Noni Hazlehurst

Leonie Elva "Noni" Hazlehurst is an Australian actress, director, writer, presenter, and broadcaster who has appeared on television, radio and film since the early 1970s. Hazlehurst has been honoured with Australian Film Institute Awards, ARIA Awards and Logies, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016.

Early life and education Leonie Elva Hazelhurst, known as "Noni",

After attending St Leonard's College in Brighton East, Victoria, Hazlehurst studied Drama at Flinders University in South Australia and they migrated to Australia in 1951.

Career Television

Along with roles at the ABC, her first television work was in guest lead roles in television serials produced by Crawford Productions. She played the regular role of Sharon Lewis in The Box in 1975 before joining the original cast of The Sullivans as Lil Duggan in late 1976. She was a Play School presenter from 1978 to 2001, and has been a National Ambassador or Patron for many children's events and charities, including Children's Week (1991-2007) and Barnardos. She has worked extensively for children. Hazlehurst has recorded several music and spoken word albums, including the children's music album Shout and Whisper (1988).

Hazlehurst appeared in the miniseries Nancy Wake (played the title role), as well as such films and miniseries as The Shiralee, Ride on Stranger, and Waterfront in the 1980s.

From 1995 to 2005, she hosted the Seven Networks Better Homes and Gardens, a lifestyle show which is affiliated with the monthly magazine of the same name.

In 2006, she starred in ABC's telemovie Stepfather of the Bride. From 2007 to 2011, she played Detective Superintendent Bernice Waverley on Channel Seven crime drama City Homicide. In 2010, she was a guest on The 7pm Project on Network Ten. In July 2011, as part of a rapidly growing internet meme, she read the book Go the Fuck to Sleep to camera in the style she formerly used on Play School. She immediately offered to record a reading of the book after being sent a copy by the publisher.

Beginning in 2013, she appeared as Elizabeth Bligh in the 1950s-set Australian melodrama A Place to Call Home on the Seven Network, playing the wealthy matriarch of the family. She played "Ambrose" in ABC TV's The Letdown (2017–2019), and as Pamela in The End (2020).

In 2023, Hazlehurst was named in the cast for One Night.

Film

Hazlehurst has had starring roles in Australian films since the 1980s, most notably as the lead, Nora, in Monkey Grip (1982), based on Helen Garner's novel of the same name. The film, concerning the relationship between a single mother and a heroin addict, was a modest box-office success in Australia and received generally favourable reviews from critics.

She later starred in Little Fish in 2005, Candy in 2006, and Bitter & Twisted in 2008. Later film roles include The Mule, Truth, The Broken Shore, and Ladies in Black.

Radio Hazlehurst is a regular freelance presenter on 774 ABC Melbourne.

Theatre

Hazlehurst's theatrical roles include The Man from Mukinupin, On Our Selection, Traitors, Hamlet, No Names, No Packdrill, Cut and Thrust, Frankie & Johnny in the Claire De Lune, for the STC: Navigating (Dir: Marin Potts) The Breath of Life, Woman in Mind, for the MTC: Grace, (Dir: Marion Potts), Madagascar, (Dir: Sam Strong) and The Heretic, (Dir: Matt Scholten). In 2014 she appeared in a critically acclaimed production of The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Dir: Declan Eames) for the Kin Collective at 45 Downstairs.

In 2015 and 2016 Hazlehurst performed in a one-woman play, Mother, written for her by Daniel Keene; the show toured nationally. Her performance was described as burning up the stage with histrionic power For her role in Mother, she was nominated for a Helpmann Awards for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Play. Hazlehurst won the 2018 Matilda Award for Best Female Actor in a Leading Role for Mother.

Keene's second one-woman play for Hazlehurst, The Lark, was first performed in 2025.

Awards and nominations Year Association Category Work Result 1980 Logie Awards Best Supporting Actress in a Series Ride on Stranger 1981 Australian Film Institute Awards Best Actress in a Lead Role Fatty Finn 1982 Monkey Grip 1985 Fran Logie Awards Best Supporting Actress in a Single Series Waterfront 1989 ARIA Awards Best Children's Album Shout and Whisper Logie Awards Most Popular Actress in a Miniseries/Telemovie The Shiralee 1990 ARIA AwardsBest Children's Album Peter and the Wolf/Carnival of the Animals 1992 Noni Sings Day and Night Songs and Rhymes from Play School 2000 Australian Film Institute Awards Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Telefeature or Mini-Series Waiting at the Royal 2005 AACTA Awards Best Supporting Actress Little Fish Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards Best Actress in a Supporting Role 2006 AACTA Awards Best Supporting Actress Candy Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards Best Actress in a Supporting Role 2008 Australian Film Institute Awards Best Actress Bitter & Twisted 2009 Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards Best Actress 2014 Equity Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast: Drama Series Redfern Now 2015 Australian Film Critics Association Awards Best Actress in a Supporting Role The Mule Helpmann Awards Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Play Mother 2018 AACTA Awards Best Supporting Actress Ladies in Black Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards Best Actress in a Supporting Role The Matilda Awards Best Female Actor in a Leading Role Mother

Other awards Year Association Achievement 1991 Variety Club of Australia "Top Hat" Achievement Award 1995 National Honours Member of the Order of Australia for her services to children and the performing arts 2016 Logie Awards Logie Hall of Fame Hazlehurst was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by her alma mater Flinders University in 2007.

She has been an ambassador for Barnardo's "Mother of the Year" awards.

Cultural references In 1994 a painting of Hazlehurst by artist Rosemary Valadon titled Noni Hazlehurst – Summer '94 Waiting Again was a finalist in the Archibald Prize.

Personal life Hazlehurst married director Kevin Dobson, and she subsequently married John Jarratt in circa 1987. She and Jarratt have two sons. After separating from Jarratt in August 1999,

Her son, William, is the former vocalist for Melbourne death pop band Storm The Sky.

Hazelhurst's autobiography Dropping The Mask was published in 2024, and was described by The Sydney Morning Herald as "a terrifically energising book, full of sweep and compassion and the delineation of doubt". 2019 Balance Herself Webseries, 1 episode 2018 Who Do You Think You Are? Herself TV series, 1 episode

2016 TV Week Logie Awards Herself – Logies Hall of Fame TV special Big Ted's Excellent Adventure: 50 Years of Play School Herself TV special 2015 Australia: The Story of Us Herself - Actor TV series, 1 episode 2010 Things My Mother Taught Me Herself TV series 1998 Budget Makeovers Presenter TV special

Better Homes and Gardens: Great Australian Homes Host TV special Ripsnorters Herself TV series, 1 episode

Play School 30th Birthday Herself TV special The Edge of Instinct Herself TV documentary 1995 Sydney Weekender Summer Special Presenter TV special 1995–2004 Better Homes and Gardens Host TV series 1993 How to Raise Happy Kids Herself Film documentary 1992 Asthma in Under 5's Herself TV documentary 1991 Play School's 25th Anniversary Herself TV special 1991 Land of the Apocalypse Herself TV documentary 1990 Working Actor Series Herself Film documentary 1982 A Creative Partnership – The Actor and the Director Herself Film documentary