Bettina Welch
Encyclopedia
Bettina Welch was an Australia-based theatre and television actor who became best known for her role as scheming businesswoman Maggie Cameron in the 1970s television soap opera Number 96
.
's theatre company, and she began acting on Australian radio. Her training with J. C. Williamson led to a succession of theatre roles with the company.
's Australian theatre tour in 1949 she played his young mistress in Edward My Son. Her other stage roles include Australian productions of Harvey with Joe E. Brown
, Simon and Laura and Deep Blue Sea with Googie Withers
and John McCallum
, the lead role opposite Emrys Jones
in Double Image, and a featured role with Sir Robert Helpmann in Nude with Violin. Welch then appeared as the enchantress Morgan le Fey in J. C. Williamson's production of Camelot
in the early 1960s, a role she played for two and a half years. She subsequently took one of the lead roles in four-handed comedy Any Wednesday, appeared in productions of There's A Girl in My Soup, The Bandwagon, played the nurse in Loot
, appeared as the daughter Julie in A Delicate Balance, and took the lead role in a production of Wait Until Dark
, a role for which she was critically acclaimed. Welch also played in Melbourne and Sydney in Hal Porter
's Australian play Eden House.
adventure series Hunter
(1967), and played various guest roles in the top-rated Crawford Productions police dramas Homicide and Division 4
.
In 1971 Welch appeared in an episode of popular situation comedy series The Group
. After that show's writer David Sale
, who had earlier been impressed by the performance she gave in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
-Artransa Films science fiction children's series Phoenix 5 (1970), saw her in the relatively minor role in The Group, he promised to write something especially for her next time. When he created Number 96 he kept his word, creating the role of businesswoman Maggie Cameron for her.
Welch was spectacularly written out of Number 96 in late 1975 when, in the aftermath of a deadly explosion that rocked the building the series was set in, it was revealed that the embittered Maggie had set the bomb. Welch returned for a guest appearance in 1976 when Maggie's trial was shown, and she appeared in the show's final episode in 1977 where it was explained that Maggie had been released from prison.
After Number 96 Welch continued to make guest appearances in Australian television series, including roles in Glenview High
(1977), The Outsiders
(1977), Young Ramsey (1978), and in legal drama Case for the Defence (1978). Through the 1980s Welch played several small featured roles in several Australian television movies and feature films, including Undercover (1983), and guest starred in two episodes of A Country Practice
. She died in 1993 in Australia.
Number 96 (TV series)
Number 96 was a popular Australian soap opera set in a Sydney apartment block. Don Cash and Bill Harmon produced the series for Network Ten, which requested a Coronation Street-type serial, and specifically one that explored adult subjects...
.
Early career
Welch was born in 1922 in New Zealand. Her acting career began in her teenage years when she arrived in Sydney from New Zealand with her parents on holiday. In Sydney she won a competition that led to her being trained by J. C. WilliamsonJ. C. Williamson
James Cassius Williamson was an American actor and later Australia's foremost theatrical manager, founding J. C. Williamson Ltd....
's theatre company, and she began acting on Australian radio. Her training with J. C. Williamson led to a succession of theatre roles with the company.
Theatre work
During Robert MorleyRobert Morley
Robert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE was an English actor who, often in supporting roles, was usually cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment...
's Australian theatre tour in 1949 she played his young mistress in Edward My Son. Her other stage roles include Australian productions of Harvey with Joe E. Brown
Joe E. Brown (comedian)
Joseph Evans Brown was an American actor and comedian, remembered for his amiable screen persona, comic timing, and enormous smile. In 1902 at the age of nine, he joined a troupe of circus tumblers known as the Five Marvelous Ashtons which toured the country on both the circus and vaudeville...
, Simon and Laura and Deep Blue Sea with Googie Withers
Googie Withers
Georgette Lizette "Googie" Withers CBE, AO was an English theatre, film and television actress. She was a longtime resident of Australia with her husband, the actor John McCallum, with whom she often appeared.-Biography:...
and John McCallum
John McCallum (actor)
John Neil McCallum, AO, CBE was an Australian theatre and film actor. He was also a television producer.McCallum was born in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1918, son of theatre owner and entrepreneur John Neil McCallum Sr., who built and for many years ran the 2,000 seat Cremorne Theatre on the banks of...
, the lead role opposite Emrys Jones
Emrys Jones (actor)
Emrys Jones was an English actor.Making his film debut in Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's One of Our Aircraft Is Missing , he developed a career in the British cinema of the 1940s...
in Double Image, and a featured role with Sir Robert Helpmann in Nude with Violin. Welch then appeared as the enchantress Morgan le Fey in J. C. Williamson's production of Camelot
Camelot (musical)
Camelot is a musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe . It is based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T. H. White tetralogy novel The Once and Future King....
in the early 1960s, a role she played for two and a half years. She subsequently took one of the lead roles in four-handed comedy Any Wednesday, appeared in productions of There's A Girl in My Soup, The Bandwagon, played the nurse in Loot
Loot (play)
Loot is a two-act play by the English playwright Joe Orton. The play is a dark farce that satirises the Roman Catholic Church, social attitudes to death, and the integrity of the police force....
, appeared as the daughter Julie in A Delicate Balance, and took the lead role in a production of Wait Until Dark
Wait Until Dark
Wait Until Dark is a play by Frederick Knott.-Synopsis:Susy Hendrix is a blind Greenwich Village housewife who becomes the target of three con-men searching for the heroin hidden in a doll, which her husband Sam innocently transported from Canada as a favor to a woman who has since been murdered...
, a role for which she was critically acclaimed. Welch also played in Melbourne and Sydney in Hal Porter
Hal Porter
Harold Edward Porter was an Australian novelist, playwright, poet and short-story writer.Porter was born in Albert Park, Victoria, grew up in Bairnsdale, Victoria and worked as a journalist, teacher and librarian. A car accident just before the outbreak of war prevented him from serving in World...
's Australian play Eden House.
Television work
Through the 1960s she also had guest roles in Australian television drama series. In the late 1960s she appeared in the Crawford ProductionsCrawford Productions
Crawford Productions is an Australian television production company founded by Hector Crawford; the present incarnation of the company, Crawfords Australia, is now a subsidiary of the WIN television corporation.-History:...
adventure series Hunter
Hunter (Australian Crawfords TV series)
Hunter was an Australian espionage adventure television series screened by the Nine Network from 5 July 1967 to 1969. The series was created by Ian Jones and produced by Crawford Productions....
(1967), and played various guest roles in the top-rated Crawford Productions police dramas Homicide and Division 4
Division 4
Division 4 was an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for the Nine Network between 1969 and 1975 for 300 episodes....
.
In 1971 Welch appeared in an episode of popular situation comedy series The Group
The Group (TV series)
The Group was a popular Australian situation comedy series produced by Cash Harmon Television for ATN7 in 1971.The situation involved five young flatmates - three men and two women - living together for financial and pragmatic reasons and regularly attempting to outwit their landlord who was...
. After that show's writer David Sale
David Sale
David Sale is an Australian-based author and television screenwriter. He has contributed to many TV drama series, provided special material for Australia's leading entertainers, and has worked as producer, director, actor and journalist....
, who had earlier been impressed by the performance she gave in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
-Artransa Films science fiction children's series Phoenix 5 (1970), saw her in the relatively minor role in The Group, he promised to write something especially for her next time. When he created Number 96 he kept his word, creating the role of businesswoman Maggie Cameron for her.
Number 96 and later roles
Appearing in Number 96 from its inception in March 1972, Welch's character Maggie emerged as a popular bitch-figure in the top-rated serial. In 1973 she left Number 96 temporarily to again act on stage opposite Robert Morley, this time in How the Other Half Loves. She returned to the series after that, and also reprised the role in the feature film version of Number 96 released in 1974.Welch was spectacularly written out of Number 96 in late 1975 when, in the aftermath of a deadly explosion that rocked the building the series was set in, it was revealed that the embittered Maggie had set the bomb. Welch returned for a guest appearance in 1976 when Maggie's trial was shown, and she appeared in the show's final episode in 1977 where it was explained that Maggie had been released from prison.
After Number 96 Welch continued to make guest appearances in Australian television series, including roles in Glenview High
Glenview High
Glenview High is an Australian television drama series produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation for the Seven Network between 1977 and 1978.-Story:...
(1977), The Outsiders
The Outsiders (Australian TV series)
The Outsiders was the name of an Australian-German co-production which was made in Australia in 1976. It starred Andrew Keir as Charlie Cole and German Actor Sascha Hehn as Pete Jarrett...
(1977), Young Ramsey (1978), and in legal drama Case for the Defence (1978). Through the 1980s Welch played several small featured roles in several Australian television movies and feature films, including Undercover (1983), and guest starred in two episodes of A Country Practice
A Country Practice
A Country Practice is an Australian television drama series. One of the longest-running of its kind, produced by James Davern of JNP Productions, it ran on the Seven Network for 1,058 episodes from 18 November 1981 to 22 November 1993. It was produced in ATN-7's production facility at Epping,...
. She died in 1993 in Australia.