.

Filmography

FILM TELEVISION

Select appearances

Bibliography

* Jellay, V., ''Stagestruck: An Autobiography'', Spectrum Publications, (Richmond), 1994. * Jellay, V., ''After You've Gone: My Life after Maurie Fields'', Spectrum Publications, (Richmond), 1998. * Jellay, V., ''So You Want To Be in Showbusiness'', JoJo Publishing, (Docklands), 2007.

References

External links

* Australian television actresses 1927 births 2017 deaths Deaths from pneumonia in New South Wales {{Australia-actor-stub