Penne Hackforth-Jones

Penne Hackforth-Jones (5 August 1949 – 17 May 2013) was an American-born Australian actress and biographer.

Early life

Penelope Beatrix Hackforth-Jones was born in August 1949 in Greenwich, Connecticut, to Paul and Susan Felicity (née Gullett) Hackforth-Jones and was a granddaughter of Sir Henry Gullett and niece of Jo Gullett, both Australian politicians. Her great-grandmother, Barbara Baynton, was an Australian author from the Bush Realism school of the 1890s, the same era as Henry Lawson.

She lived with her family in England before relocating to Australia in 1964. After completing her secondary education at St Catherine's School, Toorak in 1966 she attended the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney until graduating in 1968.

Career

In 1969, Hackforth-Jones made her first credited on-screen appearance in the Australian television series Riptide. Other early television appearances included Bellbird, Number 96, Division 4, Matlock Police, Homicide, Ryan, Young Ramsay and Skyways. She played the lead female role of Jessica Johnson in 1975 period adventure series Cash and Company and its 1976 spin-off, Tandarra.

She also appeared in such Australian television series as Butterfly Island, Cop Shop, Punishment, Bellamy, A Country Practice, Mother and Son, the miniseries Tanamera – Lion of Singapore and G.P.. She also appeared in an episode of Australian sitcom Hey Dad..! She later appeared in Murder Call, All Saints, Chandon Pictures, :30 Seconds and The Doctor Blake Mysteries. She also appeared in the 2002 TV film Heroes' Mountain, opposite Craig McLachlan, detailing the true story of ski instructor Stuart Diver and the 1997 Thredbo landslide. Her feature film roles included Dr. Sort in Alvin Purple (1973), the bridal shop manager in Muriel's Wedding (1994), Mrs. Pike in Paradise Road (1997), Cynthia Dodds in Mao's Last Dancer (2009), and Mrs. Johnson in The Tree (2010).

Hackforth-Jones was featured in a long-running television advertisement series for Kellogg's Sultana Bran in the 1980s/1990s.

Hackforth-Jones was the author of a biography of her great-grandmother, novelist Barbara Baynton, titled Barbara Baynton – Between Two Worlds.

Death

Penne Hackforth-Jones was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2012, and died on 17 May 2013, aged 63, in Melbourne. She relocated to Melbourne in 2011 to care for her elderly parents, but kept her diagnosis private while her father was still alive.

She never married, and was survived by her three sisters. The Daily Telegraph featured an article on Hackforth-Jones in its history section on 21 May.[citation needed]

Filmography

Film

Television

Television (as self)

Theatre

Radio

Awards and nominations

External links

• at IMDb
• Penne Hackforth-Jones in film clips at Australian Screen: