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Vale: Betty Bobbitt

Veteran actress Betty Bobbitt, best known as Prisoner's Judy Bryant, has died.

Veteran actress Betty Bobbitt, best known as Prisoner‘s Judy Bryant, has died aged 81.

She died earlier today following a massive stroke last Wednesday.

Earlier today her son Chris broke the news she was not expected to recover, followed by a sad update.

 

Bobbitt played Judy Bryant from 1980 – 1985, Australian TV”s first sympathetic lesbian portrayal and becoming one of the show’s longest running characters.

“I loved working in the show. I made friends with all the cast members and had a good time,” she told TV Tonight in 2011.

“To me it was a happy experience. It gave me unbelievable money I never thought I would have. I bought a house while I was doing it.”

The Philadelphian-born actress was lured to Australia by US performer Jonathan Daly, who cast her in his 1960s variety show, Daly at Night, filmed at Channel Seven’s Teletheatre in Fitzroy.

“I was appearing as Agnes Gooch in Auntie Mame and he thought I was funny so he said ‘Come to Australia and appear on my show as a comic,’” she said.

“I got Frank Thring to do Macbeth with me, and I did it in a Southern accent with a lot of fake blood.

“It went live to air, but now nobody has anything of it. I saw a Channel Seven history special and it wasn’t even mentioned.”

Prior to Prisoner there were ensemble roles with the Melbourne Theatre Company, plus Tikki & John’s famed theatre restaurant, allowing her to do everything from vaudeville to Shakespeare.

But it was as lesbian Judy Bryant that she would become best known. She lived 40k from the Nunawading studio and didn’t drive, so there were long taxi rides. On top of the long days she was a single parent of two boys.

“It was an amazing journey, but Elspeth (Ballantyne) was the same as a single parent, Val Lehman had three children, so we were all actors with a beautiful gig that paid us well and it was amazing.

“Towards the end I was keen to do something else. Enough already playing the same character. I’d been an actor all my life and I wanted to play someone else. I loved the cast but the ones I had been most bonded to had left,” she says.

“So the last year I was a little bit restless, but I still enjoyed it.

“When I finished I went straight into a play at the MTC. In ’86 I went back to the States to connect with my brother. When I came back I went straight into Nunsense on tour, which I later directed with June Bronhill.”

She had other credits including Matlock Police, Homicide, Special Squad, A Country Practice, The Flying Doctors, Blue Heelers, Neighbours, and All Saints.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpASvNWsaH8

Unlike many of her colleagues who feared type-casting, Bobbitt didn’t feel the need to shun her Prisoner days. But she re-connected with fans via Facebook, including in the UK.

“I didn’t believe that this show we did in the early 80s was still popular. It’s only been in the last year that people have contacted me,” she said.

“Then I realised the following and it was amazing. I’m not very keen on being a star and all of that stuff. You want to pay me money for my autograph? Shutup!”

9 Responses

  1. This is so sad. Betty Bobbitt and her ‘Judy Bryant’ were among my most favourite performances in the series and have stayed with me for decades. I corresponded with her and she was the epitome of grace, generosity and humility. My thoughts and wishes for her and her family. Terrible time for them all.

    1. how awesome that she took the time to respond to you, great memories to cherish. From what i know, most of the cast were very generous with giving back to the ‘super fans’.

    1. yes even though i didn’t watch Prisoner in the early days as i was too young (caught most eps on repeat in the 90s), the show was way ahead of its time in presenting characters who were multi dimensional. Judy Bryant just happened to be a lesbian, it wasn’t sensationalized & she had some interesting story lines in regards to that but also other aspects of her life. I wonder if she may have been put in there to balance out the character of Franky being so overtly stereotype, Judy appeared from ep 91, Franky from the first ep.

  2. On no. Loved Betty’s portray of Judy in Prisoner. My wife and I call each other Jude, it’s our nickname for each other. I introduced her to Prisoner when we met and Jude left a lasting impression. Thoughts to Betty’s loved ones.

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