MAGGIE BLINCO IS AWARDED FOR A LIFETIME OF PERFORMANCE AND THE NIDA STUDENT ENDOWMENT PRESENTED TO COSTUME DESIGN STUDENT BY ABF CHAIRMAN BRUCE SPENCE
At this year's Sydney Theatre Awards the Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by Actors Benevolent Fund, was awarded to veteran actor and greatly loved performer Maggie Blinco. The award also carries a $1,500 endowment to assist a second year theatre student from any discipline. This year, Chairman of ABF Bruce Spence presented the endowment to NIDA costume design student Elspeth Cameron.
Maggie Blinco has graced our stages and screens for decades, starting with her breakthrough role as Pearl in Richard Wherett's production of Summer of The 17th Doll at Nimrod in 1974. He remembered Maggie from seeing her in plays at University of Sydney when they were both students and knew she was right for the role. Since then she has appeared in numerous films from Alvin Purple to Crocodile Dundee and the recent hit The Nightingale. She has been a familiar face on television for 50 years and a regular on our stages. In the last 12 months, her performances in Omar and Dawn and John were both nominated for awards. Not bad for a woman who admits to being 83. The award was announced and presented to Maggie on behalf of ABF by Limelight editor and friend Jo Litson. Maggie's delighted grandson Hunter presented her with a giant bouquet of flowers on stage.
Elspeth was thrilled to receive her endowment which will assist with the expenses of living away from her home in SA and coping with the demands of second-year costume assignments at NIDA. On behalf of ABF, Bruce Spence wished her a grand career and we look forward to seeing Elspeth accepting her own Sydney Theatre Awards for design in future years.