# Esme Melville

Esme Melville (born Esme Grace Mount-Melville, 23 July 1918 – 14 September 2006) was an Australian theatre, television and film actress. At the Tropfest awards for 2003 she won Best Actor – Female for her role of Granma in the short film, Forbidden. At the 2007 Australian Film Institute Awards she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role of Miss Collard in Romulus, My Father.
Her theatre roles included Mrs. Bedwin in Oliver! (1961–62, 1966–67). Melville had four separate ongoing roles on television soap opera, Neighbours, including as Rose Belker during 2006.

## Biography

Esme Melville was born as Esme Grace Mount-Melville on 23 July 1918 and grew up in Norwood. Her mother was Margaret Mount-Melville. Melville started as a theatre actress in Adelaide in 1939 – just before the outbreak of World War II.
On 11 May 1944 Melville enrolled into the Women's Royal Australian Naval Service as a transport driver and was honourably discharged on 13 September 1946 from Victoria Barracks in Melbourne. She remained in that city and from 1956 worked at St Martins Theatre for eight years.

## Television roles

Her television credits of the 1970s included various guest roles in the Crawford Productions police dramas Homicide, Division 4, Matlock Police and Bluey. Other appearances included guest roles in Crawford's adventure series Ryan (1973), and in the miniseries Power Without Glory (1976).
Later television appearances include Cop Shop (1978), Sons and Daughters (1982), Special Squad (1984), The Flying Doctors (1986), Sugar and Spice (1988), Phoenix (1992), Round the Twist (1993), Wedlocked (1994), The Damnation of Harvey McHugh (1994), The Man from Snowy River (1994), Mercury (1996), Driven Crazy (1998), Eugenie Sandler P.I. (2000), SeaChange (2000), Stingers (2000), The Secret Life of Us (2001), miniseries Bootleg (2002), miniseries After the Deluge (2003), Real Stories (2006).
She also made frequent appearances in televisions series Prisoner, Blue Heelers, and Neighbours. For the latter series she portrayed four different characters starting in 1986 with Mrs. York and most recently, in 2006, as the hard-of-hearing, Rose Belker.

## Theatre roles

Her theatre roles include Serita in Waiting in the Wings, Mrs Grey in The Secretary Bird (1969) and Mrs. Bedwin in Oliver (1961–62, 1966–67).
She worked in theatre until 2005, a year before her death

## Film roles

Melville also acted in several feature films including Alvin Purple Rides Again (1974), Dimboola (1979), I Can Jump Puddles (1981) (TV), Squizzy Taylor (1982), Annie's Coming Out (1984), Niel Lynne (1985), The Four Minute Mile (1988) (TV), Mull (1989), Spotswood (1992), Say a Little Prayer (1993), The Heartbreak Kid (1993), Dead End (1999), Siam Sunset (1999), A Telephone Call for Genevieve Snow (2000), Dalkeith (2001), Crackerjack (2002), Forbidden (2003) and Romulus, My Father (2007).
At the Tropfest awards for 2003, Melville won "Best Actor–Female" for her role of Granma in the short film, Forbidden. At the 2007 Australian Film Institute Awards, she was nominated for "Best Supporting Actress" for her role of Miss Collard in Romulus, My Father. She worked in student films, independent short films, did voice-overs and appeared in TV ads.
Esme Melville died on 14 September 2006 after a short illness, aged 88.

## Filmography
### Film

| Title | Year | Role(s) | Notes |
| Alvin Rides Again | 1974 | Cleaning Lady | Feature film debut |
| Dimboola | 1979 | April | |
| Squizzy Taylor | 1982 | Woman in the Street | |
| Annie's Coming Out | 1984 | Mrs. Arnold | |
| Niel Lynne | 1985 | Old Woman | |
| Mull | 1985 | Fanny | |
| Frank's Chair | 1990 | | |
| Spotswood | 1992 | Rose | |
| Duplex | 1993 | Elsie | |
| Say a Little Prayer | 1993 | Song Mimer | |
| The Heartreak Kid | 1993 | Lady on Stairs | |
| Angel Baby | 1995 | Elderly Patient | |
| Clippings | 1995 | | |
| Falling | 1995 | | |
| Park Street | 1995 | | |
| Dead End | 1999 | Boarding House Woman | |
| Siam Sunset | 1999 | Dot | |
| A Telephone Call for Genevieve Snow | 2000 | Madame | |
| Bare | 2000 | Cast member | |
| Dalkeith | 2002 | Maisie Carter | |
| Crackerjack | 2002 | Mrs. Jenkins | |
| Forbidden | 2003 | Granma | Won – Tropfest Best Actor - Female |
| The Watch | 2004 | Opportunity Shop Lady | |
| Wally | 2005 | Granma | |
| Thirty Five Candles | 2006 | | |
| Romulus, My Father | 2007 | Miss Collard | Nominated – Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role |
| Hotel Motel | 2007 | Granny Crack | |

### Television

| Title | Year | Role(s) | Notes |
| Consider Your Verdict | 1963 | unnamed | Television debut: "Queen Versus Burns" (guest appearance) |
| Division 4 | 1969–72 | Mary Bentley, Mrs. Grey, Mrs.Gillespie, Mrs. McDougall | |
| Homicide | 1970–75 | Mrs. Smithers, Mrs. Carter, Emily, Kathleen Evans, Mrs. Grace, unnamed, Mama Stepanov | |
| Matlock Police | 1971–74 | Mrs. Butler, Mrs. Evans, Mrs. Stevens, Mrs. Williams, Mrs. Jenkins | |
| Ryan | 1973 | unnamed | |
| Bluey | 1977 | Mrs. Neilson, Old Woman | |
| Young Ramsay | 1977 | Mrs. McIver | |
| Prisoner | 1980–86 | Vera's Neighbour (uncredited), Freda, Beryl Hudson (2×), Charlady (2×), Granny Wilkinson (2×) | First repeat role: Beryl Hudson (1982) (guest appearance) |
| Holiday Island | 1981 | Nellie | |
| Special Squad | 1984 | unnamed, unnamed in "The Patchwork" | |
| The Flying Doctors | 1986 | Grace in "To the Rescue" | |
| Neighbours | 1986, 1993, 2002, 2006 | Annabelle York, Jean Halliday, Moina Beresford, Rose Belker | First ongoing role(s) |
| The Henderson Kids | 1987 | Old Lady in Series Two | |
| Sugar and Spice | 1988 | Mrs Watson | |
| Pugwall, Pugwall Summer | 1989, 1991 | Mary, Clara | |
| Phoenix | 1992 | Mrs. Butler in "A Bunch of Big Girls" | |
| Round the Twist | 1993 | Mrs. Gribble, senior in "Pink Bow Tie" | |
| The Damnation of Harvey McHugh | 1994 | Old Woman | |
| Wedlocked | 1994 | unnamed in "Dating Game" | |
| Blue Heelers | 1994, 1998, 2001, 2003 | Maude Keane in "Day in Court", "Damage Control"; Grace Burrell in "Stars in Their Eyes"; Amelia Dodds in "A Bit on the Side"; Elsie Wright in "A Blind Eye" | |
| Fast Forward Presents Full Frontal, Full Frontal | 1995–96 | additional cast | |
| Banjo Paterson's The Man from Snowy River | 1996 | Bobbe Berkovich | |
| Mercury | 1996 | Mrs. Keen | |
| Driven Crazy | 1998 | Mrs. Trapp | |
| Introducing Gary Petty | 2000 | Victim of Jude's Poetry in "The Flight Attendant Who Did Me Wrong" | |
| Stingers | 2000 | Old Lady | |
| SeaChange | 2000 | Ruby | |
| Eugénie Sandler P.I. | 2000 | Scottish Lady | |
| The Secret Life of Us | 2001 | Elderly Woman in "Better the Devil You Know" | |
| Bootleg | 2002 | Old Lady | |
| Short Cuts | 2002 | Mrs. Green in "Money or the Box", "My Funny Valentine", "Grass Is Greener" | |
| After the Deluge | 2003 | Edith | |
| Legacy of the Silver Shadow | 2003 | Older Woman | |
| Real Stories | 2006 | Gran on "Episode 2" | |

## Theatre

| Title | Year | Role(s) | Notes |
| | 1939 | unnamed | Theatre debut |
| | 1956–1963 | | St Martins Theatre |
| Oliver! | 1961–62, 1966–67 | Mrs. Bedwin | Musical based on Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens |
| Little Women | 1964 | | Musical based on Little Women and Good Wives by Louisa May Alcott |
| The Secretary Bird | 1969 | Mrs. Grey | Comedy |
| An Ideal Husband | 1972 | | Comedy, drama |
| Rumpelstiltskin | 1974 | Aunty Flora Dora | Based on folk tales about Rumpelstiltskin as collected by Brothers Grimm |
| Morning Sacrifice | 1989 | | Drama by Dymphna Cusack |
| Gilmore: A Portrait | 1992 | | Biographical drama of Mary Gilmore by Eric Colladetti |
| Serendipity | 1993 | | Drama |
| Waiting for Marlene | 2000 | Jessica | Review by Colin Donald, "The standout aspect of this play is the well-versed performance of Esme Melville as Jessica". |
| The Opportunity Shop | 2003 | | Drama |
| Spell | 2005 | | Drama |
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