Betty Bobbitt

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Betty Ann Bobbitt (February 7, 1939 – November 30, 2020) was an American actress, director, singer, and playwright based in Australia, with a career that spanned over 60 years encompassing theatre, television and film.

Bobbitt was best known for her small screen role as lesbian motherly character Judy Bryant in cult series Prisoner (also known in the UK and US as Prisoner: Cell Block H and Canada as Caged Women) from 1980 and 1985, through 430 episodes, she originally auditioned for the role of 'Queen' Bea Smith, that was given to actress Val Lehman.

Bobbitt was the second major star actress to portray a lesbian character in the series after Carol Burns, who played original character Franky Doyle.

She was the series second-longest serving actor after original Elspeth Ballantyne, who played Officer Meg Jackson (later Morris), who featured in the entire 692 series run.

In the series the character of Judy was convicted of smuggling drugs so she could be with her lesbian lover Sharon Gilmore in the fictional Wentworth Detention Centre, whilst in prison she was raped, survived a murder attempt, broke out on 2 occasions and discovered she had a long lost daughter.^[1]

The actress who portrays Judy Bryant's lover in the series Margot Knight, as inmate Sharon Gilmore, returned to the series for a second stint as Prison Officer Terri Malone, coincidently also a lesbian character, making Knight the only actress to portray a LGBT character as both a prisoner and warden^[2]

On film she had cameo roles appearing opposite Paul Hogan, in several of the Crocodile Dundee series including Crocodile Dundee II (1988), Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001), and the direct-to-videoThe Very Excellent Mr. Dundee (2020).

Bobbitt died on 30 November 2020, aged 81, following a stroke.^[3]

Early career in the United States and Australia[]

Bobbitt was born in Manhattan, New York, to nurse Elizabeth née, Sprout and Hubert Bobbitt, a steel mill worker and grew up in Norristown, a suburb of Philadelphia.^[4] She attended a Catholic school and Norristown High School.

Moving at aged 18 to Los Angeles for a production of Auntie Mame, she was approached by an Australian television producer who asked her if she "wanted to come to Australia and be funny".^[4] She was contracted for six months and appeared as a regular on a Melbourne television variety show, Daly at Night, as "a female Victor Borge, singing off-key and just plain acting like a dumb brunette".^[4] She was known in Australia in the early 1960s as "Betty Bobbitt the dizzy brunette from Big Bear", referencing a fictitious place ostensibly in Pennsylvania.^[5]

She subsequently married an Australian artist, Robin Hill,^[5] and had a son, Christopher, in England. Returning to Melbourne, Australia, she appeared in many theatre productions with the Melbourne Theatre Company. She also teamed up with future Prisoner stars Anne Phelan and Colette Mann in a 1970s stage show called The Glitter Girls who performed 1940s songs. Notable theatre included in Martin Cripps Cruel and Tender and Jean Cocteau of 'The Human Voice^[6]

Australian television productions[]

Bobbitt was a fixture on Australian television from the mid-1960s with guest roles in serials including Matlock Police, Homicide, Cop Shop, A Country Practice, The Flying Doctors, All Saints, Marshall Law, and  Blue Heelers.

Prisoner: Cell Block H[]

She became best known for her portrayal of lesbian character Judy Bryant, a series regular on the popular Australian television program Prisoner. She first appeared in the series in February 1980. After it started to gain a cult status in the US, billed as Prisoner: Cell Block H, an American actress was suggested by producers as a nod to local audiences. Her character was intended only for a short-term 13 episode appearance, but she became immensely popular, and was retained in the series. Bobbitt continued in the role until May 1985, making her the show's second-longest serving actor, at 429 episodes, second only to Elspeth Ballantyne as officer Meg Jackson/Morris, an original who appeared at the series' inception. After Prisoner, she continued in theatre roles and made guest appearance in television and film

During her time in Prisoner Bobbitt performed with fellow Prisoner cast members Jane Clifton and Colette Mann in a three-woman troupe named "The Mini Busettes" in the 1980s. They performed around Australia in RSL and similar clubs.

Bobbitt appeared in a guest role in TV series Neighbours in 2019, to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Prisoner, she featured alongside fellow stars Jane Clifton, Jentah Sobott and Jenny Lovell, who arrive in Erinsborough to attend Sheila's Bookclub, in doing so she was reunited with other Prisoner co-stars who now star in the series, Colette Mann, who plays regular Sheila Canning and Jackie Woodburne who has long played Susan Kennedy.

Film[]

She had cameo roles in the Crocodile Dundee franchise starring Paul Hogan including Crocodile Dundee II and Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (a.k.a.Crocodile Dundee III) and The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee.

In 2004, Bobbitt made a brief uncredited appearance in the American television remake of the Stephen King classic, Salem's Lot, and in 2010 in a thriller, Torn.^{[citation needed]}

Publication[]

In 2011, Bobbitt self-published her book From the Outside (ISBN 9780646561332), which documents her life and career playing the role of Judy Bryant on Prisoner.

Filmography[]

Film[]

Television[]

References[]

External links[]

• Betty Bobbitt at IMDb
• Hear Betty talk about her life and career on The Soap Show Archived 29 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine
• Interview with Betty Bobbitt
• Betty Bobbitt official website Archived 18 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine