Bettina Welch

Bettina Catherine Welch (1922 – 5 March 1993) was a New Zealand-born Australia-based actress, primarily in radio and theatre and of the latter in television roles. She was best known for her role in television soap opera Number 96 as Maggie Cameron, a scheming businesswoman and fashion editor.

Bettina Welch
Welch as Maggie Cameron in Number 96
Born
Bettina Catherine Welch

1922 (1922)
Auckland, New Zealand
Died(1993-03-05)5 March 1993 (aged 70–71)
Australia
Other namesBetty Welch[1]
Occupations
  • Television actress
  • theatre performer
  • radio personality
  • singer
Years active1940–1989

The series creator and writer David Sale, stated she was the first major bitch on television, long before Alexis Carrington (Joan Collins)[2]

Early life and training

Welch was born Auckland, New Zealand. Welch started her acting career aged 18 in 1940[1] when she arrived in Sydney from New Zealand with her parents on holiday. In Sydney she won a competition that led to her being trained by J. C. Williamson's theatre company, and she also began acting on Australian radio. Her training with J. C. Williamson led to a succession of theatre roles with the company.[3] She married Dermot Patrick O'Brien on 20 February 1945 at St Clanice's Catholic Church, Rushcutters Bay, New South Wales.

Theatre career

When British actor Robert Morley conducted an Australian theatre tour in 1949 she played his young mistress in his co-scripted play Edward, My Son.

Her other stage roles include Australian productions of Harvey with Joe E. Brown, Simon and Laura and The Deep Blue Sea with Googie Withers and John McCallum, the lead role opposite Emrys Jones in Double Image, and a featured role with Sir Robert Helpmann in Nude with Violin by Noël Coward.

Welch appeared as the enchantress Morgan le Fey in J. C. Williamson's production of Camelot in the early 1960s, a role she played for two and a half years. She subsequently took one of the lead roles in four-handed comedy Any Wednesday, appeared in productions of There's A Girl In My Soup, and The Band Wagon. The nurse in Loot, by Joe Orton featured in A Delicate Balance, playing Julia by Edward Albee and took the lead role in a production of Frederick Knott's Wait Until Dark, a role for which she was critically acclaimed.

Welch played in Melbourne and Sydney in Hal Porter's Australian play Eden House.[3] She had a major role in the Sydney Theatre Company's season of the Stephen Sondheim musical, A Little Night Music" at the Sydney Opera House in 1990.

Television roles

Through the 1960s she also had guest roles in Australian television drama series. In the late 1960s she appeared in the Crawford Productions adventure series Hunter (1967), and played various guest roles in the top-rated Crawford Productions police dramas Homicide and Division 4.

In 1971 Welch appeared in an episode of popular situation comedy series The Group. After that show's writer David Sale, who had earlier been impressed by the performance she gave in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation-Artransa Films science fiction children's series Phoenix 5 (1970), saw her in the relatively minor role in The Group, he promised to write something especially for her next time. When he created Number 96 he kept his word, creating the role of corrupt businesswoman and fashion editor Maggie Cameron for her.

Number 96

Appearing in Number 96 from its inception in March 1972, Welch's character Maggie emerged as a popular bitch-figure in the top-rated serial.

Welch says she partly based her characterisation of Maggie on the Mrs Robinson character played by Anne Bancroft in feature film The Graduate.[4]

In 1973 Welch left Number 96 temporarily to again act on stage opposite Robert Morley, this time in How the Other Half Loves. She returned to the series after that, and also reprised the role in the feature film version of Number 96 released in 1974.

In 1975 Number 96 suffered a drop in ratings so a bomb storyline was developed as a dramatic way to write out several characters. The story went to air in September, and Maggie was revealed to have been the person who planted the bomb and her character written out the series by being sent to prison. Welch returned for a guest appearance in 1976 when Maggie's trial was shown, and she appeared in the show's final episode in 1977 where it was explained that Maggie had been released from prison.

Other television roles

After Number 96 Welch continued to make guest appearances in Australian television series, including roles in Glenview High (1977), The Outsiders (1977), Young Ramsay (1978), and in legal drama Case for the Defence (1978). Through the 1980s Welch played small featured roles in several Australian television movies and feature films, including Undercover (1983), and guest starred in two episodes of A Country Practice. She died in 1993 in Australia, aged 71.

Filmography

FILM

Title Year Role Type
1974Number 96Maggie CameronFeature film
1983UndercoverDowagerFeature film
1986DepartureLady BracknellFeature film
1991GotchaGrandmotherFilm Short

TELEVISION

Title Year Role Type
1961 Whiplash Guest roles: Catha Cameron / Mary Dillon TV series, 2 episodes
1962 Suspect Guest role: Lady Const Teleplay
1966 Homicide Guest roles: Julie Temple / Maggie Glasson TV series, 2 episodes
1968 Hunter Guest role: Sheridan York TV series, 1 episode
1969;1970 Division 4 Guest role: Edna Shaw TV series, 1 episode
1970 Phoenix Five Guest role: Karella TV series, 1 episode
1970 Division 4 Guest role: Irene Kemp TV series, 1 episode
1971 The Group Guest role TV series, 1 episode
1972-1976 Number 96 Regular role: Maggie Cameron TV series, 166 episodes
1976 Number 96 ... And They Said It Wouldn't Last Herself / Maggie Cameron TV special
1977 Maggi Ekhardt Show Herself - Guest TV series, 1 episode
1977 Number 96: The Final Episode Herself / Maggie Cameron TV series, 1 episode
1977 The Outsiders Guest role: Sylvia Canning ABC TV series AUSTRALIA/GERMANY, 1 episode
1977 Glenview High Guest role: Fiona TV series, 1 episode
1978 Young Ramsay Guest role: Rhonda Thompson TV series, 1 episode
1978 Case for the Defence Guest role: Joan Lattimer TV series, 1 episode
1979 Chopper Squad Guest role: Mrs. Docker TV series, 1 episode
1979 Skyways Guest role: Jasmin Lamont TV series, 1 episode
1981 ...Deadline... Support role: Mrs. Ashby TV film / pilot
1981 A Country Practice Guest role: Mavis Carmody TV series, 2 episodes
1984 Bodyline Guest role: Lady Randall Rogers TV miniseries, 1 episode
1987 Butterfly Island Guest role TV series, 1 episode
1988 The Dirtwater Dynasty Guest role: Mrs. Tilly Seymour TV miniseries, 1 episode

References

  1. "Bettina Welch".
  2. Giles, Nigel "NUMBER 96: Australia's Most Notorious Address" published by Melbourne Books 2007
  3. Atterton, Margot. (Ed.) The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Australian Showbiz, Sunshine Books, 1984. ISBN 0-86777-057-0 p 230
  4. Maggie - The Tough Girl with a Soft Centre, TV Week, 19 October 1974, p 25
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