Patricia Kennedy

Early life

Kennedy was born in Queenscliff, Victoria on 17 March (St Patrick's Day), 1916 (however, other sources list her year of birth as 1917.)

Kennedy was noted for her range, spanning from high drama to comedy. She was mainly based in Melbourne, and had a strong association with the Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC), but she also performed in England with the Bristol Old Vic Company's 1969–1970 season. Ibsen's Ghosts (1969: Mrs Alving), Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well, The Man Who Shot the Albatross (1972), and Some of My Best Friends are Women (1976).

Her portrayal of Mary in the South Australian Theatre Company's Melbourne production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night was described as "the best female performance on the Melbourne stage in 1973", and that production is considered one of the landmark productions in Australian theatre, largely due to Patricia Kennedy's involvement.

Plays written for Kennedy included the single-hander The Rain by Daniel Keene. She appeared alongside Zoe Caldwell in the MTC's production of Euripides' Medea, the first production at the Arts Centre Melbourne's Playhouse Theatre in 1984.

From 1991 to 1992, Kennedy appeared in a one-woman stage adaptation of Elizabeth Jolley's novel The Newspaper of Claremont Street, staged by the Playbox Theatre Company at a number of venues in Victoria.

Kennedy was still active with the MTC well into her 80s.

Radio Kennedy was one of the leading radio actors in Melbourne. Her radio career began when she was discovered by 3UZ drama director Walter Pym at a Sunday night play reading in Melbourne. After winning a Best Actress award for her role in the 3DB series Are You an Actor?, she started securing roles in ABC radio plays. She played Miss Crump on the long-running ABC radio program The Village Glee Club (1942–1971). She also played the title role in Jane Eyre for Lux Radio Theatre, Barbara Brandon in The Reverend Matthew

Film and television Kennedy's early television credits included Emergency, Consider Your Verdict and Homicide as well as a number of various tv plays. She went on to appear in Prisoner, Young Ramsay, The Sullivans, The Weekly's War, Five Mile Creek, Return to Eden, The Flying Doctors, G.P. and A Country Practice.

From 1972 to 1973, Kennedy worked as a consultant to the Australia Council for the Arts.

In the 1990s, Kennedy was involved in founding the Four Winds Festival in Bermagui.

The 'Patricia Kennedy Award', a scholarship named in Kennedy's honour, is awarded to top-performing acting students at the University of Melbourne.

Personal life and death Kennedy remained single, very private and very independent. Even in her 80s, although she owned a house in Melbourne, she preferred to live alone in a hut without electricity, on the edge of a state forest near Bega in southern New South Wales. This was 5–6 hours drive by road from Melbourne, where she would travel for theatre commitments.

Kennedy died on 10 December 2012, aged 96.

Awards Year Work Award Category Result Ref. Are You an Actor? Best Actress

Television

Theatre