Lorraine Bayly
Lorraine Daphne Bayly AM is an Australian retired actress of film, television and theatre, narrator, puppeter, presenter, singer, dancer, pianist and theatre director, stage manager and writer.
Bayly has been a performer since she was a child, and became a professional actress in 1954, having started in theatre. She is perhaps best known to small screen audiences for her roles in the drama The Sullivans as Grace Sullivan, legal drama Carson's Law as Jennifer Carson and soap opera Neighbours as Faye Hudson. She is well-known also for children's series Play School, having been an original presenter from 1966 until 1978.
Early life
Bayly was born in the western New South Wales Riverina town of Booligal in January 1937, growing up alongside her sister June, who was three-and-a-half years younger. Her first performance was at age 3, playing tambourine with the Salvation Army.The family moved south to Narrandera after her father, who worked for police force, was transferred. Her father was also an amateur magician and ventriloquist. When Bayly was five, the family moved again, to Batemans Bay, 280 kilometres south of Sydney. From age five, she wrote, directed and starred in plays in the local jail.
At the age of six, Bayly's parents divorced and she went to live in more than 180km away in Batlow with her father, while her younger sister stayed with her mother in Batemans Bay. They were only able to see each other during the school holidays. From the age of nine, Bayly had her own ventriloquist act, which 35 years later she performed on The Parkinson Show, using host Michael Parkinson as her dummy.
At the age of eleven, Bayly moved to Sydney with her father, where she "endured" two stepmothers. From age 11 to 12, she played classical piano Saturday afternoons live on Radio 2UE.
When Bayly left home, she worked in the ledger department of a bank in Sydney's Martin Place. In her late teens, she undertook free acting classes under Hayes Gordon for 18 months, while she helped convert a Kirribilli boatshed into a theatre, together with other students. This lead to her becoming one of the founding member of Sydney's Ensemble Theatre, which she helped launch at the age of 21.
Bayly's father never got to see her acting, as he died several days before he was due to watch her perform in her first professional play, in 1958.
Career
Theatre
Bayly has performed in theatre since 1954. Her early performances for Ensemble Theatre included The Man, The Drunkard, The Lonely Hearts, The Buffalo Skinner and Fairytales of New York, winning acclaim for her role in the latter.Further plays with Ensemble Theatre included The Rehearsal for which Bayly also won critical acclaim, as well as Invitation to a March, The Rimers of Eldritch, The Daughter-in-Law, Come Laughing Home, We Bombed in New Haven, Three Months Gone and Who's Who.
She also appeared in several plays for J. C. Williamson's including The Season at Sarsaparilla, Mary, Mary, which also included a long tour of New Zealand and Chase Me Comrade.
While filming Play School, Bayly appeared on stage in D. H. Lawrence play The Daughter-in-Law for Ensemble Theatre in 1969. and would head home after the show to study the Play School script. Further J. C. Williamson's productions followed, with Who Killed Santa Claus?, Suddenly at Home, The Male of the Species opposite English actor Edward Woodward and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, playing the role of Mona in the latter.
In 1991, Bayly performed in a touring production of Gas Light with Theatre of Comedy. She then played Mrs Patrick Campbell in Dear Liar, and Margaret in a 1996 Ensemble Theatre staging of Rough Justice. In 1997, she went on to play the role of Linda Loman, opposite Max Cullen as Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman at the Sydney Opera House, again for Ensemble Theatre. The staging won best production in the Sydney Critics Circle Awards.
Bayly took a hiatus from acting in 2003, after the closing night of a production of David Williamson’s Birthrights, at the Sydney Opera House. She returned to the stage during a 2007 production of Rabbit Hole with Ensemble Theatre.
In 2010, Bayly starred in the play Calendar Girls, a stage adaptation of the 2003 film of the same name, alongside an all-star cast including Rhonda Burchmore, Cornelia Frances and Jean Kittson. In 2012, she appeared in David Williamson's When Dad Married Fury.
In 2015, Bayly featured in an Ensemble Theatre staging of John Misto’s The Shoe-Horn Sonata, reprising her lead role as Sheila from an earlier performance back in 1997. The same year, Bayly played Frau Schmidt in a 2015 national tour of Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music, alongside Cameron Daddo as Captain Von Trapp and Marina Prior as Baroness Schraeder. The production, which marked the 50th anniversary of the film, was also Bayly's 50th stage show.
Her other stage credits include Arthur Miller's The Last Yankee and David Williamson's Travelling North.
Television and film
Bayly's television debut was in 1960, performing comedy sketches as Leonard Teale's daughter on The Bobby Limb Show. Then, at the age of 20, she had a short-lived Sunday morning program, called Slim As You Clean with Lorraine Bayly.Her other early credits included playing an air hostess in 1966 ABC series Be Our Guest alongside Jacki Weaver and ABC sci-fi series The Interpretaris, in which she played astronaut Vera Balovna. This was followed by guest roles in Homicide, Division 4, Hunter, The Rovers and Spyforce. She also appeared in 1975 Disney TV movie Ride a Wild Pony.
Bayly then landed an ongoing role on the long-running children's series Play School. She was one of the original presenters from 1966 to 1978, along with John Hamblin, John Waters, and Anne Haddy.
In 1976, while appearing in the drama Case for the Defence and playing a guest role on soap opera Class of ‘74, Bayly was asked to audition for her best-known role as maternal figure Grace Sullivan in The Sullivans, a drama series set during the Second World War. She won the role, but had to relinquish her Sydney-based Play School presenter duties, in order to relocate to Melbourne. Actress Noni Hazlehurst took over her job when she left the show. Bayly was only in her 30s in 1976, when she began in the role of Grace, who was the mother of adult sons, so was styled to appear older.
Originally only signed for 13 weeks, Bayly left The Sullivans in 1979, after 2 and a half years, wanting to return to theatre work, and as a result, her character was written out as the victim of a German V-1 flying bomb in London. By 1978, she had become the highest-paid series actress in the history of Australian television.
After leaving The Sullivans, Bayly appeared in 1980 children's film Fatty Finn, 1982 Australian classic The Man From Snowy River, alongside Kirk Douglas and Sigrid Thornton and 1982 miniseries 1915.
From 1982 to 1984, Bayly played the lead role in another period television drama Carson's Law, as progressive lawyer Jennifer Carson, set in 1920s Melbourne. The episodes revolved around the cases taken on by Carson and the various personal intrigues of her family. The series also starred Kevin Miles as Jennifer's father-in-law Godfrey Carson and Gregg Caves, as Billy Carson. The series was written specifically for Bayly.
Bayly next portrayed Alan Bond’s wife Eileen, alongside John Wood and Nicholas Hammond in the 1986 miniseries The Challenge, based on Australia's win in America's Cup. She also appeared in 1989 murder mystery miniseries Grim Pickings, based on the novel by Jennifer Rowe, playing the role of Betsy Tander.
From 1991 to 1992, Bayly had a supporting in long-running soap opera Neighbours as Faye Hudson. Faye was a 'busybody' who moved in with her brother Doug Willis and his extended family. Having been told it would be a role similar to the character of Dynasty’s Alexis Carrington, Bayly was disappointed when shortly into shooting, she discovered the role was quite different, and told producers she could no longer take on the role. Wanting her to stay, the producers allowed her to tweak the character and they adjusted some of the scripts accordingly.
In 2004, Bayly played Lindy Chamberlain's mother Avis Murchison in 2004 miniseries Through My Eyes: The Lindy Chamberlain Story, alongside Miranda Otto, Peter O'Brien and Craig McLachlan.
Bayly's additional television guest credits have included A Country Practice, G.P. and Pizza.
Retirement
Bayly first retired from acting on the advice of her doctor on 2 August 2003, the closing night of a season of Birthrights, at the Sydney Opera House. Her blood pressure had become dangerously high and she was put on medication. Once it had regulated, she returned to acting, appearing in an Ensemble Theatre production of Rabbit Hole in 2007.In 2016, in her 80s, Bayly once again retired from acting, due to numerous other health issues.
Personal life and health issues
Bayly's partner of 20 years was journalist, Steve O'Baugh, Los Angeles bureau chief for News Limited. Originally from Tennessee, O'Baugh had moved to Australia in 1965. O'Baugh died from a heart attack related to kidney disease on 27 January 1996 at the age of 47, in Los Angeles. Bayly has lived alone in Sydney's Neutral Bay since he died.Bayly was diagnosed with pneumonia in 2018, leading to a partially collapsed lung. In 2019, shortly after her recovery, she was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer and subsequently underwent a right mastectomy as well as having five lymph nodes removed. When the COVID pandemic hit, she then isolated in her one-bedroom Sydney apartment, for two and a half years, to recuperate and due to being immunocompromised.
Bayly is a skilled ventriloquist, and has studied hairdressing and make-up artistry. At 60, she learnt to play the saxophone, to performance standard. At 70, she took up tennis, qualifying for the 2009 World Masters Games within two years.
Honours, awards & nominations (selected)
Bayly has won numerous awards, including two Silver Logies in 1978 and 1979 for Most Popular Actress in The Sullivans.Bayly was made a member of the Order of Australia by The Queen in the Australia Day Honours List 2001. She was also named in Australian Variety's '100 Entertainers of the Century' in 2006.
Bayly was also honoured as the subject of an episode of This is Your Life in 1979.
When Bayly retired from acting, the restaurant at Sydney's Ensemble Theatre was named 'Bayly's Bistro' in her honour.