Noeline Mabel Brown (born 3 October 1938), credited also as Noelene Brown, is an

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 An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

and

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolish (as in slapstick), or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audienc ...

. She has appeared in numerous

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...

theatrical production A theatrical production is any work of theatre, such as a staged play, musical, comedy or drama produced from a written book or script. Theatrical productions also extend to other performance designations such as Dramatic and Nondramatic theatre, a ...

s and

radio programs A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio networ ...

dating back to 1959.

Life and career

Brown gained local notoriety in

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 Mounta ...

as a cast member of the famous

Phillip St Revues Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

and the popular melodrama productions at the Music Hall, a Sydney theatre-restaurant, in the early 1960s. She came to national prominence after joining the cast of the pioneering Australian

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or ...

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and ...

series ''

The Mavis Bramston Show ''The Mavis Bramston Show'' was a weekly Australian television satirical sketch comedy revue series which aired on the Seven Network from 1964 to 1968. Inspired by the British TV satirical revue TV shows of the period (notably ''That Was The Week ...

'' (1964 -1968). After a stint in the UK she secured a regular role in the hit TV sitcom ''

My Name's McGooley, What's Yours? ''My Name's McGooley, What's Yours?'' is a popular Australian situation comedy series produced by ATN7 ATN is the Sydney flagship television station of the Seven Network in Australia. The licence, issued to a company named Amalgamated Tele ...

'', starring alongside

Gordon Chater Gordon Maitland Chater AM (6 April 1922 – 12 December 1999) was an English Australian comedian and actor, and recipient of the Gold Logie, he appeared in revue, theatre, radio, television and film, with a career spanning almost 50 years. Bio ...

John Meillon John Meillon, ( ; 1 May 1934 – 11 August 1989), was an Australian character actor, known for many straight as well as comedy roles, he became most widely known internationally as Walter Reilly in the films ''Crocodile Dundee'' and ''Crocodil ...

and

Judi Farr Judi Farr (born c.1938/1939), also credited as Judy Farr, is an Australian former actress of theatre, film and television best known for several situation comedy roles on Australian television. Farr has also appeared in Australian films such ...

. Throughout the 1970s, Brown enjoyed great popularity in Australia as a co-star of the satirical television and radio series ''

The Naked Vicar Show ''The Naked Vicar Show'' is a satirical Australian radio and television series. The classic Australian sitcom ''Kingswood Country'' was spawned from sketches in the series. Production The series was written and produced by Gary Reilly and To ...

'' and the quiz show

Graham Kennedy Graham Cyril Kennedy AO (15 February 1934 – 25 May 2005) was an Australian entertainer, comedian and variety performer, as well as a personality and star of radio, theatre, television and film. He often performed in the style of vaudevilli ...

's '' Blankety Blanks''. She was a regular panelist in the ABC

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

'' Would You Believe?'' (1970–74). In 1978 she won a

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 ...

for the most popular NSW female personality. During 2005 Noeline Brown also released her own autobiography titled "Noeline Longtime Memoir" published by Allen & Unwin. In 2006, she was a competitor in ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the form ...

'', and played the role of Leonara Biviano in the Australian film '' Razzle Dazzle: A Journey into Dance'' in 2007. Her earlier film career included roles in ''

Walkabout Walkabout is a rite of passage in Australian Aboriginal society, during which males undergo a journey during adolescence, typically ages 10 to 16, and live in the wilderness for a period as long as six months to make the spiritual and traditiona ...

'' (1971) and '' Emma's War'' (1985). In 2007, she appeared in Bruce Venables' and Richard Fidler's play ''Flying Solo'', directed by

Judy Nunn Judith Anne Nunn ( AM) (born 1945 in Perth, Western Australia), (also published under the pen name of Judy Bernard-Waite), is an Australian fiction author, former theatre and television actress and radio and television screenwriter. Nunn was a ...

, starring alongside Barry Quin,

Paula Duncan Paula or PAULA may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Paula, in video game '' EarthBound'' * Paula, in ''The Larry Sanders Show'' * Paula Campbell (''EastEnders''), in 2003 Film and television * ''Paula'' (1915 film), a s ...

Enda Markey Enda Markey (born 3 June 1976) is an Irish-born, Sydney-based, theatrical producer and former singer and actor. He is the producer of the stage productions ''Side by Side by Sondheim'' and the international tour of Boublil and Schonberg's ''Do ...

and

Jacinta John Jacinta John is an Australian actress, producer and director. She is best known for her performance as Miss Casewell in the (2012–2013) 60th anniversary tour of Agatha Christie's ''The Mousetrap'', which played to an audience of over 150,000 ...

. She was portrayed by

Jane Allsop Jane Claire Allsop is an Australian actress, best known for her role as Jo Parrish on ''Blue Heelers''. Personal life Allsop was born in the United Kingdom, and only a few months after her birth moved to the United States with her father, Joh ...

in the television movie '' The King'', about the life of

. In 2008, she won the Norman Kessell award for best performance for her portrayal of

Florence Foster Jenkins Florence Foster Jenkins (born Narcissa Florence Foster; July 19, 1868 – November 26, 1944) was an American socialite and amateur soprano who became known, and mocked, for her flamboyant performance costumes and notably poor singing ability. ...

in Peter Quilter's play ''Glorious''. She was also appointed Australia's first Ambassador for Ageing by the

Rudd government Rudd Government may refer to the following Australian governments: * Rudd government (2007–10) Rudd Government may refer to the following Australian governments: * Rudd government (2007–10) * Rudd government (2013) {{Dab ... * Rudd gov ...

. In 2009, she co-starred with

Barry Creyton Barry Creyton (born 1939, Brisbane, Queensland) is an Australian actor and playwright. Creyton began his professional career in radio and revue in Melbourne, Australia and became well known in Sydney starring in and writing popular comedy-melod ...

in Peter Quilter's play ''Duet'' at the

Ensemble Theatre The Ensemble Theatre is an Australian theatre company and theatre, situated in the Sydney suburb of Kirribilli, New South Wales. History It is Australia's longest continuously running professional theatre group, having given its first performa ...

in Sydney. She is a longtime member of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

and appeared in It's Time advertisements for the party before the 1972 election. She has twice (1999 and 2003) run for

New South Wales Parliament The Parliament of New South Wales is a bicameral legislature in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New South Wales Legislative Council (upper house). Each ...

as an endorsed Labor Party candidate. In 2017 she published a memoir, ''Living the 1960s'', about her life in that decade when living in

Marrickville Marrickville is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Marrickville is located south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the largest suburb in the Inner West Council local gov ...

in Sydney. Noeline's most recent radio interviews have been for ABC Radio during 2018 and Stages podcast with Peter Eyers in 2019.

Discography

Albums

Personal life

In 1976, Brown married one of the writer/producers of ''

'', Tony Sattler. The couple were close friends of

; Noeline was present when Kennedy died in 2005. She and Sattler have lived in

Bowral Bowral () is the largest town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, about ninety minutes southwest of Sydney. It is the main business and entertainment precinct of the Wingecarribee Shire and Highlands. Bowral once served ...

for many years, and Kennedy moved there to be closer to them. When Kennedy's health began to fail, Sattler and Brown reportedly contacted former Nine Network boss

Kerry Packer Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling ...

to appeal for financial support to care for the ailing star (Kennedy having earned many millions of dollars for Packer and Nine in his heyday); Packer declined to assist Kennedy financially but, after the story became public, an anonymous benefactor (later revealed as former Nine Network chief Sam Chisholm) came forward and donated a substantial sum (reportedly

AU$ The Australian dollar (sign: $; code: AUD) is the currency of Australia, including its external territories: Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island. It is officially used as currency by three independent Pacific Island ...

150,000) for Kennedy's ongoing support and care.

Awards

In November 2017, Brown was honoured with the 2017 Equity Lifetime Achievement Award by the Equity National Performers Committee. In 2020, Brown was awarded in the Australia Day honours "For services to the Performing Arts" In April 2020, Brown was honoured with a stamp in the Australia Post Legends of Comedy issue. FILM TELEVISION

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Noeline 1938 births Living people Australian women comedians Comedians from Sydney Australian film actresses Australian radio personalities Australian women radio presenters Australian stage actresses Australian television actresses Actresses from Sydney Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia