Helen Morse
Australian actress
Helen Morse
Born (1947-01-24 ) 24 January 1947 (age 77) Occupation Actress Years active 1965–present
Helen Morse (born 24 January 1947) is an English-born Australian actress who has appeared in films, on television and on stage.[ 1] She won the AFI Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for the 1976 film Caddie , and starred in the 1981 miniseries A Town Like Alice . Her other film appearances include Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), Agatha (1979), Far East (1982) and The Eye of the Storm (2011).
Early life and education
Morse was born in Harrow on the Hill , Middlesex , England, in 1947. She was the oldest of four children; her parents were a doctor and nurse.[ 2] She moved to Australia in 1950 with her family.[ 3] She attended school at Presbyterian Ladies' College in Burwood, Victoria , and graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1965,[ 3] and trained with Brian Syron in Sydney.
Career
Film & Television
Morse won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in the 1976 film Caddie . Her notable screen performances also include roles in the film Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) and the television miniseries A Town Like Alice .
Morse had roles on many television productions, including three episodes of The Doctor Blake Mysteries in 2014 (Series 2), 2015 (Series 3), and 2016 (Series 4).
Theatre
Since her early work with Jim Sharman in the 1960s and 70s – A Taste of Honey , Terror Australis , As You Like It ,[ 4] Morse has worked in over ninety theatre productions.
Morse has worked with many companies including Melbourne Theatre Company , Ensemble Theatre , The Independent , Nimrod Theatre Company , Marian Street Theatre , Sydney Theatre Company , Hunter Valley Theatre Company, Queensland Theatre Company , Harvest Theatre Company (South Australia) and the State Theatre Company of South Australia .
In 2002 and again in 2008, Morse played the role of Theodora Goodman in Adam Cook's adaptation of Patrick White 's The Aunt's Story .[ 5] Her 2004 performance as Nancy in Bryony Lavery 's Frozen for the Melbourne Theatre Company earned her a Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Play nomination. She has since been nominated for productions of John by Annie Baker (Melbourne Theatre Company ), and Memorial by Alice Oswald (Brink Productions). In 2020, she won a Green Room Award for her performance in 33 Variations by Moisés Kaufman (Cameron Lukey and Neil Gooding Productions).
Filmography
Film
Year
Title
Role
Type
1968
The Return of the Boomerang
Film short
1970
Adam's Woman
Maggie
Feature film
1974
Petersen
Jane / Charles' mistress
Feature film
1974
Stone
Amanda
Feature film
1975
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Mlle. de Poitiers
Feature film
1976
Caddie
Caddie Marsh
Feature film
1978
Tapak Dewata Java
Film short
1979
Agatha
Evelyn
Feature film
1979
The First Christmas
Voice
Film short
1982
Far East
Jo Reeves
Feature film
1984
Iris (aka Out of Time )
Iris / Sammie
Feature film
1997
The Bridge
Film short
2000
Lost
Mrs. Harris
Film short
2011
The Eye of the Storm
Lotte
Feature film
2015
Downriver
Mary
Feature film
Television
Year
Title
Role
Type
1966
Twelfth Night
Olivia
Teleplay
1966
The Runaway
Jenny
Teleplay
1966; 1967
Australian Playhouse
Beatrice / Patty Hutton
TV series, 2 episodes: "No Dogs On Diamond Street" / "Sailor's Trousers"
1967
The Queen's Bishop
Teleplay
1967–72
Homicide
Stella Lee / Joanne Edwards / Pamela Chandler
TV series, 3 episodes
1967
You Can't See 'Round Corners
Karen
TV series, 1 episode
1967
Contrabandits
Angela Carrol
TV series, 1 episode
1968
The Great Barrier Reef
Narrator
Film documentary
1968
This Day Tonight
Herself on stage set 'Terra Australis' with Garry McDonald & Peter Rowley
ABC TV series, 1 episode
1969
Love and War – Intersection
Teleplay
1969–74
Division 4
Mrs. Kirby / Angela Hughes / Penny Horton / Christine Marriott / Tina Findlay / Angela McGregor
TV series, 6 episodes
1969
Riptide
Joanna Decker
TV series, 1 episode
1969
The Pressure Pak Show
Guest
TV series, 1 episode
1970
A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court
Voice
Animated TV movie
1970
Barrier Reef
Joan Norris
TV series, 1 episode
1971
The Legend Of Robin Hood
Voice
Animated TV movie
1971
Spyforce
Joan / Nurse
TV series, 2 episodes: "The Escape"
1972
The Spoiler
TV series, 1 episode
1972
Travels of Marco Polo
Princess Cocacin (voice)
Animated TV movie
1972
Crisis
Margie
TV pilot
1972
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
Dockdaisy
Teleplay
1972
Matlock Police
Susan Williams
TV series, 1 episode
1972
Quartet
TV series, 1 episode: "The Last Great Journey"
1972
The Kenneth Connor Show
Various characters
TV series, 4 episodes
1973; 1974
Ryan
Shirley Green / Goldie Taylor
TV series, 2 episodes
1974
Things that Go Bump in the Night
Kalie Ingham
TV series, 1 episode
1974
Marion
Marion Richards
TV miniseries, 4 episodes
1974
This Love Affair
TV series, 1 episode 11: "A Family Christmas"
1974
A Touch of Reverence
TV miniseries
1975
Ivanhoe
Voice
Animated TV movie
1976
Luke's Kingdom
Kate
TV miniseries, 13 episodes
1976
Power Without Glory
TV miniseries
1976
Obsession – Kill Kaplan!
Teleplay
1979
The Sullivans
TV series
1980; 1982
The Mike Walsh Show
Guest - Herself
TV series, 1 episode
1981
A Town Like Alice
Jean Paget
TV miniseries, 3 episodes
1982
Logie Awards of 1982
Herself
TV special
1982
The Mike Walsh Show
Guest - Herself
TV series, 1 episode
1982
Silent Reach
Antonia Russell
TV miniseries, 2 episodes
1982
Parkinson in Australia
Guest (with Bryan Brown)
TV series, 1 episode
1983
Australian Movies to the World
Herself
TV special
1985
Sherlock Holmes and the Baskerville Curse
Beryl Stapleton (voice)
Animated TV movie
1985
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Maid Marion (voice)
Animated TV movie
1991
In Sydney Today
Guest
TV series, 1 episode
1992
Bony
unknown
TV series, 1 episode
1993
Review
Guest presenter
TV series, 1 episode
1995; 1997
Good Morning Australia
Guest
TV series, 2 episodes
1997
Night of the Bogongs
Narrator
TV documentary
1999
Stone Forever
Herself
TV special
2000
Pozières
Herself
TV movie documentary
2002
Caddie on Location
Herself
Film documentary
2003
Love Letters from a War
Narrator
TV movie
2004
A Dream within a Dream: The Making of 'Picnic at Hanging Rock '
Herself
Film documentary
2008
The Prime Minister is Missing
Narrator
TV documentary
2010
City Homicide
Penelope McVeigh
TV series, 1 episode
2010
Mary McKillop: Soul of the Sunburnt Country
Mary McKillop (voice)
Video documentary
2012
The Mystery of a Hansom Cab
Mother Guttersnipe
TV movie
2014, 2016
The Doctor Blake Mysteries
Agnes Clasby
TV series, 3 episodes
2014
Picnic at Hanging Rock: Everything Begins and Ends
Herself
Film documentary
2016
Molly
Grandmother
TV miniseries, 2 episodes
2016
Barracuda
Margot Taylor
TV miniseries, 2 episodes
Theatre
As actor
Year
Title
Role
Venue / Company
1964
Extracts from Shakespeare
Celia in As You Like it and Jaquenetta in Love's Labour's Lost
UNSW
1964
Our Town
Mrs Gibbs
UNSW Old Tote Theatre
1964
Two Programs of One Act Plays: Love and How to Cure It
Linda
UNSW Old Tote Theatre
1964
Two Programs of Short Plays: The Chinese Wall / Hamlet
Mee Lan the Chinese princess / Ophelia
University of NSW, Old Tote Theatre
1965
Uncle Ben
Hetty
UNSW
1965
A Series of Dance Pieces: Ballad of the Drover's Wife
Dance group
UNSW
1965
Othello
UNSW Old Tote Theatre
1965
Down in the Valley / Leonard Teale & Andy Sundstrom
Jenny Parsons
UNSW Old Tote Theatre
1965
The Plough and the Stars
Bessie Burgess
UNSW Old Tote Theatre
1965
A Taste of Honey
Cell Block Theatre, Darlinghurst
1965
The Business of Good Government
Assembly Hall, Sydney
1967
The Imaginary Invalid
UNSW Old Tote Theatre
1967
A Lily In Little India
Independent Theatre
1967
The School for Scandal
UNSW Old Tote Theatre
1968
Terror Australis
Jane Street Theatre
1968
Private Lives
Hunter Theatre, The Junction, Palace Theatre, Sydney
1968
Present Laughter
Hunter Theatre, The Junction, Palace Theatre, Sydney
1969
Pygmalion
UNSW Parade Theatre , Canberra Theatre Centre
1969
The Merchant of Venice
UNSW Parade Theatre
1970
The Seagull
Scott Theatre, Adelaide
1970
What the Butler Saw
Phillip Street Theatre
1971
As You Like It
Celia
UNSW Parade Theatre
1971
The Man of Mode
UNSW Parade Theatre
1971
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
UNSW Parade Theatre , Canberra Theatre
1971
The Dutch Courtesan
UNSW Parade Theatre
1971
The National Health or Nurse Norton's Affair
UNSW Parade Theatre
1971
Lasseter
UNSW Parade Theatre
1971
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
UNSW Parade Theatre
1972
Rooted
Nimrod Theatre Company
1972-73
Tom
Russell Street Theatre
1976
The Wolf
Vilma
UNSW Parade Theatre
1977
The Time Is Not Yet Ripe
Doris
Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre
1978
A Visit with the Family
Kit
Nimrod Theatre Company
1979
Rain
Sadie Thompson
Ensemble Theatre
1979
Not I
Mouth
Nimrod Theatre Company
1979
Vicki Madison Clocks Out
Vicki Madison
Nimrod Theatre Company
1980
Cyrano de Bergerac
Roxanne
Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre
1982
Duet for One
Stephanie Abrahams
His Majesty's Theatre, Perth , Playhouse Adelaide, Marian Street Theatre , Newcastle Civic Theatre , Playhouse Canberra , Theatre Royal, Hobart , Melbourne Athenaeum , Theatre Royal, Sydney
1985
Private Lives
Playhouse, Newcastle
1985
Blithe Spirit
Civic Playhouse, Newcastle
1985
Pride and Prejudice
Queensland
1986
A Happy and Holy Occasion
Brenda
Playhouse, Newcastle
1986-87
A Streetcar Named Desire
Blanche DuBois
His Majesty's Theatre, Perth , Playhouse, Melbourne , Her Majesty's Theatre Sydney
1987
Away
Shanghai
1987
Twelfth Night
Playhouse, Melbourne
1987
The Rivers of China
Katherine Mansfield
Wharf Theatre , Playhouse Melbourne
1988
Europe by Michael Gow
Barbara
Australian national tour
1988
Hedda Gabler
Hedda
Playhouse, Melbourne
1989
The Cherry Orchard
Carlotta
Playhouse, Melbourne
1989-90
The Recruiting Officer
Playhouse, Melbourne
1989-90
Our Country's Good
Lizzie Morden
Playhouse, Melbourne , Playhouse Adelaide
1989-90
Mrs Klein
Russell Street Theatre , Marian Street Theatre
1990
The Tempest
Ariel
Playhouse, Melbourne |
1990
Nothing Sacred
Playhouse, Melbourne
1990
Away
Coral
Malthouse Theatre
1991
The Crucible
Elizabeth Proctor
Playhouse, Melbourne
1991
The Marriage of Figaro
Playhouse, Melbourne
1991
On Our Selection
Playhouse, Melbourne
1992
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Playhouse Adelaide
1992
'Tis Pity She's a Whore
Playhouse, Adelaide
1992-93
Death and the Maiden
Wharf Theatre , Russell Street Theatre , Playhouse Perth , Space Theatre, Adelaide , Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre with Sydney Theatre Company
1993
Under Milk Wood
Playhouse, Adelaide
1994
The Tin Soldier and The Paper Bag Princess
Narrator
Lyric Theatre
1995
Arcadia
Hannah
Playhouse, Melbourne , Playhouse Adelaide, Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre , Theatre Royal, Hobart , Canberra Theatre , His Majesty's Theatre, Perth
1995-96
Good Works by Nick Enright
Malthouse Theatre , Space Theatre, Adelaide , Wharf Theatre
1997
A Little Night Music
Playhouse, Melbourne , Princess Theatre Melbourne , Theatre Royal, Sydney,
1998
The Woman in the Window by Alma De Groen
Fairfax Studio, Melbourne
2000
Keene / Taylor Theatre Project
Sydney Opera House
2001
The Twilight Series
Ensemble
Collins Street Baptist Church
2001
Kaddish
Span Gallery, Melbourne with Keene/Taylor Theatre Projects
2001-02
The Aunt's Story
Theodora Goodman
Playhouse, Melbourne , Belvoir Street Theatre , Playhouse, South Bank
2003-04
Frozen
Nancy
Fairfax Studio, Melbourne, Wharf Theatre with Sydney Theatre Company / Melbourne Theatre Company Nominated for a Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Play
2004
Hats Off! to Sondheim
National Theatre, Melbourne
2005
The Breath of Life
Glen Street Theatre , Tuggeranong Arts Centre, Jetty Memorial Theatre, Coffs Harbour, Ipswich Civic Hall, Sunshine Coast Events Centre, Queensland University of Technology , Dunstan Playhouse
2005
Ivanov
fortyfivedownstairs
2007
Beckett Poetry and Prose
Parade Theatre
2007
Homer's Iliad
The Stork Hotel, Melbourne
2007
The Odyssey
The Stork Hotel, Melbourne
2007
Beyond Cuisine
Fortyfivedownstairs
2008
Architektin
Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide
2008
The Aunt's Story
Theodora Goodman
2009
The Year of Magical Thinking
Joan Didion
The New Dolphin Theatre, Crawley, Albany Town Hall Theatre
2010
Duets for Lovers and Dreamers
Fortyfivedownstairs
2011
Sundowner
Phee Broadway Theatre, Castlemaine
2012
Signs of Life
Western Australia tour & Sydney Opera House
2012
The Curtain
Southbank Theatre
2013
Sundowner
National tour
2013
Brel
Singer
Space Theatre, Adelaide
2014
Once in Royal David's City
Belvoir
2016
Wit
Fortyfivedownstairs
2017
John by Annie Baker
Mertis Katherine Graven
Fairfax Studio, Melbourne with Melbourne Theatre Company Nominated for a Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Play
2017
Angels in America
Fortyfivedownstairs
2018
Memorial by Alice Oswald
Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide, Playhouse, South Bank , Barbican Centre, London with Brink Productions Nominated for a Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Play
2019
33 Variations
Dr Ladenburger
Comedy Theatre, Melbourne Won a Green Room Award
2020
Escaped Alone
Belvoir
2022
Escaped Alone & What If If Only
Mrs Jarrett / Fs
Southbank Theatre
The Funniest Man in the World
Keene/Taylor Theatre Projects
As director
[ 6]
Personal life
Morse was married from 1967 until 1976 to Australian actor and director Sandy Harbutt , who she met while starring in a stage production of A Taste of Honey in Newcastle.[ 7] They also starred together in Stone .
References
^ George Tosi, "Helen Morse and Richard Mason", Cinema Papers , August 1982, pp. 311–315.
^ Musgrove, Nan (27 August 1975). "Film role of the year for Helen Morse" . The Australian Women's Weekly – via Trove, National Library of Australia .
^ a b Moran, Albert; Keating, Chris (4 August 2009). The A to Z of Australian Radio and Television . Scarecrow Press. p. 264. ISBN 978-0-8108-7022-2 . Retrieved 24 July 2019 .
^ "On the Couch with Helen Morse" . Arts Review . 10 November 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2019 .
^ Bryce Hallett The Aunt's Story Review in The Sydney Morning Herald , 16 August 2002
^ https://ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/2365 [bare URL ]
^ "Marriage comes before a career" . Australian Women's Weekly . 12 June 1968 – via Trove, National Library of Australia.
External links
International National Other