Cornelia Frances Zulver, (7 April 1941 – 28 May 2018), credited professionally as Cornelia Frances, was an English-Australian actress. After starting her career in small cameos in films in her native England, she became best known for her acting career in Australia after emigrating there in the 1960s, particularly her iconic television soap opera roles with portrayals of nasty characters.
Frances featured in numerous Crawford Production series, but first became notable for starring in The Young Doctors (1976–1978), as acidic Sister later Matron Grace Scott. Subsequently, she appeared in soap opera Sons and Daughters as Barbara Armstrong Hamilton on Network Seven (1982–1986). She appeared in the film version of regular series TV soap The Box. She also worked on stage and in voice-over.
She played Morag Bellingham in Home and Away from its inception in 1988. After leaving the series she made numerous guest appearances, then re-joined the series as a permanent cast member in 2001, before going back to an itinerant basis until her final appearance in 2017.
In the early 2000s, she was the host of the Australian version of British quiz show, The Weakest Link.
Early life
Frances was born on April 7, 1941 in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, to Louis Zulver, a marine engineer with Dutch heritage and Margaret (Peg) Zulver, the daughter of Irish immigrants. moving in with her grandmother Frances in Marylebone, for the duration. She also appeared in various theatre productions all while working off jobs at department stores and as a receptionist, in order to maintain a steady income.
Frances worked as a house model for Vendome Prêt à Porter for a couple of years, but after struggling to secure further roles in the UK, she relocated to Australia in 1965, following future husband, Michael Eastland. She continued to model in Perth before making her television debut on Roundabout, presenting a shopping and fashion segment. where she appeared in further theatre productions, before landing a small role in a 1969 adaptation of Goodbye Mr Chips, opposite Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark. a part written specially for her.
In April 1980, Frances made a guest appearance as lawyer Carmel Saunders on Prisoner. She then guest-starred in several more television shows, before taking another well-remembered role, as Barbara Armstrong (later Hamilton) in Sons and Daughters, which she played from 1982 until 1986, She expressed a desire to play Morag full-time on the show, and admitted that she did not like the coming-and-going as it was "very unsettling."
In 1990, Frances appeared in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, her first pantomime, playing the Wicked Queen, alongside fellow Home and Away cast members in the UK. Later that year, she returned to the UK, to appear in a stage production of Caravan, opposite Noel Hodda and Alan Dale, followed by another pantomime, Dick Whittington, playing Queen Rat. She also hosted the Australian version of the quiz show, The Weakest Link (2001–2002). In the early 2000s, she worked for a winery in the Hunter Valley when she could not get acting work. She had plans to release two new novels, however these never eventuated. In the mid-2000s, a thief broke into her home whilst she was on holiday in the UK, stealing valuables, including her laptop, which held the only copy of her work. She contemplated a rewrite, but eventually abandoned the idea. as well as ongoing guest-spots on Home and Away, where she made her final acting appearance in 2017.
Personal life and death
While working on The Trials of Oscar Wilde, Frances met her first love, writer and director Ken Hughes (of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang fame), with whom she had an 18-month relationship. After an incident involving an intruder at their home in Bondi Junction, the family moved to Neutral Bay. The following month, she appeared in an interview from her bed, for A Current Affair and on 7 April 2018, she celebrated her 77th birthday, with fellow actors and friends, Judy Nunn, Bruce Venables, Axle Whitehead, Paula Duncan, Andrew McFarlane and Dan Bennett, around her hospital bed. with her son Lawrence by her side. A private funeral was held on Thursday 31 May with her family and closest friends in attendance.
|-
| rowspan=2|1995
| The Ferals
| Teacher
| Season 2, episode 7
|-
| G.P.
| Lindy
| Season 7, episode 35
|-
| 1997–1998
| Magic Mountain
| Tortoise
|
|-
| rowspan=2|2003
| Always Greener
| Janet Frewley
| Season 2, episodes 21 & 22
|-
| Pizza
| Welfare
| Season 3, episode 1
|-
| 2008
| Milly, Molly
| Aunt Maude
| Seasons 1–2
|}
Stage
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Location
|-
| || Boeing-Boeing || || Theatre Royal, Bath
|-
| || Jane Steps Out || || Theatre Royal, Bath
|-
| 1987
| A Lie of the Mind
| Lorraine
| Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney
|-
| rowspan=2|1990
| How the Other Half Loves
|
| Footbridge Theatre, Sydney
|-
| Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs || The Wicked Queen || Southend-on-Sea
|-
| 1992
| The Heiress
| Lavinia Penniman
| Marian St Theatre, Sydney
|-
| 1994
| Steaming
|
| Theatre Royal, Sydney, Australian & NZ tour
|-
| 2005
| Love Letters
| Melissa Gardner
| NIDA Parade Theatre, Sydney
|-
| 2010
| Calendar Girls
| Chair of Yorkshire Women's Institute
| Lyric Theatre, Brisbane, Theatre Royal, Sydney, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne
Awards
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Work
! Award
! Category
! Result
|-
| 1984 || Sons and Daughters || Logie Awards || Best Supporting Actress in a Series ||
|}
References
External links
- Cornelia Frances Au soaps profile
- Digital Spy interviews Cornelia Frances