Cornelia Frances
Encyclopedia
Cornelia Frances is a British-born actress based in Australia since the early 1970s. Frances is best known for her recurring role as judge Morag Bellingham
on Home and Away
.
, she was educated at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Her early work was in British-made feature films as an extra and bit-part player. This included bit parts in two films directed by her uncle Michael Powell
: Peeping Tom
(1960), and The Queen's Guards
(1961). Frances has one son, named Lawrence.
in 1975 she became known across Australia for her long running role of the strict and acidic Sister Grace Scott in daily soap opera The Young Doctors
. After leaving that series to move to Melbourne
with her husband who had been transferred there, she worked as a television reporter on "light" stories for a current affairs program hosted by Peter Couchman.
During this period she also made a brief appearance in Prisoner
which was taped in the same studio as the Couchman show. Later she acted in guest starring television roles, before taking another well-remembered role, that of Barbara Armstrong (later Hamilton) in Sons and Daughters
, a role she played from 1982 until 1986. She also hosted the Australian version of quiz show The Weakest Link
(2001–2002) and provided the voice of the tortoise on children's series, Magic Mountain
. In the early 2000s Frances worked for a winery in the Hunter Valley when she couldn't get acting work. Her autobiography And what have you done lately? was published in 2003.
In 1988, Frances made her first appearance in Home and Away
as Morag Bellingham
, a judge and sister of Alf Stewart
(Ray Meagher
). Frances has played the recurring role of Morag for twenty three years. She has expressed a desire to play Morag full time on the show and admitted that she does not like the coming and going as it is "very unsettling."
, Indonesia
on Sunday 16th October 2011 to see the first hand effect of the widespread deforestation of orangutan habitat, and how orangutans are being rehabilitated.
Morag Bellingham
Morag Bellingham is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Cornelia Frances. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 17 June 1988. She appeared until 1989 and briefly appeared in 1993. She returned yearly from 2001 until 2009 and...
on Home and Away
Home and Away
Home and Away is an Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney since July 1987 and is airing on the Seven Network since 17 January 1988. It is the second-longest-running drama and most popular soap opera on Australian television...
.
Early life and personal life
Born as Cornelia Frances Zulver in LiverpoolLiverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, she was educated at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Her early work was in British-made feature films as an extra and bit-part player. This included bit parts in two films directed by her uncle Michael Powell
Michael Powell (director)
Michael Latham Powell was a renowned English film director, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger...
: Peeping Tom
Peeping Tom (film)
Peeping Tom is a 1960 British psychological thriller directed by Michael Powell and written by the World War II cryptographer and polymath Leo Marks. The title derives from the slang expression 'peeping Tom' describing a voyeur...
(1960), and The Queen's Guards
The Queen's Guards
The Queen's Guards is a 1961 military drama film directed by Michael Powell from a script by Simon Harcourt-Smith and Roger Milner. It stars Daniel Massey, Raymond Massey, Robert Stephens, and Ursula Jeans.-Plot:...
(1961). Frances has one son, named Lawrence.
Career
Frances' acting career flourished after she had emigrated to Australia. After taking a lead role in the film version of sex-comedy soap opera The BoxThe Box (TV series)
The Box was an Australian soap opera than ran on Network Ten from February 1974 until 1977.The Box was produced by Crawford Productions who at the time was having great success producing police procedural television series in Australia...
in 1975 she became known across Australia for her long running role of the strict and acidic Sister Grace Scott in daily soap opera The Young Doctors
The Young Doctors
The Young Doctors is an Australian early evening soap opera. The series was set in the fictional Albert Memorial hospital and primarily concerned with romances between younger members of the hospital staff, screened on the Nine Network from Monday, 8 November 1976 until Wednesday, 30 March...
. After leaving that series to move to Melbourne
with her husband who had been transferred there, she worked as a television reporter on "light" stories for a current affairs program hosted by Peter Couchman.
During this period she also made a brief appearance in Prisoner
Prisoner (TV series)
Prisoner is an Australian television soap opera which was set in the Wentworth Detention Centre, a fictional women's prison. The series was produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation and ran on Network Ten for 692 episodes from 27 February 1979 to 11 December 1986.The series was inspired by the 1970s...
which was taped in the same studio as the Couchman show. Later she acted in guest starring television roles, before taking another well-remembered role, that of Barbara Armstrong (later Hamilton) in Sons and Daughters
Sons and Daughters (Australian TV series)
Sons and Daughters was a Logie Award winning Australian soap opera created by Reg Watson and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation between 1981 and 1987. The first episode aired in December 1981, during the Christmas/New Year non-ratings period, and the official broadcast date of the final...
, a role she played from 1982 until 1986. She also hosted the Australian version of quiz show The Weakest Link
The Weakest Link (Australian game show)
The Weakest Link was an Australian game show based on the successful UK format, which aired from February 2001 until April 2002 and was broadcast on the Seven Network. Presented by Cornelia Frances, the show featured nine contestants competing for a potential prize of $100,000...
(2001–2002) and provided the voice of the tortoise on children's series, Magic Mountain
Magic Mountain (television series)
Magic Mountain is an Australian children’s television programme broadcast on the ABC from 1997 to 1999. It was released on video, but there has been no DVD release yet. The series was last repeated on ABC1 in January and February 2004...
. In the early 2000s Frances worked for a winery in the Hunter Valley when she couldn't get acting work. Her autobiography And what have you done lately? was published in 2003.
In 1988, Frances made her first appearance in Home and Away
Home and Away
Home and Away is an Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney since July 1987 and is airing on the Seven Network since 17 January 1988. It is the second-longest-running drama and most popular soap opera on Australian television...
as Morag Bellingham
Morag Bellingham
Morag Bellingham is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Cornelia Frances. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 17 June 1988. She appeared until 1989 and briefly appeared in 1993. She returned yearly from 2001 until 2009 and...
, a judge and sister of Alf Stewart
Alf Stewart
Alfred Douglas "Alf" Stewart is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Ray Meagher. The character debuted on-screen during the serial's pilot episode on 17 January 1988...
(Ray Meagher
Ray Meagher
Ray Meagher surname pronouned "Marr" , is a veteran Australian character actor. He has appeared regularly in Australian film and television since the mid 1970s, and is notable as the longest continuing performer in an Australian television role, as Alf Stewart on Home and Away, having played the...
). Frances has played the recurring role of Morag for twenty three years. She has expressed a desire to play Morag full time on the show and admitted that she does not like the coming and going as it is "very unsettling."
Charity
In 2011, Frances joined the Australian Orangutan Project (AOP) as its first Ambassador in an effort to raise awareness about critically endangered orangutans. Frances will travel to the island of BorneoBorneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
on Sunday 16th October 2011 to see the first hand effect of the widespread deforestation of orangutan habitat, and how orangutans are being rehabilitated.
Film
- Peeping TomPeeping Tom (film)Peeping Tom is a 1960 British psychological thriller directed by Michael Powell and written by the World War II cryptographer and polymath Leo Marks. The title derives from the slang expression 'peeping Tom' describing a voyeur...
, as Girl in sports car leaving studio, 1960 - The Queen's GuardsThe Queen's GuardsThe Queen's Guards is a 1961 military drama film directed by Michael Powell from a script by Simon Harcourt-Smith and Roger Milner. It stars Daniel Massey, Raymond Massey, Robert Stephens, and Ursula Jeans.-Plot:...
, as Officer's girl friend, 1961 - The Box, as Dr. S M Winter, 1975
- The Man from Snowy River II, as Mrs. Darcy, 1988
- Minnamurra, as Caroline Richards, 1989
- NedNEDNed may refer to:* Ned , a slang term for a Scottish urban youth who engages in hooliganism* Ned, a 2003 Australian film* Neds, a 2010 British film.* Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, a Nickelodeon TV show...
, as Tina, 2003
Television
- DynastyDynastyA dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...
, as Georgina Clausen, 1970 - Catwalk, as Cornelia Heyson, 1971–1972
- BoneyBoneyBoney is a slang term for someone who is skinny, or lacks fat. It also has several other uses:*"Boney" was often what the British called Napoleon Bonaparte, it being both short and displaying a certain lack of respect...
, as Stella Borredale, 1973 - RyanRyan-Places:Australia* Division of Ryan, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland*Ryan, New South WalesUnited States*Ryan, California*Ryan, former name of Lila C, California*Ryan, Iowa*Ryan, Minnesota*Ryan, Oklahoma...
, as Amelia, 1973 - EssingtonEssingtonEssington is a village and civil parish in South Staffordshire, England. It is considered by the Office for National Statistics to be part of the Wolverhampton Urban Subdivision, and is within the West Midlands conurbation....
, as ?, 1974 - Silent NumberSilent numberIn telephony, a silent number, unlisted number , ex-directory number or private number is a telephone number that is intentionally not listed in telephone books....
, as Ivy, 1974 - The Last Rites, as ?, 1975
- Division 4Division 4Division 4 was an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for the Nine Network between 1969 and 1975 for 300 episodes....
, as Angela Ward, 1974 & Sandra, 1975 - Matlock PoliceMatlock PoliceMatlock Police was an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for the 0-10 Network between 1971 and 1975....
, as Catherine Upton, 1974 & Barbara Anderson, 1975 - Murcheson Creek, as ? , 1976
- The Young DoctorsThe Young DoctorsThe Young Doctors is an Australian early evening soap opera. The series was set in the fictional Albert Memorial hospital and primarily concerned with romances between younger members of the hospital staff, screened on the Nine Network from Monday, 8 November 1976 until Wednesday, 30 March...
, as Sister Grace Scott, 1976–1978 - The Lost IslandsThe Lost IslandsThe Lost Islands is an Australian television series. It first aired in Australia on 1 January 1976, and was later screened around the world, including the UK, France, Italy , as well as Israel, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and the United States.-Plot:A hurricane nearly sinks the United World,...
, as Elizabeth Quinn, 1976 - Homocide, as Julie Kurnow, 1974–1976
- King's MenKing's MenKing's Men or Kingsmen may refer to:*The King's Men , Númenórean royalist faction in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings*The King's Men , English company of actors to whom William Shakespeare belonged*The Kingsmen, American rock group...
, as ?, 1976 - All at Sea, as Miss Swallow, 1977
- The OutsidersThe Outsiders (Australian TV series)The Outsiders was the name of an Australian-German co-production which was made in Australia in 1976. It starred Andrew Keir as Charlie Cole and German Actor Sascha Hehn as Pete Jarrett...
, as Mrs. Foster, 1977 - Tickled PinkTickled PinkTickled Pink was an hour-long television special which aired multiple times during July, 2006, chronicled television shows that homosexuals have identified with over the years...
, as Joan Jefferson, 1978 - Skyways, as Susan Winters, 19??
- PrisonerPrisoner (TV series)Prisoner is an Australian television soap opera which was set in the Wentworth Detention Centre, a fictional women's prison. The series was produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation and ran on Network Ten for 692 episodes from 27 February 1979 to 11 December 1986.The series was inspired by the 1970s...
, as Carmel Saunders, 1980 - Run Rebecca, Run!, as Member for Southdown, 1981
- BellamyBellamyBellamy may refer to:*Bellamy , people with the surname Bellamy*The Bellamy Brothers, an American country group most popular in the 1970s and 1980s*Bellamy *Bellamy , a character from Eiichirō Oda's manga One Piece...
, as Aretha, 1981 - PunishmentPunishment (TV series)Punishment is an Australian television soap opera made by the Reg Grundy Organisation for the Ten Network in 1981.Set in a fictional men's prison, the series attempted to present a male version of the successful soap Prisoner...
, as Cathy Wells, 1981 - Runaway IslandRunaway IslandRunaway Island is a rocky island 0.7 nautical miles west of the west tip of Neny Island and 0.2 nautical miles northwest of Surf Rock, lying in Marguerite Bay off the west coast of Graham Land. The island was roughly charted in 1936 by the British Graham Land Expedition , and was surveyed in...
, as Agatha McLeod, 1982 - Outbreak of Hostilities, as Miriam, 1982
- Kingswood CountryKingswood CountryKingswood Country is an Australian sitcom that screened from 1980 to 1984 on the Seven Network. The series started on 30 January 1980 and was a spin-off from a sketch on comedy program The Naked Vicar Show that had featured Ross Higgins as a blustering bigot...
, as Doctor, 1980–1982 - Sons and DaughtersSons and Daughters (Australian TV series)Sons and Daughters was a Logie Award winning Australian soap opera created by Reg Watson and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation between 1981 and 1987. The first episode aired in December 1981, during the Christmas/New Year non-ratings period, and the official broadcast date of the final...
, as Barbara Hamilton, 1982–1986 - Future PastFuture PastFuture Past is the first and only solo album released by Blue band-member Duncan James. The album was released on June 12, 2006. Three singles were released from the album: "Sooner or Later", "Can't Stop A River" and "Amazed". The album sold less than 15,000 copies in the UK, and less than 150,000...
, as Mother, 1987 - Jackal and Hide, as Madame Zentha, 1987
- Home and AwayHome and AwayHome and Away is an Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney since July 1987 and is airing on the Seven Network since 17 January 1988. It is the second-longest-running drama and most popular soap opera on Australian television...
, as Morag BellinghamMorag BellinghamMorag Bellingham is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Cornelia Frances. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 17 June 1988. She appeared until 1989 and briefly appeared in 1993. She returned yearly from 2001 until 2009 and...
, 1988–89, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004–07, 2008, 2009, 2011 - Pirates Island, as Captain Blackheart, 1991
- The FeralsThe FeralsThe Ferals is an Australian children's comedy television series created by Wendy Gray and Claire Henderson and produced by the ABC. It ran from 1994 to 1995, and it featured a mixture of people and animal puppets known as the "Ferals." It was lauded for its irreverent humour and distinctive...
, as Teacher, 1995 - Magic Mountain, as voice of Tortoise, 1997
- The Weakest LinkThe Weakest Link (Australian game show)The Weakest Link was an Australian game show based on the successful UK format, which aired from February 2001 until April 2002 and was broadcast on the Seven Network. Presented by Cornelia Frances, the show featured nine contestants competing for a potential prize of $100,000...
, host, 2001–2002 - Always GreenerAlways GreenerAlways Greener was an Australian television drama/comedy series that aired on the Seven Network which followed the fortunes of two families, one from the city and the other from the country, when they decide to switch homes and start a new direction in life for themselves...
, as Janet Frawley, 2002–2003