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Anne Haddy

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Anne Haddy
Born
Patricia Anne Haddy[1]

(1930-10-05)5 October 1930
Quorn, South Australia, Australia
Died6 June 1999(1999-06-06) (aged 68)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Occupation(s)Actress, TV presenter, voice artist
Years active1948–1997
Spouse(s)Maxwell Dimmitt (1955-1972; divorced)
James Condon (1977–1999; her death)
Children2

Patricia Anne Haddy (5 October 1930 – 6 June 1999), credited also as Anne Hardy, was an Australian actress, television presenter and voice artist, who worked in various facets of the industry including radio, stage and television. She was married to actor and scriptwriter James Condon.

Haddy appeared in numerous television films early in her career, but was better known for her television soap opera/serials roles, starting with numerous roles in Crawford Production serials, she had a stint in cult series Prisoner, as Alice Hemmings and a permanent role in Sons and Daughters as Rosie Andrews.

She was best known however for her long-running role in the soap Neighbours as matriarch Helen Daniels, spanning twelve years and 1,661 episodes.

Haddy was also a children's entertainer: she was an original presenter on Play School and also a voice artist, having provided her voice in some films from the animated Dot series.

Early life

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Haddy was born on 5 October 1930,[2] in Quorn, South Australia, the only child of to Allan Ross Haddy and Mona Lowas (nee Graham).[3] She attended Adelaide High School. By 1949 she was a member of Theatres Associated, playing Ah, Wilderness! under Margery Irving at Stow Hall.[4] through to 1953 with Cocteau's The Typewriter.[5] She acted in radio plays and school broadcasts while she was working in the University of Adelaide's book room. She later attended the Sydney Theatre Company.[3]

She relocated to the United Kingdom in the 1950s to find acting work, but ended up working as a secretary for Kellogg's. She married her first husband, Max Dimmitt,[6] before returning to Australia, where she gave birth to two children. In 1960, Haddy and her family moved to Sydney. In 1977 Haddy married actor and scriptwriter James Condon, her marriage to Dimmitt having been dissolved.[7] They acted alongside each other twice, both during Haddy's tenure on Neighbours.[3]

Career

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Haddy became one of the first presenters of Play School, a show that has launched the career of many Australian soap actors. She appeared in numerous made-for-television movies in the 1960s, as well as guest roles in serials throughout the 1960s and early 1970s including Wandjina! (1966 Australian Television series), Dynasty (the 1970–71 Australian television series), and Punishment. From the late 1970s onwards her roles in TV soaps where more prominent, with her first major permanent role was in the series Prisoner, where she played Doreen Anderson's mother, who having abandoned Doreen as a youngster, returns to visit her revealing she has terminal cancer. In 1982 until 1985 she played housemaid Rosie Andrews (later Palmer) in Sons and Daughters, before in 1985 taking on her longest and most famous regular role, as series matriarch Helen Daniels, in Neighbours a role she would appear in for the 12 years in 1,162 episodes. At the time of her exit she was the longest serving actor and the only actor who had been with the show since the very first episode.

Personal life and death

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Haddy suffered ill health for the last two decades of her life. She suffered a heart attack in 1979, leading to four bypass operations.[7] Shortly thereafter, she fell and broke her hip, and later learned she had stomach cancer, which was reportedly discovered early and successfully treated surgically. In 1983, she had one of her four heart bypasses unclogged. Further health problems and a broken hip led to kidney trouble, which caused her to retire from acting in 1997.[7] Haddy had remarked that she would like to have her real-life funeral screened as part of Neighbours.[7]

She died at her home in Melbourne from a kidney related illness on 6 June 1999, aged 68.[3] In the UK, the episode of Neighbours that was broadcast on BBC One the following day ended with a dedication to her memory, accompanied by an announcement of her death.

Awards and honours

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Her portrayal of the character Helen Daniels in Neighbours won her the Penguin Award for Sustained Performance by an Actor in a Series in 1987.

In 1988, Haddy was honoured by Oxford University undergraduates who made her an honorary member of the university's Corpus Christi College.[7]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Type
1961 In Writing TV film
1965 Facing Facts Film short
1966 They're a Weird Mob Barmaid Feature film
1971 Where Dead Men Lie Mary Film short
1976 The Fourth Wish Dr. Kirk Feature film
1976 The Alternative Helen (uncredited) TV film
1977 Dot and the Kangaroo Voice Animated feature film
1977 No Room to Run Julie Deakin TV film
1977 Say You Want Me TV film
1978 Cass TV film
1978 Newsfront A.G's Wife Feature film
1979 Boos And Cheers Film short
1979 The Little Convict Lady Augusta Lightfoot (voice) Animated Feature film
1981 Around the World with Dot Dozeyface / Angry Mum / Natasha (voices) Animated feature film
1982 Fighting Back Magistrate Feature film
1982 A Christmas Carol Voice Animated TV film
1983 World War II - The Eastern Front Narrator Film documentary
1983 Dot and the Bunny Voice Animated Feature film

Television

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Year Title Role Type
1961 Waters of the Moon Teleplay
1962 Consider Your Verdict Frances Naughton TV series, 1 episode
1964 The Four-Poster Agnes Teleplay
1964 I Have Been Here Before Janet Ormund Teleplay
1964 The Late Edwina Black Linda Graham Teleplay
1964 A Season in Hell Mathilde Verlaine Teleplay
1965 The Affair Laura Howard ABC Teleplay
1966-1970 Play School Presenter TV series, 25 episodes
1967 Wandjina! Dr. Smith TV series, 2 episodes
1967 Divorce Court TV series, 1 episode
1968 Hunter Jane Wilding TV series, 1 episode
1968 Skippy TV series, 1 episode
1970-1971 Dynasty Kathy Mason TV series, 23 episodes
1970-1973 Homicide Rita Thomas
Mrs Spencer
Joan Mason 		TV series, episodes:
"The Jackson File"
"From the Top"
"Death in the Family"
1972 Behind the Legend Caroline Chisholm TV series, 1 episode
1972 Over There TV series, 4 episodes
1972 The Lady and the Law TV pilot
1972 Crisis TV pilot
1972; 1974 Matlock Police Daphne Mitchell
Kitty Hughes 		TV series, episodes: "Margaret Styles"
"Woman Wanted"
1973 Boney Mary Parker
Mrs. Cosgrove 		TV series, 2 episodes
1973 Division 4 Maggie Henderson TV series, 1 episode
1973 The Evil Touch Ellen Randall TV series, 1 episode
1973 Seven Little Australians Mrs. Bryant TV miniseries, 1 episode
1974 Three Men of the City Margaret Styles TV series, 3 episodes
1974 Silent Number Claire Armstrong TV series, 1 episode
1974-1975 Certain Women Barbara TV series, 18 episodes
1975 Ben Hall Eileen TV series, 1 episode
1975 The Company Men
(series 2 of Three Men of the City)[8] 		Margaret Styles TV miniseries, 7 episodes
1976 Divisions in Space Narrator TV documentary
1976 King's Men TV series,
episode: "The Assassins"
1978 Glenview High Mrs. O'Brien TV series, 1 episode
1978 Chopper Squad Iris Grey TV series, 1 episode
1978 Case for the Defence Mary TV series, 1 episode
1978 Micro Macro Herself TV series, 1 episode
1979 A Place in the World TV series, 1 episode
1979 The Restless Years TV series
1979 Skyways TV series, 1 episode
1979 Prisoner Alice Hemmings TV series, 5 episodes
1980 Cop Shop Louise Francis TV series, 8 episodes
1980 Spring & Fall Margaret TV series,
episode "The Silent Cry"
1980 Australian Wildlife - Echidna Narrator TV documentary
1981 A Town Like Alice Aggie Topp TV miniseries, 1 episode
1981 Punishment Alice Wells TV series, 1 episode
1982-84; 1985 Sons and Daughters Rosie Andrews / Rosie Palmer TV series, 273 episodes
1982 1915 Mrs. Gillen TV miniseries, 2 episodes
1985-1997 Neighbours Helen Daniels TV series, 1189 episodes
1988 Going Live! Guest TV series, 1 episode
1988 Wogan Guest TV series, 1 episode
1988 Royal Variety Performance Herself (with Neighbours cast) TV special
1988 The Satellite Show Guest TV series, 1 episode
1989 In Melbourne Today Guest - Herself TV series, 1 episode
1989 A Tribute To Neighbours: Celebrating 1000 Episodes Herself / Helen Daniels TV special
1990 The Private War of Lucinda Smith Mrs. Spencer Grant TV miniseries, 2 episodes
1990 Happy Birthday, Coronation Street Herself TV special
1993-1997 Good Morning Australia Herself (with husband James Condon) TV series, 6 episodes
1995 Neighbours: A 10th Anniversary Celebration Herself / Helen Daniels TV special
1997 In Melbourne Tonight Herself (with husband James Condon) TV series, 1 episode

Theatre

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Year Title Role Type
1949 Ah, Wilderness! Stow Hall with Theatres Associated[4]
1953 The Typewriter Stow Hall with Theatres Associated[5]
1967 Hostile Witness Sheila Larkin Tivoli Theatre, Sydney, Princess Theatre, Melbourne[9]

References

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  1. ^ Arrow, Michelle. Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023 – via Australian Dictionary of Biography.
  2. ^ "Family Notices". The Register News-pictorial. Vol. XCV, no. 27, 814. South Australia. 7 October 1930. p. 7. Retrieved 28 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ a b c d Owen, Emma (8 June 1999). "Anne Haddy". The Guardian. UK: Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  4. ^ a b ""Ah, Wilderness" At Stow Hall". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 28 March 1949. p. 7. Retrieved 2 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ a b "Cocteau Play at Stow Hall". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Vol. 96, no. 29, 559. South Australia. 9 July 1953. p. 4. Retrieved 2 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "London Wedding for a W.A. Man". The Daily News (Perth). Vol. LXXIII, no. 24, 416. Western Australia. 24 February 1955. p. 3. Archived from the original on 16 August 2024. Retrieved 2 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ a b c d e Hayward, Anthony (8 June 1999). "Obituary: Anne Haddy". The Independent. UK: Independent Print Limited. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
  8. ^ Moran's Guide to Australian TV Series. p. 454. This ref has 7 episodes not 5
  9. ^ "Theatre Heritage Australia Digital Collection". digital.theatreheritage.org.au. Archived from the original on 16 August 2024. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
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