Margaret Ford
Acting
Biography
Margaret Ford (born Margaret McClure Campbell, 1916 - 2010) was South African-born Australian stage and screen actress. From a very early age Margaret was a natural per- former. As a plucky child of four, she would demand to stand on a table and recite in front of the class at the local school, which was run by her uncle. At six, she took up dancing and decided to pursue a career on the stage. After completing school, Margaret trained as a speech teacher and in 1939 travelled to England to study acting at Citizen House Theatre in Bath. When World War II began, Margaret returned to South Africa and became a military nurse. For five years she served in South Africa, Egypt and Italy. As a legacy of her work as a military nurse, Margaret never fails to march in the Anzac Day parade every year. While serving in Egypt, Margaret met the late Frederich James Ford whom she married in 1947. Margaret moved to Perth, her husband's home, and quickly grew to love Western Australia. Although Margaret visited South Africa on occasions, Perth has remained her home. Her only son, Richard, was born in 1952. Margaret's first professional appearance was in Emlyn Williams' The Corn is Green for Company of Four productions. She also performed in nine other plays for the same company including Noel Coward's Hay Fever (1951), Mary Chase's Harvey (1952), Shakespeare's Richard III (1953) and Jean Anouilh's Ring Round the Moon (1954). Margaret has also done an extensive amount of film and television work, including the films Fran (1985) and Shame (1988), three series of Ship to Shore for Barron Films, as well as the children's television series The Adventures of Bush Patrol.
Known For
The Flying Doctors is an Australian drama series produced by Crawford Productions that revolved around the everyday lifesaving efforts of the real Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. It was initially a 1985 mini-series based in the fictional outback town of Cooper's Crossing starring Andrew McFarlane as the newly arrived Dr. Tom Callaghan. The success of the mini series led to its return the following year as an on-going series with McFarlane being joined by a new doctor, Chris Randall, played by Liz Burch. McFarlane left during the first season and actor Robert Grubb came in as new doctor Geoff Standish. The series' episodes were mostly self-contained but also featured ongoing storylines, such as Dr. Standish's romance with Sister Kate Wellings. Other major characters included pilot Sam Patterson, mechanic Emma Plimpton, local policeman Sgt. Jack Carruthers and Vic and Nancy Buckley, who ran the local pub/hotel, The Majestic. Andrew McFarlane also later returned to the series, resuming his role as Dr. Callaghan. The popular series ran for nine seasons and was successfully screened internationally.
The Flying Doctors
A one-hour anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas produced by the BBC.
Playhouse
Series of television plays written by six different authors. Each play is a lavish dramatization of the trials and tribulations surrounding Henry and his wives. Keith Michell ties the episodes together with his dignified and magnetic performance as the mighty monarch.
The Six Wives of Henry VIII
Capturing the spirit of the age and the turmoil of the times, Sword of Honour tells the heartbreaking story of a nation at war, the soldiers who left their families to fight, the social upheaval and the emotionally perilous journey back home.
Sword of Honour
When an amusement park is built on the grounds of an old cemetery, the dead rise to take revenge.
Zombie Brigade
A British-born younger son of an immigrant family from Trinidad finds himself adrift between two cultures.
Pressure
The history of film and video censorship in Great Britain.
Empire of the Censors
Hardened prosecutor Asta Cadell leaves home for a road trip down the coast of Australia. But Cadell's relaxing ride turns tense when her motorcycle malfunctions and she makes a pit stop in a remote town. Cadell meets teen Elizabeth Curtis, who confides that she has just been raped, and Cadell helps the young woman report the crime to the authorities. When police corruption stands in the way of justice, she takes matters into her own hands.
Shame
Family picnics should not be like this; bugging devices, men with X-ray eyes. Mary doesn't understand what terrifies Simon, nor the bizarre events of the next six months.
Keep Smiling
Chrissie and Colum are to be married tomorrow. Happy? ' I feel sick', says Colum. ' I feel sick', says Chrissie-but there could be another reason for that.
Shaping Up
The true story of a half million dollar gold robbery which took place in Perth Western Australia in 1982.
The Great Gold Swindle
Sim, now a member of the Winter Circus in Paris, befriends Eve, another young clown. Drawn to an experimental style of clowning used by Circus Oz and Cirque du Soleil, the techniques get them both fired, but when Sim returns home to Australia, he finds that he is now the inheritor of a share in the Rathnow Circus.
Clowning Around 2
Stan is a mild-mannered, gentle, middle-aged man who still lives with his overbearing parents. One day, acting on a suggestion by his father, he lands a job at the Weather Bureau. The work is challenging to him, and a little daunting, and his adjustment is considerably eased for him by his female co-worker "George," as she is called. The two become close, eventually marrying and moving in together. While they are adapting to the married state, conditions at work are deteriorating in a bizarre and irrational way, which puts a considerable strain on both the newlyweds.