Actress Will Be Seen On New Zealand TV

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32032, 5 July 1969, Page 2

Actress Will Be Seen On New Zealand TV

An Australian actress who will be seen in New Zealand in the next television series of “My Name’s McGooley” was aboard the cruise ship Angelina Lauro when it called at Lyttelton yesterday.

Noeline Brown has the part of Blossom,-the divorced sister of Wally who turns up unexpectedly to complicate the family situation. “I’m the black sheep of the family in the film and cause no end of embarrassment to the dinkum Aussie, Wally,” Miss Brown said.

She has been with this particular series and its sequel “Rita and Wally” for two years out of the five years she has worked for A.T.N. Channel 7. She had the lead in another popular Australian programme, “The Mavis Branston Show,” which ran for five years. “But I was only in it for two years,” she said. Before going into regular television shows, she played in musical hall shows at the Music Hall in Neutral Bay,

a mecca for New Zealand visitors to Sydney. On a visit to London she took over “This Week In Britain” from Noeline Pritchard, but although she had other opportunities in television and on stage, she returned to Australia sooner than she expected; “The reason was simply that I got so homesick,” Miss Brown said. Another Australian television artist aboard the ship was the singer, Dorothy Baker. 36 Cruises Miss Baker also specialises as a cruise entertainer. “In 3| years I did 36 cruises for the Flotta Lauro line,” she said. “I think this is quite a marathon effort” On Australian television she has done more than 1600 shows, which include “In Melbourne Tonight” and “Sound of Music.” In Perth she had her own television show, which was named after her, and also took the lead in “Portrait of a Star.” New Zealanders will probably know her better as the singer in the original recording of “The Girl from Wolverton Mountain.” In England Miss Baker toured with the “David Frost

Show” and at the Paladium Theatre, London, sang with Kenny Ball and Adam Faith. Later in England she played in “The Black and White Show” on television.

For both artists a day in port, when passengers are ashore, means a few hours off duty as it does for Mrs Etta Pimpini, wife of the cruise director, Mr Enrico Pimpini. Mrs Pimpini’s job on the cruise is to organise tickets for shore excursions. She and her husband Will continue the voyage to Southampton aboard the ship. From there they will have a holiday, driving through France and Switzerland to Italy where they will visit relatives before rejoining the ship on its way back to Australia.

“Though my husband and I were married in Venice, all my close relatives now live in Melbourne so we are looking forward to visiting cousins, aunts and uncles when we go back to Italy,” Mrs Pimpini said. In the photograph from left are:—Dorothy Baker, Etta Pimpini, Anna Philp, a passenger front Suva, and Noeline Brown, aboard the Angelina Lauro at Lyttelton yesterday.