Jill PerrymanMBEAM[2] (born 30 May 1933) is an Australian actress and singer, with a career that spanned 70 years. Perryman is from a family of show business performers; her sister was actress Diana Perryman and her son is media personality, radio and TV presenter and musician Tod Johnston.
Perryman, although a staple of theatre, appeared briefly in film; for her debut film role in Maybe this Time in 1980, she was awarded the AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (known then as the AFI Awards) and has also appeared as a guest in numerous TV series and as herself.
Perryman became a staple of Australian showbusiness, having performed on stage from the age of three in a production of the famed Austrian operetta The White Horse Inn.
Perryman in 1952, then aged 19, joined the company of J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd as a member of the chorus and in the following year was understudying leading roles in stage musicals, under Evie Hayes in a local production of Call Me Madam.[9]
Perryman was strong in voice and personality, and a long series of understudy and small roles eventually led her, through the recommendation of John McCallum (who was then joint managing director of J. C. Williamson Theatres), to take the lead in the key Australian production of Funny Girl, a performance that won her an Erik Award for Best Actress and led to major roles in other productions. These included I Do! I Do! in 1969, and The Two of Us in 1971. No, No, Nanette in 1972 won her another Erik Award for Best Actress for her role as Lucille Early, then in 1973 she starred in A Little Night Music.[10] In 1976 she played Gladys Zilch in Leading Lady, a musical production created especially for her. She also toured during 1977 in Side by Side by Sondheim. She played Miss Hannigan in Annie in 1978.
Perryman was born in May 1933 in Melbourne, Victoria, into a family of performers. Her father was Melbourne-born actor William Harland-Perryman and her mother was Adelaide-born actress and singer Dorothy Eileen Duval; they had married in 1923.[12]
Perryman is married to choreographer Kevin Johnston, and they have a son and daughter. Their son Tod Johnston is an actor, musician and media personality, and their daughter is actress Trudy Dunn. Trudy's daughter McKenzie Dunn is also an actress.[13][14]
^"Family Notices". Chronicle (Adelaide). Vol. LXV, no. 3, 469. South Australia. 17 March 1923. p. 35. Retrieved 3 June 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
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