No snub for Prisoner’s top dog
Update: Val Lehman has accepted an invitation to attend Prisoner reunion, after organisers deny she was snubbed.
- Published by David Knox
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The organiser of a Prisoner reunion and charity event has denied a media report that suggests “top dog” Val Lehman has been snubbed from the invite list.
Former cast members will gather at a St. Kilda venue on 11/11/11 to raise funds for HIV / AIDS awareness and non-profit group Audacious Dreaming.
Lehman told the Daily Telegraph that cast disagreements over not receiving royalties may have been a factor in her not receiving an invitation.
But longtime Prisoner fan Barry Campbell of UK group Screen Star Events told TV Tonight invites were still being extended to many cast members.
“We have only started inviting actors to attend in the last couple of weeks, and nowhere was it stated that every cast member from Prisoner would be attending,” he said.
“The article published in The Telegraph is very misleading and we would like to reassure everyone that HIV awareness is paramount to us, and as such no actor will deliberately be ignored. Val Lehman is among ten other actors who are being invited over the course of this week and we look forward to seeing her, with all the other cast in November.”
Having Lehman attend would no doubt be a fitting inclusion. Given she has said the charity’s cause was close to her heart, there is still some hope of a happy outcome.
“If they do I’ll go. But that’s very surprising that they’ve left it this long.”
The newspaper article also incorrectly states Lehman played “lesbian” ‘Bea Smith.’
UPDATE: TV Tonight can reveal Val Lehman has accepted an invitation to attend the event and will give an interview to Today Tonight.
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16 Responses
”She was very much into gentlemen,” Lehman said of Bea. ”I think in the performing arts, very strong female characters attract a gay and lesbian following and I actually appeared at Gay Pride in London, twice! But Bea was not a lesbian. I feel perhaps the journalists behind this had never seen the show.” – smh.com.au
I remember one of the shows interviewed her and she said she couldn’t even afford to get her car fixed….so unless its an all expenses paid trip, she couldn’t afford to go.
Well now l understand why Val pushed so hard for many years to have the show on dvd a few years back.l was a member of her offical webpage then.She was smart enough to have that in her contract so good luck to her.I just watched both stories ,ACA was another beat up with old footage and interviews from the last reunion.TT story was short and to the point,whatever percentage Val gets from dvd sales if her personal business and no one elses.Val was the major character and star in the early years of the show,and whatever money she can make off that now is fair enough,Val of been great supporter of AIDS fund raising events in past and I am sure a true Prisoner fan will be very happy to have Queen Bea at this event in November.
Dopey Brady Halls on ACA tonight refered to Bea as the “Lesbian ring leader”
Do these journos do research or just copy each others mistakes ?
ACA could have clarified the situation properly given it was reported here first thing this morning. Disappointing, Brady.
ACA just reported that Val played the lesbian character Bea Smith. Check your facts channel 9, I watch prisoner on 111 hits and she’s far from it.
I work in radio & see it all the time – Research people! I’ve often been commented on by people I’ve interviewed that I’ve done my research. It’s very unprofessional & also for rude to the person your talking about!
I always pride myself on researching my information first, it’s sad to see fellow media peeps who clearly don’t!
The Daily Telegraph are infamous for incorrectly reporting – particularly their “celebrity and goss” (Confidential anyone?) sections.
I wonder if Val would like to re-enact her iron press scenes with the Daily Telegraph journalist…
I can’t see Val Lehman going, unless the airfare is paid for. She cried poor during an interview about Prisoner being shown on Foxtel. She said ” I’m just a pensioner, I can’t afford pay tv, so I can’t watch it “.
They’ve finally changed their story dropping references to Bea being a lesbian !!!
dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/tv/val-lehman-who-played-bea-smith-in-prisoner-claims-left-off-screen-star-events-guest-list-for-charity-reunion/story-e6frexlr-1226130045621
Both ACA and TT will tackle Prisoner tonight.
Will Greg “Delivery Man Number 2” Fleet be invited? His 20 odd second appearance was mindblowing and scene stealing.
How could a newspaper get it so wrong, very poor reporting. I always like that photo of Bea.
It does seem most strange considering she and Maggie Kirkpatrick could really be considered the two biggest stars from Prisoner.
Not seeing her on the list of celebs has made me hold back from considering going.
The inane Today show repeated the lesbian claim again and again and again this morning.
Pity they are too busy scanning the net for appropriately inane YouTube clips instead of checking facts and stats. Ah, those wacky old days of journalism when we had to check the facts …
Just saw a report about this on the Today show and they, like the paper, also said Bea Smith was a lesbian. Since when was Bea Smith a lesbian? She was as straight as a board!