Philippa Baker (actress)
 |
Philippa Baker | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1932 (age 93–94)[1] Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Other name | Phillippa Baker |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1953–1989[2] |
| Known for | Number 96 (TV series and film) as Roma Lubinski Godulfus |
| Notable work |
|
Philippa Baker, credited also as Phillippa Baker (born 1932)[3][1] is an Australian retired actress of radio, theatre and television in series and teleplays and telefilms (although appeared in a couple of features)
Baker was one of the earliest performer's on Australian radio, alongside stars Queenie Ashton, Ethel Lang and Gwen Plumb and her Number 96 future co-star Thelma Scott, she was associated with the "Golden Age of Australian Radio" and spent five years appearing in the long-running Gwen Meredith radio series Blue Hills playing a Scottish nurse, at the time prior to British radio series The Archers, that series running some 27 years was the longest in the world and was a spin-off to the earlier radio production The Lawsons
She started her career in theatre in 1953, and moved to the new medium of television continuing in the theatre tradition appearing in live televised plays, before moving to guest parts in Crawford Productions serials but is best known for featuring in the soap opera Number 96, in the 1970s as a comedy duo with Johnny Lockwood, as Russian deli worker Roma Lubinski, she later marries his character Aldo, but due to the series falling ratings, both characters were subsequently killed off in the iconic bomb blast storyline. Baker and Lockwood also featured in the film version in 1974.
She played Dame Enid Lyons in the miniseries True Believers, in 1988.
Baker post-96 had several small role's in telmovies and miniseries, but did however appear in the Yahoo Serious film Young Einstein in 1988, in a cameo as Freud's mum. She left the acting industry the following year in 1989, after more than 35 years of performing, returning to her regular day work as a librarian until officially retiring.[1][2]
Early life and education
[edit]Baker was born in Sydney in 1932[3] and attended the Independent Theatre, alongside Number 96 co-star Sheila Kennelly training under Doris Fitton.
Career
[edit]Radio
[edit]Baker acted in the long-running radio serial Blue Hills[when?], spending five years playing a Scottish nurse.[4]
Television and film
[edit]Baker appeared in television plays by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from 1958 onwards, and then featured in a few different roles in early Crawford Productions police procedurals Homicide and Division Four.
Baker however became best known for playing Roma in top-rated soap opera Number 96. She joined as Russian emigrant Roma Lubinski early in the show's run in 1972, becoming a comedy double-act with Johnny Lockwood, who played her character's soon-to-be husband Aldo, the deli proprietor, Roma works in the deli and owns her own restaurant, it is reviewed she is a concentration camp survivor.[5]
Aldo and Roma reprised their roles in the 1974 feature film version of Number 96. They were written out of the serial in late 1974 with all the attached publicity, but returned several weeks later: it was always planned as a temporary absence and revealed the media stories where a publicity stunt.
By August 1975 however, the program's ratings had entered a slump and a drastic revamp of the show was planned. The writers decided to write out several high-profile characters, so in early September 1975 the show's famous bomb blast killed four residents including Roma and Aldo. The couples where extremely popular and there was much campaigning by fans to bring back there favourite characters. In 1976 Baker and co-star Lockwood appeared in a retrospective documentary special, titled ...And They Said It Wouldn't Last, commemorating the 1000th episode of Number 96.
In 1976 Baker joined comedy series The Norman Gunston Show in a recurring sketch The Checkout Chicks, a parody of melodramatic soap operas set in a supermarket. The Checkout Chicks featured other former Number 96 actors Abigail, Vivienne Garrett, Candy Raymond, Judy Lynne and Anne Louise Lambert.
In 1977, she appeared in the guest role of Mrs. Jamieson (Dennis Jameison's mother) in the soap opera The Young Doctors.
Through the 1980s Baker made various appearances in theatre, television and film. She had small roles in the films Annie's Coming Out (1984) and Young Einstein (1988).
Theatre
[edit]Baker also worked in theatre between 1953 and 1989, including productions of The Glass Menagerie, The Cherry Orchard, Hedda Gabler and A Streetcar Named Desire [2]
Filmography
[edit]Film
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | A Rose Without a Thorn | Tiley | TV movie |
| 1962 | Funnel Web | Marion Westlake | TV movie |
| 1962 | Family Album | Harriet Winter | TV movie |
| 1964 | A Sound of Trumpets | TV Movie | |
| 1970 | "Eden House" (an episode of series Australian Plays) | Helen | TV movie |
| 1974 | Number 96 | Roma Godolfus | Feature film |
| 1976 | Murcheson Creek | TV movie | |
| 1977 | Say You Want Me | TV movie | |
| 1981 | A Hard God | Monica | TV movie |
| 1984 | Annie's Coming Out (aka A Test of Love) | Sister Waterman | Feature film |
| 1988 | Young Einstein | Freud's mother | Feature film |
Television
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | The Hungry Ones | TV mini-series | |
| 1968 | Contrabandits | Prudence | TV series |
| 1971 | The Godfathers | Molly | TV series |
| 1970–71 | Division 4 | 2 roles: - Mrs Couter - Helen McGuire |
TV series |
| 1970–72 | Homicide | 3 roles: - Mrs Allen - Mrs Campbell - Mrs Johnson |
TV series |
| 1972–75 | Number 96 | Mrs. Roma Lubinski/Godolfus | TV series |
| 1975 | The Norman Gunston Show | Member of "Check-out Chicks" (soap opera parody) | TV series |
| 1976 | Number 96 ...And They Said It Wouldn't Last | Herself | TV special celebrating 1000th episode of Number 96 |
| 1977 | Pig in a Poke | TV miniseries, episode: Christine's Story | |
| 1977 | The Young Doctors | Mrs. Jamison | TV series, 5 episodes |
| 1981 | Australian Theatre Festival | Monica | TV series |
| 1981 | The Weekly's War | Mrs. Cruickshank | TV miniseries |
| 1984 | Five Mile Creek | Mrs. Curtis | TV series |
| 1988 | The Dirtwater Dynasty | Landlady | TV miniseries |
| 1988 | True Believers | Dame Enid Lyons | TV miniseries |
Theatre
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Playwright |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme | Jean Baptiste Moliere | |
| 1954 | Cockpit | Bridget Boland | |
| 1954 | Before the Carnivale | Peter Kenna | |
| 1955/1956 | Medea | Euripides | |
| 1956 | The Glass Menagerie | Tennessee Wuilliams | |
| 1956 | The Beautiful People | William Saroyan | |
| 1959 | The Slaughter of St. Teresea's Day | Sister Mary Mark | Peter Kenna |
| 1963 | The Cherry Orchard | Anton Chekhov | |
| 1966 | Three Sisters | Anton Chekhov | |
| 1976 | The Wolf | Countess | Ferenc Molnar |
| 1976 | Saturday, Suunday, Monday | Eduardo de Filippo | |
| 1977 | Wild Oats (play) | John O'Keeffe | |
| 1980 | The Bread-Winner (play) | Dorothy | William Somerset Maugham |
| 1981 | The Shifting Heart | Momma Bianchi | Richard Beynon |
| 1983 | Mornings at Seven | Peter Osborn | |
| 1983 | In Duty Bound | Ron Elisha | |
| 1984 | A Hard God | Peter Kenna | |
| 1986 | Hedda Gabler | Henrik Ibsen | |
| 1988 | A Streetcar Named Desire | Tennessee Williams | |
| 1989 | A Family Affair (play) | Alexander Ostrovsky | |
| 1989 | The Barretts of Wimpole Street | Rudolf Besier |
Radio
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | Blue Hills | Scottish nurse | Radio serial |
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b c Willingham, Margot "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Australian Showbiz"
- ^ a b c "Philippa Baker Theatre". AusStage.
- ^ a b "Biographical cuttings on Philippa Baker actress". National Library of Australia.
- ^ Fawcett, Tony. "The Double Life of Mrs Godolfus!" TV Week. 4 August 1973, p.20
- ^ Giles, Nigel "NUMBER 96:AUSTRALIA MOST INFAMOUS ADDRESS" ISBN 9-781925-556001