Esme Melville

Esme Melville (born Esme Grace Mount-Melville, 23 July 1918 – 14 September 2006) was an Australian theatre, television and film actress. At the Tropfest awards for 2003 she won Best Actor – Female for her role of Granma in the short film, Forbidden. At the 2007 Australian Film Institute Awards she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role of Miss Collard in Romulus, My Father.

Esme Melville
Born
Esme Grace Mount-Melville

(1918-07-23)23 July 1918
Norwood, South Australia, Australia
Died14 September 2006(2006-09-14) (aged 88)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Occupation(s)Theatre, television and film actress
Years active1939-2006
Known forNeighbours

Her theatre roles included Mrs. Bedwin in Oliver! (1961–62, 1966–67). Melville had four separate ongoing roles on television soap opera, Neighbours, including as Rose Belker during 2006.

Biography

Esme Melville was born as Esme Grace Mount-Melville on 23 July 1918 and grew up in Norwood.[1] Her mother was Margaret Mount-Melville.[1] Melville started as a theatre actress in Adelaide in 1939 – just before the outbreak of World War II.[2]

On 11 May 1944 Melville enrolled into the Women's Royal Australian Naval Service as a transport driver and was honourably discharged on 13 September 1946 from Victoria Barracks in Melbourne.[1][3] She remained in that city and from 1956 worked at St Martins Theatre for eight years.[2][4]

Television roles

Her television credits of the 1970s included various guest roles in the Crawford Productions police dramas Homicide, Division 4, Matlock Police and Bluey. Other appearances included guest roles in Crawford's adventure series Ryan (1973), and in the miniseries Power Without Glory (1976).[4]

Later television appearances include Cop Shop (1978), Sons and Daughters (1982), Special Squad (1984), The Flying Doctors (1986), Sugar and Spice (1988), Phoenix (1992), Round the Twist (1993), Wedlocked (1994), The Damnation of Harvey McHugh (1994), The Man from Snowy River (1994), Mercury (1996), Driven Crazy (1998), Eugenie Sandler P.I. (2000), SeaChange (2000), Stingers (2000), The Secret Life of Us (2001), miniseries Bootleg (2002), miniseries After the Deluge (2003), Real Stories (2006).[4]

She also made frequent appearances in televisions series Prisoner, Blue Heelers, and Neighbours. For the latter series she portrayed four different characters starting in 1986 with Mrs. York and most recently, in 2006, as the hard-of-hearing, Rose Belker.[4]

Theatre roles

Her theatre roles include Serita in Waiting in the Wings, Mrs Grey in The Secretary Bird (1969) and Mrs. Bedwin in Oliver (1961–62, 1966–67).

She worked in theatre until 2005, a year before her death[5]

Film roles

Melville also acted in several feature films including Alvin Purple Rides Again (1974), Dimboola (1979), I Can Jump Puddles (1981) (TV), Squizzy Taylor (1982), Annie's Coming Out (1984), Niel Lynne (1985), The Four Minute Mile (1988) (TV), Mull (1989), Spotswood (1992), Say a Little Prayer (1993), The Heartbreak Kid (1993), Dead End (1999), Siam Sunset (1999), A Telephone Call for Genevieve Snow (2000), Dalkeith (2001), Crackerjack (2002), Forbidden (2003), Romulus, My Father (2007).


At the Tropfest awards for 2003 she won Best Actor – Female for her role of Granma in the short film, Forbidden.[6] At the 2007 Australian Film Institute Awards she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role of Miss Collard in Romulus, My Father.[7] She worked in student films, independent short films, did voice-overs and appeared in TV ads.[4]

Esme Melville had died on 14 September 2006 after a short illness, aged 88.[4]

Filmography

Film
TitleYearRole(s)Notes
Alvin Rides Again 1974 Cleaning Lady Feature film debut
Dimboola 1979 April
Squizzy Taylor 1982 Woman in the Street
Annie's Coming Out 1984 Mrs. Arnold
Niel Lynne 1985 Old Woman
Mull 1985 Fanny
Frank's Chair 1990 [8]
Spotswood 1992 Rose
Duplex 1993 Elsie [9]
Say a Little Prayer 1993 Song Mimer
The Heartreak Kid 1993 Lady on Stairs
Angel Baby 1995 Elderly Patient
Clippings 1995 [10]
Falling 1995 [11]
Park Street 1995 [12]
Dead End 1999 Boarding House Woman
Siam Sunset 1999 Dot
A Telephone Call for Genevieve Snow 2000 Madame
Bare 2000 Cast member [12]
Dalkeith 2002 Maisie Carter
Crackerjack 2002 Mrs. Jenkins
Forbidden 2003 Granma
The Watch 2004 Opportunity Shop Lady
Wally 2005 Granma
Thirty Five Candles 2006 [13]
Romulus, My Father 2007 Miss Collard
Hotel Motel 2007 Granny Crack

Television
TitleYearRole(s)Notes
Consider Your Verdict 1963 unnamed Television debut: "Queen Versus Burns" (guest appearance)
Division 4 1969–72 Mary Bentley, Mrs. Grey, Mrs.Gillespie, Mrs. McDougall
Homicide 1970–75 Mrs. Smithers, Mrs. Carter, Emily, Kathleen Evans, Mrs. Grace, unnamed, Mama Stepanov
Matlock Police 1971–74 Mrs. Butler, Mrs. Evans, Mrs. Stevens, Mrs. Williams, Mrs. Jenkins
Ryan 1973 unnamed
Bluey 1977 Mrs. Neilson, Old Woman
Young Ramsay 1977 Mrs. Mclver
Prisoner 1980–86 Vera's Neighbour (uncredited), Freda, Beryl Hudson (2×), Charlady (2×), Granny Wilkinson (2×) First repeat role: Beryl Hudson (1982) (guest appearance)
Holiday Island 1981 Nellie
Special Squad 1984 unnamed, unnamed in "The Patchwork" [14]
The Flying Doctors 1986 Grace in "To the Rescue" [15]
Neighbours 1986, 1993, 2002, 2006 Annabelle York, Jean Halliday, Moina Beresford, Rose Belker First ongoing role(s)
The Henderson Kids 1987 Old Lady in Series Two [16]
Sugar and Spice 1988 Mrs Watson [17]
Pugwall, Pugwall Summer 1989, 1991 Mary, Clara
Phoenix 1992 Mrs. Butler in "A Bunch of Big Girls" [18]
Round the Twist 1993 Mrs. Gribble, senior in "Pink Bow Tie" [19]
The Damnation of Harvey McHugh 1994 Old Woman
Wedlocked 1994 unnamed in "Dating Game" [20]
Blue Heelers 1994, 1998, 2001, 2003 Maude Keane in "Day in Court", "Damage Control"; Grace Burrell in "Stars in Their Eyes"; Amelia Dodds in "A Bit on the Side"; Elsie Wright in "A Blind Eye" [21][22][23][24]
Fast Forward Presents Full Frontal, Full Frontal 1995–96 additional cast
Banjo Paterson's The Man from Snowy River 1996 Bobbe Berkovich
Mercury 1996 Mrs. Keen [25]
Driven Crazy 1998 Mrs. Trapp
Introducing Gary Petty 2000 Victim of Jude's Poetry in "The Flight Attendant Who Did Me Wrong" [26]
Stingers 2000 Old Lady
SeaChange 2000 Ruby
Eugénie Sandler P.I. 2000 Scottish Lady
The Secret Life of Us 2001 Elderly Woman in "Better the Devil You Know" [27]
Bootleg 2002 Old Lady [28]
Short Cuts 2002 Mrs. Green in "Money or the Box", "My Funny Valentine", "Grass Is Greener"
After the Deluge 2003 Edith [29]
Legacy of the Silver Shadow 2003 Older Woman
Real Stories 2006 Gran on "Episode 2" [30]

Theatre
TitleYearRole(s)Notes
1939 unnamed Theatre debut
1956–1963 St Martins Theatre
Oliver! 1961–62, 1966–67 Mrs. Bedwin Musical based on Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens[31]
Little Women 1964 Musical based on Little Women and Good Wives by Louisa May Alcott
The Secretary Bird 1969 Mrs. Grey Comedy
An Ideal Husband 1972 Comedy, drama
Rumpelstiltskin 1974 Aunty Flora Dora Based on folk tales about Rumpelstiltskin as collected by Brothers Grimm[32]
Morning Sacrifice 1989 Drama by Dymphna Cusack
Gilmore: A Portrait 1992 Biographical drama of Mary Gilmore by Eric Colladetti
Serendipity 1993 Drama
Waiting for Marlene 2000 Jessica Review by Colin Donald, "The standout aspect of this play is the well-versed performance of Esme Melville as Jessica".[33]
The Opportunity Shop 2003 Drama
Spell 2005 Drama

Credits:[2][5]

References
  1. "A6770, Mount-Melville E G". National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 10 November 2012. Mount-Melville Esme Grace: Service Number – WR2065 : Date of birth – 23 Jul 1918 : Place of birth – Norwood SA : Place of enlistment – Port Adelaide : Next of Kin – Mount-Melville Margaret.
  2. "Crackerjack – The Veterans". The Movie Pages. Impact Services. Archived from the original on 20 March 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  3. "RAN/USN Fleet Radio Unit, Melbourne – FRUMel". Australia @ War (Peter Dunn). Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  4. Moe. "Esme Melville: A Tribute". Neighbours: The Perfect Blend. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  5. "Esme Melville". AusStage (Flinders University (Jenny Fewster)). Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  6. Maddox, Garry (24 February 2003). "Shady Characters Help Bury the Competition at Tropfest". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  7. "2007 Winners & Nominees". Australian Film Institute. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  8. "Productions: Frank's Chair (1990)". Screen Australia. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  9. "Productions: Duplex (1993)". Screen Australia. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  10. "Productions: Clippings (1995)". Screen Australia. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  11. "Productions: Falling (1995)". Screen Australia. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  12. "Esme Melville". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 13 October 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  13. "Productions: Thirty Five Candles (2006)". Screen Australia. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  14. "Special Squad: Episode Guide". Australian Television Information Archive (Tony Zuk). Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  15. "The Flying Doctors: Series 1: Episode Guide". Australian Television Information Archive (Tony Zuk). Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  16. "The Henderson Kids: Cast: Series 2". Australian Television Information Archive (Tony Zuk). Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  17. "Sugar and Spice: Cast". Australian Television Information Archive (Tony Zuk). Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  18. "Phoenix: Series One". Australian Television Information Archive (Tony Zuk). Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  19. "Round the Twist: Series Two: Episode Guide". Australian Television Information Archive (Tony Zuk). Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  20. "Wedlocked: Episode Guide". Australian Television Information Archive (Tony Zuk). Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  21. "Blue Heelers: Series 1: Episode Guide". Australian Television Information Archive (Tony Zuk). Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  22. "Blue Heelers: Series 5: Episode Guide". Australian Television Information Archive (Tony Zuk). Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  23. "Blue Heelers: Series 8: Episode Guide". Australian Television Information Archive (Tony Zuk). Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  24. "Blue Heelers: Series 10: Episode Guide". Australian Television Information Archive (Tony Zuk). Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  25. "Mercury". Australian Television Information Archive (Tony Zuk). Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  26. "Introducing Gary Petty: Episode Guide". Australian Television Information Archive (Tony Zuk). Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  27. "The Secret Life of Us: Series 1: Episode Guide". Australian Television Information Archive (Tony Zuk). Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  28. "Bootleg". Australian Television Information Archive (Tony Zuk). Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  29. "After the Deluge". Australian Television Information Archive (Tony Zuk). Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  30. "Real Stories: Episode Guide". Australian Television Information Archive (Tony Zuk). Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  31. Fisher, Hugh (1966). "Edward Howell as Mr.Brownlow, Esme Melville as Mrs. Bedwin, and Alton Harvey as Mr. Grimwig in the J C Williamson production of Oliver!". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  32. "Scene from Rumpelstiltskin. From left: Darrell Hilton (in tree) as Rumpelstiltskin, Christopher Mithen as Miller, Esme Melville as Aunty Flora Dora, Beverley Gardiner as Gretchen, Paul Kennedy as Knight I, Penelope Richards as Knight II". National Library of Australia. 1974. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  33. Donald, Colin (26 October 2000). Tim Richards (ed.). "Stagewrite 2000 – Waiting for Marlene". Stage Left. Archived from the original on 13 June 2001. Retrieved 12 November 2012. The standout aspect of this play is the well-versed performance of Esme Melville as Jessica.
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