Carol Burns

Carol Ann Burns (29 October 1947 – 22 December 2015) was an Australian actress, director and patron of the arts. She worked extensively in film, television and theatre in Australia and the United Kingdom. In Australia she was a founding member of the Queensland Theatre Company.
Burns was an original cast member, as Franky Doyle, in the serial Prisoner (known internationally as Prisoner: Cell Block H) during the first season in 1979, and although she only appeared in the first 20 episodes, she became a major breakout and much loved character, and gained cult status as a fan favourite.

Burns was born and raised in Brisbane, Queensland. Her mother Mary (née Langford) was a receptionist and her father William was a motor spare parts manager. She attended Milton State Primary School where her initiation into the world of theatre began with speech and drama classes in 1958. Burns acted with Brisbane Arts Theatre and also Twelfth Night Theatre, where she also tutored within the junior drama workshops, in Brisbane.

Television and film

Burns' major television role was her performance in the cult television program Prisoner (known internationally as Prisoner: Cell Block H), in which she played the tough but affable lesbian bikie character, Frieda "Franky" Doyle. Although only appearing in the first 20 episodes, her character attained cult status, resulting in her winning a Logie Award for Best Lead Actress in a Series. Burns stated in a 2011 interview that she left the show due to very low pay and an increased workload as a result of the more rapid production of episodes. She also stated that it was her decision to be killed off as she did not want to be lured back. After Burns's departure from the series the producers released a telemovie titled The Franky Doyle Story which they compiled using footage from the episodes in which Burns had participated.

Burns, an experienced and versatile theatre actress, went to the UK and appeared in numerous West End productions and had roles in series such as The Bill, Taggart and Heartbeat. Burns also appeared in films including The Mango Tree, Bad Blood, Starstruck, and Strikebound.

Theatre

Burns had acted exclusively in the theatre for ten years before film or television, based in Brisbane. In 2005, Burns performed in the Queensland Theatre Company's sell-out season of Edward Albee's production of The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?. As part of the 2007 season, she appeared in The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams. She performed for La Boite Theatre. She was in a stage production of Elizabeth: Almost by Chance a Woman by Italian playwright Dario Fo. In 2015, Burns played, in what turned out to be her final performance, the lead role of Winnie in Samuel Beckett's Happy Days for Queensland Theatre Company.

Burns directed the Queensland Theatre Company productions of The Road to Mecca (2002) and A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (2003), as well as her own adaptation of Picnic at Hanging Rock (2013) at Brisbane Arts Theatre.

Personal life and death

Burns was married to Alan Lawrence, a musician and composer, for 36 years. She died on 22 December 2015, after a brief cancer illness at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane at the age of 68.

• Logie Awards – Best Lead Actress in a Series – Prisoner (1979) – won
• Australian Film Institute – Best Actress in a Guest Role in a Television Drama Series – Blue Heelers (1994) – episode – "Deadly Fascination" – nominated
• Australian Film Institute – Best Actress in a Lead Role – Strikebound (1984) - nominated
• Australian Film Institute – Best Actress in a Supporting Role – The Mango Tree (1977) – nominated
• Queensland Actors Equity Award – Best Established Artist – (2006) – won