Enid Lorimer

Enid Bosworth Lorimer (born May Enid Bosworth Nunn; 27 November 1887 – 15 July 1982), was an English-born stage, radio, television and film actress, director, producer, writer, teacher and theosophist. She worked in her native England and also in Australia.

She was a contemporary of Dame Sybil Thorndike and Dame Lilian Braithwaite.

Early life

Lorimer was born on 27 November 1887, in London, United Kingdom. Her father was Harold Marcus Nunn and her mother was Helen Louise Fowler (née Bosworth) and she had a younger sister.

Brought up in comfortable and privileged circumstances, her early education was supervised by a governess. She later attended a boarding school in Folkestone, Kent, and a finishing school in Switzerland where she learned French and German.

In London, Lorimer trained under renowned teacher Elsie Fogerty, but when her father’s opposition to an acting career became am issue, she left home. She subsequently trained at Her Majesty's Theatre as a Shakespearean actress. Her first role was a walk-on part under Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree.

Career

Lorimer's career as an actress lasted for some 70 years. She first took stage drama studies in the United Kingdom, and became an understudy to Phyllis Neilson-Terry. She joined the touring company of Laurence Irving and during the war years she worked in film production in Britain assisting Dame Ellen Terry. She arrived in Sydney, Australia in November 1923 to serve as Art Director at the Star Amphitheatre, Balmoral.

Lorimer produced the first impromptu radio play at 2GB in 1925. She was well known for her role as Ettie in the radio serial Dr. Mac with Lou Vernon, between 1940 and 1952.

She starred in numerous Australian television programmes, such as Motel, Spyforce, Homicide, Division 4 and Cop Shop, as well as many theatrical stage plays, and in 1966 she appeared as a narrator in fourteen episodes of the BBC children's television programme Jackanory. Up until her 85th birthday in 1973, Lorimer was very active within the entertainment industry and would not entertain the prospect of retirement, despite self-admitted signs of "phasing out". Her final film appearance was in The Odd Angry Shot.

In her later years, she gradually retired from acting and instead started writing children's books, such as the series Shelley (which was based on her granddaughter), under the pseudonym of Ellen Bosworth, publishing 3 books. Many of her books were best-sellers in Australia.

During her lifetime, Lorimer also worked as a teacher and a theosophist.

Recognition

Lorimer was awarded the Chips Rafferty Memorial Award in 1981 and the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her service towards the performing arts on 14 June 1982.

Enid Lorimer Circuit, in the Canberra suburb of Chisholm, is named in her honour.

Personal life

Lorimer met fellow actor Henry Augustavus Wentworth Zerffi, a Londoner of Hungarian-Jewish extraction, while she was acting with Laurence Irving's touring company. They were married on 27 July 1912 at St Paul’s Presbyterian Church, in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Zerffi served in the war, but upon his return, their marriage did not last. In 1926, severely affected by war injuries, Zerffi shot his mother, before committing suicide, prompting Lorimer to return to England in 1926.

Death

Lorimer died on 15 July 1982 at a private hospital in Wahroonga, New South Wales. A private funeral was held for her; only six people attended.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

As actor

As director / playwright / producer

Radio (partial)

As actor

As director

External links

• at IMDb
• 8 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine at the Women Film Pioneers Project