The Weekly Times - TWT - 19th December 2018

22 THE WEEKLY TIMES Wednesday 19 December, 2018
Tribute to
ELEANOR KATRINE WITCOMBE
Ninety-five year old Eleanor Witcombe, AM, a long-time resident of Woolwich, was recently
farewelled by friends, family and colleagues at a Celebration of her life conducted
by Rev. Kimberly at St Marks Anglican Church, Hunters Hill.
Eleanor was born in Yorktown, South Australia,
and lived through the Depression and War years,
so knew hard times. However, she displayed a
great creative talent, and was a prolific writer.
With her wicked sense of humour, her generous
nature and her ‘larger than life personality’ she
enjoyed many rich and varied experiences which
have encompassed a wonderful and fulfilling life.
She has contributed significantly to the arts,
writing for radio, film, television and theatre, and
has been recognised with many awards during
her lifetime.
In 1947, Eleanor was awarded a scholarship as
a student playwright to Peter Finch’s Mercury
REALESTATE
ELEANOR WITCOMBE AM was a colourful character who beamed when awarded a Member of the Order
of Australia (AM) in 2014, pictured above. She was honoured in the Memorial Montage at last week’s AACTA
Awards. Eleanor loved colours and unusual things so her friends had artist Shan Richards hand paint her coffin
with an adornment of colourful designs for her funeral service at St Mark’s Church Hunters Hill.
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Labor commits to multi
storey car park for Ryde
NSW Opposition Leader Michael Daley and
NSW Labor Candidate for Ryde, Mayor Jerome
Laxale, have announced that if elected, a Daley
Labor Government would build a multi-storey
commuter car park at West Ryde Railway Station
and upgrade parking at Denistone Station.
Mr Daley said NSW Labor
had heard the calls
of the thousands of commuters
calling for a multistorey
car park, and that
Daley Labor will fund the
much-needed project.
He said the Liberal Government
“has done what
it always has” and made
a political decision and
already offered funding
for a car park - with
strings attached, specifically
that it’s built in Eastwood
- without listening
to the people or the local
council.
“We’ve announced four
or five commuter car
parks all around Sydney
now,” Mr Daley told The
Weekly Times.
“We recognise people
don’t want gigantic
billion-dollar stadiums.
They want small things
that make a difference to
their lives.
“Instead of driving
around the block 20 times
on a rainy morning looking
for somewhere to
park, we’ll give them a
brand new, multi-storey
commuter car park here
at West Ryde - they drive
in, walk undercover, hop
on a train, go to work, get
back with families and
not worry about where to
park.”
The Berejiklian Government
has already offered
$25m to fund a car park
in Eastwood and Mayor
Laxale said the Liberals
had originally pursued the
idea of a car park at Eastwood
Oval and then suggested
the town centre at
Eastwood as a location.
“We found out at a council
meeting last week,
that would cause traffic
Theatre School, and the next year
she wrote three plays for children,
which took off nationally. They were
PIRATES AT THE BARN, THE BUSH-
RANGERS and SMUGGLERS BE-
WARE (which became a series for
ABC-TV.)
Ms Witcombe spent five years
in England with the BBC, and then
continued on to Hollywood. She was
commissioned to write scripts for
film by TwentiethCentury Fox and
Paramount.
Katherine Hepburn and Sir Robert
Helpmann requested that she portray
the life of DAISY BATES (an Irish
woman who came out to Australia
and lived and worked with the Aboriginal
people) on screen.) Katherine
was to star as Daisy, but the film did
not eventuate because of Katherine’s
ill health. However, this led to
Eleanor beginning to spend many
years working on a biography of
Daisy. Her meticulous research has
resulted in major revelations about
Daisy’s life which have been invaluable
to other Australian Historians
for use in their own works.
When Eleanor returned to Sydney
she wrote drama adaptions of
books and stories for the ABC, and
the Macquarie and Lux Radio Theatres.
She became a founding member
of The Australian Writers’ Guild,
and was a formidable defender of
the rights of authors. She was also
instrumental in the beginningofChildren’s
Theatre in Australia.
She ventured into musicals which
were performed in the Phillip
Street Theatre, such as RIDE ON
A BROOMSTICK, and MISTRESS
MONEY (starring Gordon Chater).
Her notable television works included
being a contributing writer
for THE MAVIS BRAMSTON SHOW
gridlock in Eastwood,”
Clr Laxale said, referring
to reports by traffic engineers
assessing the impact
of a car park in state
government’s preferred
location in Eastwood.
“Residents have been
scratching their heads
and saying ‘why don’t
they build something at
West Ryde?’ and we’ve
(1964-68), her adaption of PAS-
TURES OF THE BLUE CRANE (1969)
which is now being used by the ABC
for English in schools, and her adaption
of RUTH PARK’S THE HARP IN
THE SOUTH (1987).
She then joined the Writing Team
of NUMBER 96 (1972). The following
year she co-wrote the ABC-TV series
SEVEN LITTLE AUSTRALIANS (From
Ethel Turner’s novel).
In 1971 she adapted Norman Lindsay’s
children’s book THE MAGIC
PUDDING as a theatrical show for
marionettes, which was a huge success.
Eleanor was the screenwriter for
THE GETTING OF WISDOM, directed
by Bruce Beresford in 1977,
which won an AFI award (for best
screenplay) and received a number
of nominations, and this was followed
in 1979 by her adaption to
screen of Miles Franklin’s book MY
BRILLIANT CAREER. This was produced
by Margaret Fink, directed by
Gillian Armstrong andstarred Judy
Davis and Sam Neill. It won six AFI
Awards, and for years was Australia’s
highest grossing film.
Amongst her many awards , Eleanor
received an Emeritus Award in
1999 from the Literature Board of the
Australian Council. She was the first
screenwriter to ever be so honoured.
In 2014, she was made a member
of the Order of Australia (AM) for her
outstanding contribution to the arts.
Eleanor is to be honoured by The
Australian Academy of Cinema and
Television Arts (AACTA) next week,
in their December 2018 Awards Ceremony
“In Memoriam Montage”.
– The Weekly Times Tribute by
Llayna Richards.
come out and announced
that.
“Under Michael’s leadership
we’ll make that
happen if we form government
in March.”