# Dinah Shearing

Dinah Hilary Shearing AM (12 February 1926 – 14 June 2021) was an Australian actress, active in all facets of the industry, in particular theatre.

## Early life and education

Dinah Hilary Shearing was born on 12 February 1926 in Sydney, to English parents.
She attained honours in exams to A.Mus.A at Sydney Conservatorium in 1945.

## Career

Shearing appeared on stage, radio, television and films in a career that spanned more than 60 years.
Subverted from her initial intention of becoming a commercial artist or a singer, she began acting with May Hollinworth's Metropolitan Theatre in Sydney after graduation. Soon, her "distinctively mellifluous voice" led to her being recruited into radio during its so-called "Golden Era" where she became a national favourite on serials such as Dr Paul (in which she played the leading character for ten years), Tudor Princess and Tudor Queen (all three, 1950s Grace Gibson productions, plus Dossier on Dumetrius. Other radio serials, programmes and appearances included the Colgate Hour, The Macquarie Radio Theatre, Lux Radio Theatre, and most notably, work with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation,
From there, Shearing was drafted into the Elizabethan Theatre Trust and later, the Old Tote Theatre Company and gave performances that "transcended her young years", touring nationally from her Sydney base. Most memorably, she gave what critics called "the definitive" performance of Mary Tyrone in Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night. She worked with the Sydney Theatre Company Melbourne Theatre Company, Independent Theatre and many others.
Her performances drew admiring reviews from Sydney critics, including Lindsay Brown, Harry Kippax, and Geoffrey Thomas.
Shearing also appeared in some of Australia's earliest TV dramas. She worked with the Nine Network, Crawford Productions, ABC, the Seven Network, Disney International, and many others.

## Recognition, honours, and awards

She became a Member of the Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday Honours in June 1993.
Recognition for her work included the following awards:
* 1952: Macquarie Award, female lead role, for her performance in One Way Street, awarded by the Macquarie Broadcasting Service and 2GB Radio
* 1985: Penguin Award for Man of Letters
* 1985: Commendation in the Penguin Award, for All the Rivers Run (1985)
* 1993: Critics Award for Coriolanus
* 1993: Glugs Award for Lifetime of Excellence
* 1999: Norman Kessell Award for A Delicate Balance, in the Glug Awards

## Personal life

At the peak of her career, and spurning an offer from the head of BBC drama in England to work there, Shearing married playwright and painter Rodney Milgate and retired from full-time acting. The couple had two sons.
Shearing was a speaker for Heart Research Institute from 1993 to 1999, and a volunteer reader for Royal Society for the Blind in the 1960s.

## Later life and death

In later life Shearing resided at Erina, New South Wales, on the Central Coast, and was active in community arts programmes, volunteer work, and had also branched into directing not long before her death.
She died on 14 June 2021, aged 95.

## Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1946 | Winterset | Street Urchin | Metropolitan Theatre Sydney, St Peters Church Hall, Darlinghurst |
| 1946 | Twelfth Night | Viola | Metropolitan Theatre Sydney, St Peters Church Hall, Darlinghurst |
| 1947 | The Country Wife | Lady Fidget | Metropolitan Theatre Sydney |
| 1947 | Ned Kelly | Mrs Barry | Metropolitan Theatre Sydney |
| 1947 | Deep are the Roots | | New Theatre, Sydney |
| 1948 | The First Joanna | Joan Deveron | Metropolitan Theatre Sydney |
| 1948 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Fairy / Costume Designer | Metropolitan Theatre Sydney, Killara Soldiers Memorial Hall |
| 1949 | Twelfth Night | | Killara Soldiers Memorial Hall, Metropolitan Theatre Sydney |
| 1950 | Amphitryon 38 | | Independent Theatre Sydney |
| 1951 | King Lear | Regan | St James' Hall Sydney |
| 1952 | The Relapse | Berinthia | |
| 1952 | A Phoenix Too Frequent | | |
| 1956–57 | The Rivals | Lydia Languish | Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, Elizabethan Theatre Sydney, Theatre Royal Adelaide, Playhouse Perth |
| 1956 | Twelfth Night | Viola | Elizabethan Theatre Sydney, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, Playhouse Perth |
| | Hotel Universe | | |
| | Invitation to a Voyage | | |
| | The Holly and the Ivy | | |
| | Bell Book and Candle | | |
| 1957–58 | The Shifting Heart | | Theatre Royal Hobart, National Theatre Launceston, Elizabethan Theatre Sydney, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, Union Hall Adelaide |
| 1959 | The Slaughter of St Teresa's Day | Wilma Cartwright | Elizabethan Theatre Sydney |
| 1959 | Man and Superman | Ann Whitefield | Elizabethan Theatre Sydney, Playhouse Perth |
| 1959 | Long Day's Journey into Night | Mary Cavan Tyrone | Elizabethan Theatre Sydney, Playhouse Perth |
| 1959 | Julius Caesar | Portia | Elizabethan Theatre Sydney |
| 1959 | Fire on the Wind | | National Theatre, Launceston, Playhouse Perth |
| 1960 | The Rape of the Belt | | Elizabethan Theatre Sydney |
| 1960 | Murder in the Cathedral | Chorus | University of Adelaide |
| 1964 | A Phoenix Too Frequent | | |
| 1965 | The Country Wife | | UNSW Old Tote Theatre |
| 1966 | Tiny Alice | | UNSW Old Tote Theatre |
| 1966 | Persephone | | Sydney Symphony Orchestra |
| 1971 | Butley | | |
| 1972–73 | An Ideal Husband | | Comedy Theatre Melbourne, Her Majesty's Theatre Brisbane, Playhouse Perth |
| 1973 | King Richard II | | Sydney Opera House |
| 1973–74 | What If You Died Tomorrow? | | Sydney Opera House, Canberra Theatre, Comedy Theatre Melbourne |
| 1974 | Macbeth | | Sydney Opera House |
| 1979 | The Drowned Phoenician Sailor | Laura | ABC Radio Sydney |
| 1979 | Alladyce and the Holy Virago | Isobel | ABC Radio Sydney |
| 1979 | A Wicked Pack of Cards | Laura | ABC Radio Sydney |
| 1980 | Children | Mother | Bondi Pavilion |
| 1980 | Inside the Island | Lillian Dawson | Nimrod Upstairs |
| 1987 | Long Day's Journey into Night | Mary Cavan Tyrone | Marian Street Theatre |
| 1989 | Knuckledusters – The Jewels of Edith Sitwell | | Canberra Theatre, Russell Street Theatre |
| 1989 | Shellcove Road | | Marian Street Theatre |
| 1991 | The Hundred Year Ambush | | Newtown Studio Theatre |
| 1991 | Great Expectations – The Musical | | Seymour Centre |
| 1992 | The Winslow Boy | | Sydney Opera House, Suncorp Theatre, Brisbane |
| 1993 | The Old Boy | | Ensemble Theatre |
| 1993 | Coriolanus | | Sydney Opera House |
| 1995 | Medee | | Sydney Opera House with Australian Opera |
| 1997 | Love Letters | | |
| 1998 | A Delicate Balance | | Sydney Opera House |
| 2000 | Mother's Day | | SBW Independent Theatre |
| 2000 | A Cheery Soul | | Sydney Opera House |
| 2001 | Morning Sacrifice | | Wharf Theatre with Sydney Theatre Company |
| 2008 | The Makropoulos Secret | | Australian Opera |

## Filmography
### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1970 | The Survivors | | |
| 1981–82 | The Sullivans | | TV series |
| 1983 | Learned Friends | | |
| 1983 | All the Rivers Run | Aunt Hester | TV miniseries |
| 1984 | Special Squad | | TV series |
| 1984 | Saturday Saturday | | |
| 1985 | Dancing Daze | | TV miniseries |
| 1984–85 | Five Mile Creek | | TV series |
| 1985–90 | A Country Practice | Monika Schnelle | TV series |
| 1988 | Rafferty's Rules | | TV series |
| 1988, 1989 | E Street | | TV series |
| 1991–92 | Family and Friends | Antoinetta Rossi | TV series |
| 1991–92 | Eye of the Storm | | |
| 1993 | Police Rescue | | TV series |
| 1988, 1994 | G.P. | | TV series |
| 1998 | Wildside | | TV series |
| 1997, 1999 | All Saints | | TV series |
| 2000, 2002 | Farscape | | TV series |
| 2001 | Flat Chat | | TV series, 1 episode |

### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1957 | A Phoenix too Frequent | Dynamene | TV movie |
| 1958 | Sixty Point Bold | Maria Charvet | TV movie |
| 1960 | Macbeth | | TV movie |
| 1982 | Buddies | Merle | Feature film |
| 1983 | Man of Letters | Beth Serry | TV movie |
| 1984 | Emmett Stone | | Feature film |
| 1985 | A Spy in the Family | | Feature film |
| 1989 | A Family Matter | | TV movie |
| 1999 | Time and Tide | | TV movie |
| 2001 | The Long Wet | | Feature film |

## Directorial and other projects

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1947 | Lady Windermere's Fan | Costume Designer | Metropolitan Theatre Sydney |
| 1948 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Costume Designer | Metropolitan Theatre Sydney, Killara Soldiers Memorial Hall |
| 2003 | Archibald Prize: The Play | Co-director | The Actor's Forum |
| 2003 | Winners | Director | The Actor's Forum |
| 2003 | La Serenissima: The Fascination of Venice | Poetry recitals | S. H. Ervin Gallery |
| 2005 | Gosford Regional Gallery and International Women's Day | Two monologues | Gosford Regional Gallery |
| 2006 | Collected Stories | Director | |
| 2006–07 | The Actor's Forum | Director | The Actor's Forum |
| 2007 | Lettice and Lovage | Director | |
| 2003, 2008 | Gosford Regional Gallery | Poetry recitals | Gosford Regional Gallery |
| 2008 | The Fortunates | | |
| 2009 | Katandra Players | | Katandra Players |
| | Stopover | | |
| 2010 | Wilde Woman | Director | |
| 2012 | Christchurch Camerata Orchestra | Reader | Christchurch Camerata Orchestra |
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