Agnes Dobson
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Agnes Dobson | |
|---|---|
 Agnes Dobson, 1922 | |
| Born | 30 December 1904 Glebe Point, New South Wales, Australia |
| Died | 26 February 1987 (aged 82) Oakleigh, Victoria, Australia |
| Other names | Agnes Grey |
| Citizenship | Australia |
Agnes May Dobson (30 December 1904 – 26 February 1987) was an Australian actress.
Agnes Dobson was born on 30 December 1904, at Glebe Point, in Sydney, Australia, though her birth was not registered.[1] Dobson's parents were New Zealand-born actor and theatre manager Collet Barker Dobson, and actor Harriet Agnes Thornton (née Meddings) who performed under her stage name Harrie Collet.[1] Agnes Dobson's first stage performance was as a baby in a cradle for a production by her father's theatre company.[1]
Dobson began her career-proper aged 7 in Little Lord Fauntleroy,[2] another of her father's productions,[3] before she was sent to school and left the stage again until her teenage years.[4]
She appeared in one of Australia's first silent films, 1919's The Face at the Window,[5] and found success playing a damsel in distress in 1919 comedy film Barry Butts In.[3] During production of that film, a member of the public thought Dobson's kidnapping was real and attempted to save her and interrupted the filming.[6][7]
Dobson also wrote plays, and in 1936 her work Dark Brother tied for second prize in the Adelaide Advertiser's Centenary playwright competition.[3][8]
She opened her own stagecraft studio in 1935,[5] and ran the Crawford School of Broadcasting when it was founded in 1952 with fellow actor Moira Carlton.[9]
In the late 1950s and 1960s Dobson appeared as Mrs Sharpshott on ABC Melbourne's radio serial The Village Glee Club.[10][11][7]
Dobson wrote an autobiography, An Australian Speaks of Many Things, but it was never published.[12] Chapters are held by the National Film and Sound Archive.[13]
The papers of Agnes Dobson are held by the National Library of Australia.[14]
