Maggie Kirkpatrick


Margaret Anne Kirkpatrick is an Australian stage and screen actress who has appeared in numerous theatre, television and feature film roles since the late 1950s.
Kirkpatrick starred in the TV series Prisoner, portraying the character "The Freak" Joan Ferguson, a prison officer with a sinister and cold personality.
She performed in the premiere Australian production of the musical Wicked as Madame Morrible.
Kirkpatrick has appeared in numerous TV series including Richmond Hill, Water Rats, G.P. and Blue Heelers, as well as two roles in All Saints and Home and Away.
In 2019, she released her autobiography The Gloves Are Off: The Inside Story From Prisoner to Wicked.

Biography

Margaret Anne Downs was born in Albury, New South Wales, to James and Crissie Downs. When she was seven months old her father was killed while on active national service as a soldier in North Africa, leaving her mother to bring her up alone. Her mother later married John Anderson and had a son, Adrian. The family moved to Newcastle, New South Wales, where Kirkpatrick grew up. She had had an interest in acting from an early age, and appeared in several school plays. By November 1955 she became fed up with school and left, whereupon her mother sent her to drama lessons.
In 1960, at the age of 19, Kirkpatrick took her first professional acting job, with theatre impresario John Alden's Shakespeare Company. After this initial production she promptly gave up acting. Kirkpatrick subsequently took various jobs, including working in dress shop, as a medical receptionist, compère of fashion parades, and she also had jobs in bars, restaurants, and hotels.
Downs married Norman Kirkpatrick, a merchant seaman of the Shankill Road in Belfast, in September 1963. Five years later they moved to Sydney where Kirkpatrick decided to resume her acting career. After appearing in two plays she put her acting career on hold once again, this time due to the arrival of her daughter Caitlin. Kirkpatrick resumed theatre work as Caitlin got older from 1964 onwards, and from 1976 onwards moved on to television and cinema.
Kirkpatrick appeared in the music video for "Anthem for the Year 2000" by rock band Silverchair.
She is a supporter of gay rights, having made numerous appearances at "Fair Day" as part of the annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival. She has been awarded the Sydney Gay Community's DIVA award for her work.
Kirkpatrick returned to TV in 2017 after a 9-year hiatus, having in recent years appearing primarily in theatre roles, appearing in Australian TV mini-series The Letdown.

Personal life

In July 2015, Kirkpatrick was charged with child sexual assault against a 13-year-old girl in the 1980s. She strongly denied the allegations and said she would fight to clear her name of the two counts of indecent assault and one count of gross indecency with a person under the age of 16. In a statement Kirkpatrick said, "Yes, allegations have been levelled at me. Are they true? Absolutely not." She appeared in court in August 2015 and was found guilty on 20 August. She was subsequently sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order, including 100 hours of community service. Kirkpatrick appealed the case and won, with Judge Geoffrey Chettle finding that there was reasonable doubt surrounding the circumstances, and dismissing the conviction and charges.

Filmography

Film
TitleYearRoleNotes
1976Summer of SecretsFeature film
1977The FJ HoldenBetty ArmsteadFeature film
1978The Night, the ProwlerMadge HopkirkFeature film
1978The Getting of WisdomSarahFeature film
1982The Pirate MovieRuthFeature film
1993Encounters Aunt HelenFeature film
1995Billy's HolidayMaureen O'HaraFeature film
1996Lilian's StoryFeature film
1997Welcome to Woop WoopGingerFeature film
2002HettyThelmaFilm short

Television
YearTitleCharacterType
1971The Thursday Creek MobTV series
1972Snake Gully with Dad and DaveTV series
1972The GodfathersDaisy SimmonsTV series, 1 episode
1977Father, Dear Father in AustraliaMrs. FloydTV series, season 1, episode 12: "The Wisdom of Patrick"
1978Chopper SquadMrs. RolandTV series, season 2, episode 3: "A Deed Without a Name"
1979The OracleTV series, 1 episode
1981Cop ShopAunt FlorrieTV series, 3 episodes
1982JonahTV miniseries, 4 episodes
1982Spring & FallAnneTV series, season 2, episode 4: "Thanks Brother"
1982–1986PrisonerJoan 'The Freak' FergusonTV series, season 4–8, 389 episodes, regular role
1987Dearest EnemyTV pilot
1988Richmond HillIvy HackettTV series, 59 episodes, regular role
1990Betty's BunchBettyTV series, 9 episodes, lead role
1990The Ham FuneralMrs. FauburgusTeleplay
1990TV Celebrity Dance PartyHerself as Joan 'The Freak' Ferguson TV special
1991Home and AwayAunt Jean ChambersTV series, 7 episodes, recurring role
1991The Miraculous MellopsMrs. KafkaTV series, 3 episodes
1992Hey Dad..!Sister MaureenTV series, season 8 episode 1: "Nun The Wiser"
1994The FeralsAunt MavisTV series, season 1, episode 8: "Rock Horror"
1995G.P.Joan MullinsTV series, season 7, episode 13: "Relative Strangers"
1999Water RatsSadie SeymorTV series, 1 episode, Season 4, episode 20 "Red Light"
2000PizzaJoan FergusonTV series, season 1, episode 9: "Gambling Pizza"
2000Blue HeelersMarj CummingsTV series, season 7, episode 21: "The Gumshoe"
2001All SaintsDawn HealyTV series, season 4, episode 18: "Bed of Roses"
2003–04Home And AwayViv 'The Guv' StandishTV series, 11 episodes; season 16–17, recurring role
2008All SaintsMariaTV series, season 11, episode 7: "Little Decisions"
2017The LetdownLoisTV series, season 1, episode 6: "Mother Nature"
2018SandoCatherineTV series, season 1, episode 1: "Prodigal Mum"
2018The Bureau of Magical ThingsDoris TV series, 4 episodes
2021EdenFlorence EdenTV series, 4 episodes

Other appearances

Theatre

Source: AusStage
TitleYear
The Hostage1958
Lysistrata1961
Flash Jim Vaux1965
Postmark Zero1968
America Hurrah1968
Going, Going, Gone!1968
The Skin of our Teeth1969
You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running1969
The Bandwagon1970
Mate1970
Tom Paine1971
Edward John Eyre / The Soldiers Tale1971
Truth1971
Childhood's Doll1971
The Disorderly Women1971
The Seagull1972
A Voyage Round My Father1973
Irene1974 / 1975
Songs from Sideshow Alley1975
All Over1976
Family Lore1976
A Man of Respect1976
We Find the Bunyip1976
The Ripper Show 1976
Don't Piddle Against the Wind, Mate1977
The Time Is Not Yet Ripe1977
The Lower Depths1977
The Cassidy Album: A Hard God/Furtive Love/ An Eager Hope1978
Da1978
The Night of the Iguana1979
A Cheery Soul1979
Deathtrap1979
The Druid's Rest1979
Pirates at the Barn1980
The One Day of the Year1980
Farewell Brisbane Ladies1981
Little Me1983
Absurd Person Singular1986
Emerald City1987
Blood Relations1987
Anything Goes1989
The Ham Funeral1989
Don's Party1990
Sailor Beware!1991
Prisoner: Cell Block H: The Musical1992 UK
Lend Me a Tenor1993
The Shoe-Horn Sonata1995
The Wild Women Of Wentworth 1995–96 UK
The Screw Is Loose1997
A Passionate Woman1997
Social Climbers1998
A Delicate Balance1998
The Cripple of Inishmaan1998
The Beauty Queen of Leenane1999–2000
Peggy for You2000
Singin in the Rain2001–02
Major Barbara2003
Still Here2003
The Shoe-Horn Sonata2004–05
The Q Story2005
Fiddler on the Roof2005
Wicked2008–15