Obituary: Elisabeth Kirkby

Elisabeth Kirkby OAM, best known for playing Lucy Sutcliffe in the 1970s soap Number 96, has died at the age of 105.

Born in Lancashire, United Kingdom, in 1921, she began her acting career at the Manchester Repertory Theatre while still a teenager. During World War II she spent three years with the woman’s branch of the British Army, the Auxiliary Territorial Service, as an entertainer, writer and producer for Stars in Battledress, a group performing for service personnel. She made her TV acting debut in the BBC play Mr Bolfry in 1946.

While married to gynaecologist, broadcaster and author Derek Llewellyn-Jones, she had three children and the family relocated to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. She worked in radio broadcasting in both cities before the family relocated to Sydney in 1965. She joined ABC radio and in 1967 made her Australian TV debut in the ABC play On The Hop.

She made guest appearances in TV series including Homicide, Hunter, Riptide, The Rovers and sitcom The Group. For The Group she convinced the producers that she perform the role in her native Lancashire accent. This struck a chord with the show’s scriptwriter David Sale, who also hailed from Lancashire, inspiring him to write a similar character with Kirkby in mind for his next project — Number 96.

Kirkby was one of the original cast members when Number 96 premiered in March 1972. Playing opposite James Elliott‘s ‘whinging pom’ husband, Alf, she portrayed  some of Number 96‘s most dramatic storylines. Ratings spiked when Lucy was dealing with the suspicion of breast cancer and the possibility of having to have a mastectomy. The storyline sparked an increase in women getting mammograms and being checked for signs of cancer.

Lucy had also suffered temporary blindness following an assault, and following a menopausal pregnancy, she had a battle to rescue her newborn baby from a crazed kidnapper.

By 1975, Number 96‘s ratings were on the slide and while the Sutcliffes survived the ‘bomb blast‘ that wiped out several characters in the series, they were soon to be written out. Kirkby and Elliott later re-united for Number 96‘s 1000th episode special They Said It Wouldn’t Last in 1976 and again for the series’ final episode curtain call in 1977.

After Number 96, Kirkby made appearances in Glenview High and The Outsiders, before taking on a new career in politics. She joined the Australian Democrats and was a member of the NSW Legislative Council for 17 years. She later served in local government for the Temora Shire.

In 2012 she was awarded a medal of the Order of Australia, for “service to the Parliament of New South Wales, to the community of Temora, and to the performing arts”

At the age of 93, she made headlines as Australia’s oldest university graduate with a PhD from the University of Sydney, studying the links between the Great Depression of the 1930s and the global financial crisis of the 2000s.

Elisabeth Kirkby is survived by three children, including actors Tony Llewellyn-Jones and Debbie Baile, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, IMDB, Parliament of New South Wales, ABC. Number 96: Australia’s Most Notorious Address, Nigel Giles. Number 96: 50th Anniversary Album, Nigel Giles. Number 96, Mavis Bramston And Me, David Sale. TV Times, 14 October 1972, 25 June 1977.