Maggie Kirkpatrick

Margaret Anne Kirkpatrick (née Downs; born 29 January 1941)[1] is an Australian actress who is best known for her portrayal of the character Joan Ferguson, a sinister and cold lesbian prison officer, nicknamed "The Freak", in the popular Australian television soap opera Prisoner. More recently, she performed as Madame Morrible in an Australian production of the musical Wicked.

Maggie Kirkpatrick
Kirkpatrick at the opening of Driving Miss Daisy at Theatre Royal, Sydney, 2013
Born	Margaret Ann Downs 29 January 1941 Albury, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation	Actress
Years active	Film and television 1976–2008, 2017-present Theatre 1960, 1968-2015
Notable work	Prisoner
Spouse(s)	Norman Kirkpatrick ​ ​ (m. 1963; div. 1979)​
Children	1

Kirkpatrick has appeared in numerous TV series including Richmond Hill, Water Rats, G.P. and Blue Heelers, as well as 2 roles in All Saints and Home and Away

In 2019, she released her autobiography The Gloves Are Off: The Inside Story From Prisoner to Wicked

Early years

Margaret Anne Downs was born in Albury, New South Wales, to James and Crissie Downs. When she was seven months old her father was killed while on active national service as a soldier in North Africa, leaving her mother to bring her up alone. Her mother later married John Anderson and had a son, Adrian. The family moved to Newcastle, New South Wales, where Kirkpatrick grew up. She had had an interest in acting from an early age, and appeared in several school plays. By November 1955 she became fed up with school and left, whereupon her mother sent her to drama lessons.

Career: Theatre and television

In 1960, at the age of 19, Kirkpatrick took her first professional acting job, with theatre impresario John Alden's Shakespeare Company. After this initial production she promptly gave up acting. Kirkpatrick subsequently took various jobs, working in dress shop, as a medical receptionist, compère of fashion parades, and also had jobs in bars, restaurants, and hotels.

Downs married Norman Kirkpatrick, a merchant seaman of the Shankill Road in Belfast, in September 1963. Five years later they moved to Sydney where Kirkpatrick decided to resume her acting career. After appearing in two plays she put her acting career on hold once again, this time due to the arrival of her daughter Caitlin. Kirkpatrick resumed theatre work as Caitlin got older from 1964 onwards,[2] and from 1976 onwards moved on to television and cinema.

Video Appearance

Kirkpatrick appeared in the music video for "Anthem for the Year 2000" by rock band Silverchair.[3]

Activism

She is a strong supporter of gay rights, having made numerous appearances at "Fair Day" as part of the annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival. She has been awarded the Sydney Gay Community's DIVA award for her work.

Return to TV

Kirkpatrick returned to TV in 2017 after a 9-year hiatus, having in recent years appearing primarily in theatre roles,[2] appearing in Australian TV mini-series The Letdown.

Personal life

In July 2015, Kirkpatrick was charged with child sexual assault against a 13-year-old girl in the 1980s. She strongly denied the allegations and said she would fight to clear her name of the two counts of indecent assault and one count of gross indecency with a person under the age of 16. In a statement Kirkpatrick said, "Yes, allegations have been levelled at me. Are they true? Absolutely not."[4][5] She appeared in court in August 2015 and was found guilty on 20 August.[6] She was subsequently sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order, including 100 hours of community service.[7] Kirkpatrick successfully appealed the case and won, with Judge Geoffrey Chettle finding that there was reasonable doubt surrounding the circumstances, and dismissing the conviction and charges.[8]

Filmography

Film

Title	Year	Role	Notes
Summer of Secrets	1976
The FJ Holden	1977	Betty Armstead
The Night, the Prowler	1978	Madge Hopkirk
The Getting of Wisdom		Sarah
The Pirate Movie	1982	Ruth
Encounters	1993	Aunt Helen	Alternative title: "Voyage into Terror"
Billy's Holiday	1995	Maureen O'Hara
Lilian's Story	1996		Uncredited role
Welcome to Woop Woop	1997	Ginger
Hetty	2002	Thelma

Television

Title	Year	Role	Notes
The Godfathers	1971		TV series
The Thursday Creek Mob			TV series
Snake Gully with Dad and Dave	1972		TV series
Who Do You Think You Are?	1976		TV series
Father, Dear Father in Australia	1978	Mrs. Floyd	Season 1, episode 12 "The Wisdom of Patrick"
Chopper Squad		Mrs. Roland	Season 2, episode 3 "A Deed Without a Name"
The Oracle	1979		TV series
Jonah	1978		Mini-series
Spring & Fall			Season 2, episode 4 "Thanks Brother"
Prisoner	1982–1986	Joan Ferguson	Leading role; seasons 4–8; 389 episodes Alternative title: "Prisoner: Cell Block H"
Richmond Hill	1988	Ivy Hackett	TV series
Dearest Enemy	1989		TV series
The Ham Funeral	1990	Mrs. Fauburgus	TV film
Betty's Bunch		Betty	Leading role; Season 1; 13 episodes
The Miraculous Mellops	1991	Mrs. Kafka	Season 1, episode 5 Season 1, episode 12
Home and Away		Jean Chambers	7 episodes of season 4
Hey Dad..!	1992	Sister Maureen	Season 8, episode 1 "Nun the Wiser"
The Ferals	1994	Aunt Mavis	Season 1, episode 8 "Rock Horror"
G.P.	1995	Joan Mullins	Season 7, episode 13 "Relative Strangers"
Water Rats	1999	Sadie Seymor	Season 4, episode 20 "Red Light"
Pizza	2000	Joan Ferguson	Season 1, episode 9 "Gambling Pizza"
Blue Heelers		Marj Cummings	Season 7, episode 21 "The Gumshoe"
All Saints	2001	Dawn Healy	Season 4, episode 18 "Bed of Roses"
Home and Away	2003–2004	Viv "The Guv" Standish	Recurring role; 11 episodes; season 16 / season 17
All Saints	2008	Maria	Season 11, episode 7 "Little Decisions"
The Letdown	2017	Lois	Season 1, episode 6 "Mother Nature"
Sando	2018	Catherine	Season 1, episode 1 "Prodigal Mum"
The Bureau of Magical Things	2018	Doris (voice)	4 episodes

References

1. THE GLOVES ARE OFF
2. "Maggie Kirkpatrick".
3. "Interview with The Sunday Herald-Sun". The Sunday Herald-Sun. 21 February 1999.
4. "Australian actress faces child sex charges". BBC. 27 July 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
5. Prisoner star Maggie Kirkpatrick on child sex charge The Australian Retrieved 27 July 2015
6. "Maggie Kirkpatrick, Prisoner star, found guilty of child sex offences". ABC News. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
7. "Prisoner star Maggie Kirkpatrick avoids jail over teen sex abuse". The Sydney Morning Herald.
8. "Prisoner star Maggie Kirkpatrick cleared of indecently assaulting young fan". ABC News. 8 December 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2015.

External links

• Maggie Kirkpatrick at IMDb