# Judy Morris

Judith Ann Morris (born 17 February 1947) is an Australian character actress, as well as a film director and screenwriter, well known for the variety of roles she played in 58 different television shows and films, starting her career as a child actress and appearing on screen until 1999, since then she has worked on film writing and directing, most recently for co-writing and co-directing a musical epic about the life of penguins in Antarctica which became Happy Feet, Australia's largest animated film project to date.

## Early career

Morris's first role came at the age of 10 when she was part of the cast of the television episode "Picture of the Magi" a Family Theater production which aired about 1957 on the Mutual Broadcasting System in the United States. She then performed in two other roles in the US, at the age of 10 on the Loretta Young Show, and in 1960, at the age of 13, on The Chevy Mystery Show hosted on that occasion by Vincent Price.

## Career

Returning to Australia, Morris's next role was not to come until she reached the age of 20 when, in 1967, she worked on the ABC television series, Bellbird. Impressing casting agents, she was cast in numerous well known television series, including seven episodes of Division 4, four episodes of Matlock Police and three episodes of Homicide, Over There (24 episodes) and Certain Women (26 episodes).
In 1970, she starred in the portmanteau film 3 to Go. During this time she also moved to more provocative (for its time) television, especially in the sexually-charged series Alvin Purple, and then under the direction of Tim Burstall as Sybil the babysitter in Libido: The Child (one of four parts of a portmanteau film that showed various aspects of human sexuality). In her role, Morris awakens the sexuality of the boy that she is babysitting. For her part, Morris won the 1973 Australian Film Industry (AFI) Best Actress in a Lead Role. Morris then played the part of Sam in the 1978 movie In Search of Anna, before receiving top billing as the wife Jill Cowper in the 1979 black comedy The Plumber, which began its life as a small 6 week television series directed by Peter Weir, but following its success was produced as a DVD titled The Mad Plumber.
The 1980s brought further success. She starred in Maybe This Time (1980), Strata (1983), Phar Lap (1983) as Bea Davis, the wife of Phar Lap's owner David J. Davis, and played the part of Catherine Faulkner, the mother of the main character, Kat Stanton, (played by Nicole Kidman) in Bangkok Hilton (1989). In 1986 Morris was cast as Margaret 'Meg' Stenning in the miniseries The Last Frontier, which also starred Jason Robards as her father Edward Stenning, fellow Australian Jack Thompson as her brother, the black sheep of the family, Nick Stenning, and American actress Linda Evans as Kate Adamson-Hannon. During and after this work she also played the role of Liz Beare, the daughter-in-law of Maggie Beare (played by Ruth Cracknell) in the series Mother and Son, which ran from 1984 to 1994. She also starred as an American photographer in Ozploitation film Razorback.
Following this, she was cast in the role of Mrs Muggleton in eight episodes of Spellbinder (1995), amongst other work.
In 1996, she voiced Melba the Crocodile for the animated TV show Crocadoo.

### Writing and directing

Morris wrote and directed the comedy film Luigi's Ladies in 1989. She later teamed up with George Miller and Dick King-Smith to write Babe: Pig in the City in 1998.
She wrote an episode of Dinotopia in 2002, and then co-wrote Happy Feet (along with Warren Coleman, John Collee, and once again, George Miller). Happy Feet was the first Australian animated film to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and for her part in writing it, Morris was nominated for an Annie Award.
She later wrote the screenplay for Fred Schepisi's 2011 film, The Eye of the Storm, based on the novel of the same title.

## Awards

| Year | Work | Award | Category | Result |
| 1973 | Libido: The Child. | Australian Film Institute Awards | Best Actress in a Lead Role | Won |
| 1977 | The Picture Show Man | Australian Film Institute Awards | Best Actress in a Lead Role | Nominated |
| 1980 | Maybe This Time | Australian Film Institute Awards | Best Actress in a Lead Role | Nominated |
| 1986 | The More Things Change | Australian Film Institute Awards | Best Actress in a Lead Role | Nominated |
| 2007 | Happy Feet | Annie Award | Best Writing in an Animated Production | Nominated |

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1968 | Nights Out | Lead role | Film short |
| 1968 | Juke Box | Lead role | Film short |
| 1971 | 3 to Go | Judy | Segment: "Judy" Feature film |
| 1972 | The Final Comedown | | Feature film (US) |
| 1973 | Libido | Sybil / Nanny | Feature film (Segment: The Child) |
| 1973 | Avengers of the Reef | Airline hostess | Feature film |
| 1974 | Between Wars | Deborah Trenbow | Feature film |
| 1975 | The Great Macarthy | Miss Russell | Feature film |
| 1975 | Scobie Malone (aka Murder at the Opera House) | Helga Brand | Feature film |
| 1976 | The Trespassers | Dee | Feature film |
| 1977 | The Picture Show Man | Miss Lockhart | Feature film |
| 1978 | In Search of Anna | Sam | Feature film |
| 1980 | ...Maybe This Time | Fran | Feature film |
| 1980 | The Girl Who Met Simone de Beauvoir In Paris | Lead role | Film short |
| 1982 | Strata | Margaret | Feature film (NZ) (aka Checkmate) |
| 1983 | Phar Lap | Bea Davis | Feature film |
| 1984 | Razorback | Beth Winters | Feature film |
| 1985 | Niel Lynne (aka Best Enemies) | Patricia | Feature film |
| 1985 | The More Things Change | Connie | Feature film |
| 1987 | Going Sane | Ainslee Brown | Feature film |
| 1987 | Resuscitation (aka You've Probably Saved His Life) | Voice | Film short |
| 1989 | Luigi's Ladies | Director | Feature film |
| 2008 | Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! | Herself | Feature film documentary |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1967 | Bellbird | | TV series, recurring role |
| 1968 | Rita and Wally | | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1969 | Delta | Girl | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1969 | Australia, The Biggest Island in the World | Herself | Film documentary |
| 1970 | Stirring the Pool | | TV movie |
| 1970 | Mrs. Finnegan | Receptionist | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1970 | Bachelor Gaye | | TV series, regular role |
| 1970 | Barrier Reef | Gail Smith | TV series, 1 episode: "Sea Fever" |
| 1970–1975 | Division 4 | Policewoman Kim Baker / Lynne Clark / Evie Morris / Helen Roche / Helen Ford / Judy Sutton / Liz Chandler / Sandra Morris (as Judith Morris) | TV series, 10 episodes |
| 1970–1971, 1974 | Homicide | Margaret Gillespie / Caroline Murray / Prue Fletcher | TV series, 3 episodes: "Wheels", "Thursday's Child", "The Last Season" |
| 1971 | The Comedy Game | | TV series, 1 episode: "Arthur" |
| 1971–1972; 1975 | Matlock Police | Jenny Fisher / Bel Harris / Sheila Kelly / Jill Thompson | TV series, 4 episodes: "Early One Morning", "The Milk & Honey Man", "Cat & Mouse", "Baby Doll" |
| 1971 | Spyforce | Jill | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1972 | The Lady and the Law | Marion Hall | TV pilot |
| 1972 | The Spoiler | Fancy | TV series, 1 episode: "Catch as Catch Can" |
| 1972; 1973 | Boney | Kathy Markham / Jill Madden | TV series, 2 episodes: "Boney and the Claypan Mystery", "Boney and the Paroo Bikeman" |
| 1972–1973 | Over There | Elizabeth Kirby | TV series, 24 episodes |
| 1973 | Ryan | Jan Taylor | TV series, 1 episode: "The Little Piggy Went to Pieces" |
| 1973–1974 | Certain Women | Marjorie Faber | TV series, 26 episodes |
| 1975 | Cash and Company | Mary Fincham | TV series, 1 episode: "Dolly Mop" |
| 1976 | Luke's Kingdom | Ellen | TV miniseries, 1 episode: "The Land Lovers" |
| 1976 | Alvin Purple | Sophie | TV series, 1 episode: "O Death, Where Is Thy Sting?" |
| 1976 | Master of the World | Voice | TV movie |
| 1976 | The Outsiders | Karen | TV series, 1 episode: "Bad Dream Town" |
| 1976 | Mama's Gone A-Hunting | Tessa Goodman | TV movie |
| 1977 | The Dave Allen Show in Australia | Various character roles | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1978 | The Geeks | Lee | Teleplay |
| 1978 | Cass | Margo | TV movie |
| 1978 | Heidi | | TV series, guest role |
| 1979 | Patrol Boat | | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1979 | The Plumber | Jill Cowper | TV movie |
| 1979 | Tickled Pink | | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1979 | Skyways | Robyn Davies | TV series, 12 episodes |
| 1979 | The First Christmas | Voice | TV short |
| 1981 | Trial by Marriage | Mary | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1982 | Spring & Fall | Anne Lawrence | TV series, 1 episode: "Jimmy Dancer" |
| 1984–1994 | Mother and Son | Liz Beare | TV series, 18 episodes |
| 1985 | Make It Your Business | Herself | Video documentary |
| 1985 | Colour in the Creek | Ellen Fletcher | TV miniseries, 10 episodes |
| 1985 | Time's Raging | Lauren | TV movie |
| 1986 | The Last Frontier | Meg Stenning | TV miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 1987 | The Last of the Mohicans | Voice | TV movie |
| 1988 | The Dirtwater Dynasty | Frances Eastwick | TV miniseries, 5 episodes |
| 1989 | Bangkok Hilton | Catherine Faulkner | TV miniseries, 3 episodes |
| 1991 | Letters from Home | Voice | TV series |
| 1991 | Eggshells | Kathy Rose | TV series, 13 episodes |
| 1992 | The Other Side of Paradise | Miss Sowerby | TV miniseries, 4 episodes |
| 1993 | Crocadoo | Melba (voice) | Animated TV series, season 1 |
| 1994 | Review | Guest presenter | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1995 | Spellbinder | Mrs. Muggleton | TV series, 9 episodes |
| 1997 | Heartbreak High | Fiona | TV series, 2 episodes: "6.37", "6.38" |
| 1998 | Twisted Tales | Veronica | TV film series, 1 episode: "The Test" |
| 1998 | Crocadoo II | Melba (voice) | Animated TV series, season 2 |
| 1999 | Ballykissangel | Laurie Woskett | TV series, 1 episode: "Eureka" |

### Writing and directing

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1989 | Luigi's Ladies | Writer, director | Feature film |
| 1998 | Babe: Pig in the City | Writer | Feature film |
| 2002 | Dinotopia | Writer | TV series, episode: "The Matriarch" |
| 2006 | Happy Feet | Writer, co-director, co-producer | Animated feature film |
| 2008 | Meerkat Manor | Writer | TV series |
| 2009 | Legend | Writer | |
| 2010 | Before the Rain | Writer | Feature film |
| 2011 | The Eye of the Storm | Writer | Feature film |
| 2011 | Happy Feet Two | Writer | Feature film |
| 2012 | 1st AACTA Awards | Writer | TV special |
| 2013 | Adoration | Script editor | Feature film |
| 2013 | Goddess | Musical director | Feature film |
| 2021 | Chasing Wonders | Writer | Feature film |