Muriel Steinbeck

Muriel Myee Steinbeck[1] (21 July 1913 – 20 July 1982) was an Australian actress who worked extensively in radio, theatre, television and film. She is best known for her performance as the wife of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith in Smithy (1946) and for playing the lead role in Autumn Affair (1958–59), Australia's first television serial.

Biography

She was born in Broken Hill, New South Wales the youngest of four to William Martin Steinbeck and Lily Clarissa (née Batten) where her father was working as a headmaster. Educated at Newcastle and Sydney Girls High, they moved to Sydney where she became involved in amateur theatre, featuring in stage plays like The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night's Dream and becoming renowned for her comedic performances as well as the dramatic before working regularly on radio, including station 2GB, and 2UE after being noticed by Lawrence H. Cecil of the ABC, and appearing in numerous radio serials in the 1950s including Blue Hills, Portia faces life and Gabrielle.[2][3] She divorced in 1949.[4] She became best known however as Julia in the Australian television soap opera Autumn Affair, by Gwen Meredith. After appearing in the short film South West Pacific she made her feature film debut in A Son is Born, before appearing in her most famous role as Charles Kingsford-Smith's wife in Smithy. She was married twice, her first husband a journalist, from 7 July 1934, divorcing in 1950 and marrying company manager and engineer Brian Dudley Nicholson in 1951. Retiring from acting in 1966 she accompanied him to Orange, New South Wales, and became a teacher of the arts, including running a drama school and authoring a book titled On Stage: A Practical Guide To the Actor's Craft. She died of cancer on 20 July 1982, a day before her 69th birthday.

Selected filmography

References

  1. ↑ Sally O,Neil (2012). "Muriel Myee Steinbeck". adb. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  2. ↑ "MURIEL STEINBECK TO STAR IN "SMITHY".". The Courier-Mail (Brisbane: National Library of Australia). 9 February 1945. p. 4. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "Film Lead for Girl From Barrier.". The News (Adelaide: National Library of Australia). 10 February 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  4. ↑ "MURIEL STEINBECK DIVORCED.". The Sydney Morning Herald (National Library of Australia). 10 September 1949. p. 5. Retrieved 18 April 2014.

External links