Maggie Dence
Maggie Dence (born 1 February 1942) is an Australian actress, who is best known to early audience's for her roles in the satirical comedy "The Mavis Bramston Show", and also serving as the series mascot. She is best known for her small screen roles in comedy work and soap opera, including in "The Sullivans" as Rose Sullivan, "Kingswood Country " as Merle Bullpitt, "Prisoner" as Bev "The Beast" Baker" and "Neighbours" as Dorothy Burke Professional career. Stage. Dence is well known to Sydney theatre audiences for the very large number of roles she has played, in particular with  the Nimrod Theatre Company. She has also appeared in panto in the United Kingdom. Television. From 1966 to 1968 she had played various characters in the influential Australian satirical sketch comedy program "The Mavis Bramston Show". One of her characters was the title character Mavis Bramston – the joke being that Mavis appeared in only the opening segment of each episode and was not seen again thereafter. She was also a recurring guest in the popular 1980s sitcom "Kingswood Country", playing the snobbish Merle Bulpitt. Her best-known soap opera roles are "The Sullivans" as the sweet-natured Rose Sullivan between  1976 and 1978, "Prisoner Cell Block H" in 1984 as an evil psychopath and serial killer, and "Neighbours" as stern school headmistress Dorothy Burke in the early 1990s. Dence also had smaller cameo roles in TV serials "A Country Practice", "The Flying Doctors", "All Saints" and "Heartbreak High". Film. In 2005 she appeared in the award-winning Australian film "Look Both Ways". Awards. Maggie Dence was named (on 29 September) the 2011 recipient of the Equity Awards Lifetime Achievement Award for her outstanding services to the performing arts – both stage and screen – and her longstanding involvement with the NSW Actors ' Benevolent Fund. The award, presented by Foxtel, is from Maggie's peers and members of her union, the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance Equity (Performers) Section, which Maggie joined in 1962.