Jane Clifton

Jane Clifton (born 10 April 1949) is a British Gibraltar-born Australian actress, singer, writer and former radio and voice artist.

She is best known for her role in TV serial Prisoner as tough prison bookie Margo Gaffney.

As a singer, she has had stints with numerous bands including Scumbag, Toad, Stiletto, Double Decker Brothers and Jo Jo Zep and has recorded an album featuring Jenny Morris and Wendy Matthews, Mark Williams and Marc Hunter

Career

Radio and voiceover Clifton started out her career on Melbourne community radio stations 3CR and 3RMT-FM in the 1970s. She then worked for commercial stations 3AK, Radio National and 774 ABC. Clifton has also done voice-over work for commercials and audio books.

Film, television and stage Clifton has acted extensively in film and the stage and in various television programs. Beginning in cult favorites Stork (1971) and Pure Shit (1975), her films include The Clinic and A Slice of Life. Her stage roles include The Pack of Women and Mum's the Word. She has also made a number of television appearances, starting in the mid 70s with the Crawford's series Division 4, Homicide and Bluey, Against the Wind, Skyways, Holiday Island, Sweet and Sour, Carson's Law and Shock Jock, but her best-known acting role is probably that of tough prison bookie Margo Gaffney in Prisoner. Clifton played the role for 107 episodes from 1980 until 1984 on an intermittent basis as the script allowed, having previously appeared in the minor role of Yvonne, from episode 9, and featured in the Prisoner in Concert special.

Clifton also performed with Betty Bobbitt and Colette Mann as part of a three-woman troupe, The Mini Busettes, in the 1980s in RSLs across Australia.

In September 2010, it was announced that Clifton would be joining the cast of Neighbours as Judge Willow. Her scenes aired in November of that year. In the following year with Bell, Sheehan, van Roosendaal and Janie Conway on guitar and vocals, Clifton formed rock, pop group Stiletto. It peaked at No. 93 on the Kent Music Report albums chart. The album provided two singles, "Bluebirds" (March) and "Goodbye, Johnny" (August). The singer formed Jane Clifton Sextet, which provided cover versions of Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald songs. In late 1982 Clifton provided vocals for Jo Jo Zep's single, "Taxi Mary", which reached No. 11 on the singles chart. It is her version of a song from The Pack of Women cabaret, stage show. That album was produced by former bandmate, Armiger. and Flush (2013). In 2011, she published her memoir The Address Book and in 2019 she wrote a book of poetry A Day at a Time – in Rhyme.

Discography

Studio albums Title Album details The Marriage of Style Released: 2003 Format: CD Label: Sound Vault Records

Soundtracks Title Album details Dancing Daze(by Jenny Morris, Wendy Matthews, Mark Williams, Marc Hunter & Jane Clifton)Released: February 1986 Formats: LP, Cassette Label: ABC Music (RML 53191)

Singles + List of singles, with selected chart positions

1984 herself – "Girl on a Wall" Best Female Performance in a Video

Filmography

Film YearTitleRoleType 1971 Stork Student (uncredited) Feature film 1975 Pure S (aka 'Pure Shit') Party Girl Feature film 1982 A Slice of Life Fay Feature film 1982 The Clinic Sharon Feature film 1984 Anna Who? Herself Film short 1988 As Time Goes By Mechanic Feature film 1990 A Kink in the Picasso Bella Feature film 1992 Garbo Mayor Feature film 2010 Matching Jack Finn's Doctor Feature film 2014 Helen Garner's Monkey Grip Herself Film short 2017 Beast Bea Film short 2017 Lost Gully Road Mother Feature film

Television YearTitleRoleType 1971; 1973 Division 4 Anne Mason / Hippy Girl TV series, 2 episodes 1973 Ryan Jenny TV series, 1 episode: "A Little Something Special" 1975–76 Homicide Cheryl / Jenny Walker / Janice Thelgood TV series, 3 episodes 1977 Bluey Seaboots TV series, 1 episode: "Father and Son" 1978 Against the Wind Convict Woman TV miniseries, 2 episodes 1978; 1982; 1984 Countdown Performer / Co-host TV series, 3 episodes 1978 Rockturnal Performer (with band 'Stiletto' sings "Nuclear War") TV series, 1 episode 1979 Skyways Shelley TV series, 1 episode: "The Flying Sleuths" 1979–1984 Prisoner Margo Gaffney / Yvonne TV series, 107 episodes 1980 Working Up Herself Film documentary 1981 Holiday Island Fran TV series, episode: 'A Mother's Revenge' 1981 Prisoner in Concert Herself TV special 1981 Home Kearns TV series, 2 episodes 1982–1988 Hey Hey It's Saturday Singer TV series, 9 episodes 1983 For Love or Money Herself Film documentary 1984 Sweet and Sour TV series, 1 episode 1984 Carson's Law Mrs. Watkins TV series, 1 episode 1984; 1985 The Mike Walsh Show Performer TV series, 2 episodes 1984 Special Squad Karen TV series, episode 31: "Brothers" 1986 Dancing Daze Lee Harper TV miniseries 1985 A Single Life Lee TV movie 1987–1988 Five Times Dizzy Mrs. Wilson TV series, 12 episodes 1989 The Power, The Passion Carla Graham TV series, regular role 1990 The Flying Doctors Greta TV series, 1 episode: "The Last Carnival" 1991 Col'n Carpenter Emily Sutcliffe TV series, 1 episode 1993–2005 Good Morning Australia Regular singer TV series 1995 Janus Phillipa Strong TV series, 1 episode: "A Lawful Apprehension" 1998 In Melbourne Tonight Singer TV series, 1 episode 2001 Round the Twist Producer TV series, 1 episode: "TV or Not TV" 2001 Shock Jock Joy Gold TV series, 1 episode: "Cops and Dobber" 2010; 2019 Neighbours Judge Nerida Willow / Meg Fletcher TV series, 5 episodes 2014 Winners & Losers Lynette Vanderthorpe TV series, 1 episode: "The New Me" 2015 The Doctor Blake Mysteries Sister Josephine TV series, 1 episode: "This Time and this Place" 2016 Bringing Our Stories Home Miss Mulholland TV series, 1 episode: "Doing Our Bit" 2017 Classic Countdown Narrator TV series, 1 episode: "1978" 2024 Fisk Jean TV series, 1 episode 2024 Countdown 50 Years On Herself TV special2026StealShop CashierTV series 1 episode (1.2) 'Face Value"

Stage

As performer Year Title Role Notes 1969 Saturday La Mama, Melbourne with APG 1972 Our Dick La Mama, Melbourne with The Tribe 1973 Gone to See a Man About a Dog La Mama, Melbourne 1974 Nightflowers La Mama, Melbourne 1974 Dimboola Shirl Chevron 1974 Women's Weekly 1 and Women's Weekly 2 Pram Factory, Melbourne with APG 1974 Out of the Frying Pan Pram Factory, Melbourne with APG 1974 The Floating World Pram Factory, Melbourne, Space Theatre, Adelaide with APG 1974 Africa 1976 Sisters Ziggy Pram Factory, Melbourne with APG 1976 AC/DC Melody Pram Factory, Melbourne with APG 1979 Mickey's Moomba Panel Beaters Space, Melbourne with APG 1979 L'Amante Anglaise / La Musica Marguerite Duras Pram Factory, Melbourne with APG 1980 Bent Brass Hokum Jeebs / Compere The Last Laugh, Melbourne, Space Theatre, Adelaide 1981 The Mini-Busettes With Colette Mann & Betty Bobbitt 1983 The Pack of Women Seymour Centre, Sydney, Universal Theatre, Melbourne, Space Theatre, Adelaide, Australian National University, Canberra, Nimrod Theatre, Sydney with Hocking & Woods 1984 On a Clear Day You Can See Jane Clifton One woman show The Last Laugh, Melbourne 1986 Take Two The Last Laugh, Melbourne 1986 The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ Melbourne Athenaeum with Hocking & Woods and Edgley International 1990 Dreamtime Melbourne Concert Hall with State Theatre Opera 1990 Prisoner / Cell Block ‘H’play UK tour 1990 Laughing Wild Universal Two, Melbourne with Soup Kitchen Theatre 1991 On Our Selection Alice Pettigrew Playhouse, Melbourne with MTC 1993 An Evening with Merv Hughes Sydney 1994; 1997 Love Letters Melissa Gardner Castlemaine Festival, Capers Theatre Restaurant 1996 I Only Want to be With You – The Dusty Springfield Story Space Theatre, Adelaide 1998; 2002 Mum's the Word Melbourne Athenaeum, Glen Street Theatre, Sydney for MICF 2001 Go in Tight Barry Dickins La Mama, Melbourne 2004 Stand-Up and Swing With Denise Scott 2005 Menopause The Musical The Soap Star Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne 2006 Barmaids Nancy Sutherland Entertainment Centre, Lennox Theatre, Parramatta with HIT Productions 2010 Spontaneous Broadway Fairfax Studio, Melbourne for MICF 2011 Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home One woman cabaret show Banquet Room, Adelaide with Adelaide Festival Centre for Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2012 Barassi Narrator Melbourne Athenaeum 2012 More Sex Please… We're Seniors Comedy Theatre, Melbourne 2016; 2013 Boy Out of the Country Margaret Larrikin Ensemble 2016 Southern Belles Singer Banquet Room, Adelaide with Adelaide Festival Centre for Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2017 Spencer Marilyn Chapel Off Chapel, Melbourne with Lab Kelpie 2017 Jack of Two Trades MAPA 2018 Rock Venus: The Songs of Linda Ronstadt Singer Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide with Adelaide Festival Centre for Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2021; 2022 Mrs Prime Minister Singer / Actor Chapel Off Chapel, Melbourne, Memo Music Hall, Melbourne 2022 Sex and Death_ and the Internet University of Adelaide for Adelaide Festival 2024 A Day at a Time in Rhyme One woman show La Mama, Melbourne, Australian regional tour, The Stratford Courthouse, UK

As director Year Title Role