Ruth Cracknell AM (1925–2002), actor, became a household name through her character Maggie Beare in the ABC comedy Mother and Son, which ran from 1985 to 1994. Cracknell joined an amateur drama club at seventeen and began her career in radio drama in the 1940s. For over five decades she appeared in a great number of significant theatre, television, radio and film productions, including heading the cast of A Cup of Tea, a Bex and a Good Lie Down (1965) at the Phillip Street Theatre and a memorable performance as Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest for the Melbourne and Sydney theatre companies (1988–1992). Her autobiography, A Biased Memoir (1997) was followed by a thoughtful account of the death of her husband of 41 years, Eric Phillips, and her own 'journey' through grief, Journey From Venice (2000). In 2001 she received the Gold Logie Hall of Fame Award and a lifetime achievement award at the Helpmann Awards. Cracknell was an influential spokesperson for older Australian women and an advocate for Aboriginal rights.
Between 1990 and 1996 Rosemary Valadon completed The Goddess Series, a major series of portraits of Australian women as mythological/archetypal figures. Cracknell considered this painting to be her definitive portrait.
Purchased 2000
© Rosemary Valadon
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