Noni Hazlehurst

Leonie Elva "Noni" Hazlehurst (AM), (17 August 1953) is an Australian actress, director, writer, presenter and broadcaster who has appeared on television and radio, in dramas, mini-series and made for television films, as well also on stage and in feature films since the early 1970s. Hazlehurst has been honoured with numerous awards including Australian Film Institute Awards, ARIA Awards and Logies, including being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016, only the second women to be so after actress Ruth Cracknell.

Early life

Hazlehurst was born in Melbourne. After attending St Leonard's College in Brighton East, Victoria, Hazlehurst studied Drama at Flinders University from 1971 to 1973, where she resided at Flinders University Hall and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1974. She has studied ballet, singing, piano, speech and drama. In the 1980s and 1990s, much of her work concentrated on children's television.

Her mother was English.^[1]

Television work

Along with roles at the ABC, her first television work was in guest lead roles in television serials produced by Crawford Productions. She played the regular role of Sharon Lewis in The Box in 1975 before joining the original cast of The Sullivans as Lil Duggan in late 1976. She was a Play School presenter from 1978 to 2002, and has been a National Ambassador or Patron for many children's charities, including Barnardos. She has worked extensively for children. Hazlehurst has recorded several music and spoken word albums.

Hazlehurst played the lead in miniseries Nancy Wake, The Shiralee, Ride on Stranger and Waterfront in the Eighties

From 1995-2005 Hazlehurst hosted the Seven Networks Better Homes and Gardens, a lifestyle show which is affiliated with the monthly magazine of the same name.

In 2006, she starred in ABC's telemovie Stepfather of the Bride. From 2007-2011, she played Detective Superintendent Bernice Waverley on Channel Seven crime drama City Homicide. In 2010, she was a guest on The 7pm Project on Network Ten. In July 2011, as part of a rapidly growing internet meme, she read the book Go the Fuck to Sleep to camera in the style she formerly used on Play School. She immediately offered to record a reading of the book after being sent a copy by the publisher.,^[2] Since 2013, she appears as Elizabeth Bligh in the 1950s-set Australian melodrama A Place to Call Home on the Seven Network, playing the wealthy matriarch of the family. The show was renewed for a second series which premiered in 2014, following the second series the show was briefly cancelled yet the show was unexpectedly commissioned for a third series which came in 2015. The show then went into production for a fourth series which aired in 2016.

Film work

Hazlehurst has had starring roles in Australian films since the 1980s (including roles in Fatty Finn, Monkey Grip, Fran and Australian Dream). She starred in Little Fish in 2005, Candy in 2006, and Bitter & Twisted in 2008. Recent film roles include The Mule, Truth and The Broken Shore.

Radio work

Hazlehurst is a regular fill in presenter on 774 ABC Melbourne.

Theatre

Credits include The Man from Mukinupin, On Our Selection, Traitors, Hamlet, No Names, No Packdrill, Cut and Thrust, Frankie & Johnny in the Claire De Lune, for the STC: Navigating (Dir: Marin Potts) The Breath of Life, Woman in Mind, for the MTC: Grace, (Dir: Marion Potts), Madagascar, (Dir: Sam Strong) and The Heretic, (Dir: Matt Scholten). In 2014 she appeared in a critically acclaimed production of The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Dir: Declan Eames) for the Kin Collective at 45 Downstairs. During 2015-2016 Noni will perform in a one-woman play, Mother, (Dir: Matt Scholten), written for her by Daniel Keene, on a national tour produced by If Theatre & Regional Arts Victoria. Mother received two Helpmann Awards nominations for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Play and Best Regional Touring Production for If Theatre.

Awards and nominations

Aria Awards

• 1989: Nominated - Best Children's Album (for Shout and Whisper)
• 1990: Nominated - Best Children's Album (for Peter and the Wolf/Carnival of the Animals)
• 1992: Nominated - Best Children's Album (for Noni Sings Day and Night Songs and Rhymes from Playschool)

Australian Film Institute Awards

• 1981: Nominated — Best Actress in a Lead Role (for Fatty Finn)
• 1982: Won — Best Actress in a Lead Role (for Monkey Grip)
• 1985: Won — Best Actress in a Lead Role (for Fran)
• 2000: Won — Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Telefeature or Mini-Series (for Waiting at the Royal)
• 2005: Won — Best Supporting Actress (for Little Fish)
• 2006: Nominated — Best Supporting Actress (for Candy)
• 2008: Nominated — Best Actress (for Bitter & Twisted)

Logie Awards

• She won the Best Supporting Actress in a Single Series in the Logie Awards of 1985.
• She was inducted into the Logie Hall of Fame in the Logie Awards of 2016.

Helpmann Awards

• 2015 Nominated — Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Play (for Mother)

National Honours

• 1996, Member of the Order of Australia for her services to children and the performing arts.^[3]

Hazlehurst has also been an ambassador for Barnardo's Mother of the Year, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by her alma mater Flinders University in 2007.^[4]

Cultural references

In 1994 a painting of Hazlehurst by artist Rosemary Valadon titled Noni Hazlehurst — Summer '94 Waiting Again was a finalist in the Archibald Prize.

Personal life

Hazlehurst's first marriage was to Kevin Dobson.^[5] She then married John Jarratt, with whom she had two sons, Charlie and William. William is the vocalist for Melbourne death pop band Storm The Sky. ^[6]

Select credits

• The Weekly's War (1983) (miniseries)
• The Fish Are Safe (1986) (TV movie) - director

References

External links

• Noni Hazlehurst on IMDb