Helen Morse

Morse was born in Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex, England. She was the oldest of four children; her parents were a doctor and nurse. She attended school at Presbyterian Ladies' College in Burwood, Victoria, and trained at the National Institute of Dramatic Art and with Brian Syron in Sydney.

Morse won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in the 1976 film Caddie. Her notable screen performances also include roles in the film Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) and the television miniseries A Town Like Alice. Since her early work with Jim Sharman in the 1960s and 70s – A Taste of Honey, Terror Australis, As You Like It – Morse has worked in over ninety theatre productions.

Morse was married from 1967 until 1976 to Australian actor and director Sandy Harbutt, with whom she starred in Stone.

Morse has worked with many companies including Melbourne Theatre Company, The Ensemble, The Independent, Nimrod Theatre Company, Marian Street, Sydney Theatre Company, Hunter Valley Theatre Company, Queensland Theatre Company, Harvest Theatre Company (South Australia) and the State Theatre Company of South Australia.

In 2002 and again in 2008, Morse played the role of Theodora Goodman in Adam Cook's adaptation of Patrick White's The Aunt's Story. Her 2004 performance as Nancy in Bryony Lavery's Frozen for the Melbourne Theatre Company earned her a Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Play nomination.

Other theatre credits include

• Terror Australis
• A Taste of Honey
• The Woman in the Window by Alma De Groen
• Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music
• Stephanie Abrahams in Duet for One
• Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire
• Title role in Hedda Gabler
• Katherine Mansfield in The Rivers of China
• Barbara in Europe by Michael Gow
• Carlotta in The Cherry Orchard
• Ariel in The Tempest
• Lizzie Morden in Our Country's Good
• Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible
• Hannah in Arcadia by Tom Stoppard
• Away by Michael Gow
• Good Works by Nick Enright
• The Twilight Series FED/FEST
• Death and the Maiden with Sydney Theatre Company
• The Funniest Man in the World with Keene/Taylor Theatre Projects
• Kaddish with Keene/Taylor Theatre Projects
• Sundowner by Kate and David Denborough, 2013 national tour
• Once in Royal David's City by Michael Gow, 2014 Belvoir

• Twelfth Night (1966) as Olivia
• You Can't See Round Corners (1967) (TV series)
• Contrabandits (1967) as Angela Carrol
• Homicide (1967–1972) (TV series) (three episodes)
• Riptide (1969) as Joanna Decker
• The Legend of Robin Hood (1971) (TV animation) (voice: Maid Marian)
• Spyforce (1971) (TV series, two episodes) as Joan
• The Kenneth Connor Show (1972) various roles
• Marco Polo (1972) (TV animation) (voice)
• Crisis (1972) (TV)
• Barrier Reef (1972) (TV) as Joan Norris
• Matlock Police (1972) (TV) as Susan Williams
• Marion (1974) (TV series) as Marion Richards
• Division 4 (1969–1974) (TV series) (six episodes)
• Ryan (1973–1974) (TV series, two episodes)
• Stone (1974) as Amanda (also costume designer)
• Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) as Mlle de Poitiers
• Luke's Kingdom (1976) (TV series) as Kate
• Caddie (1976) as Caddie Marsh
• Agatha (1979) as Evelyn Crawley
• A Town Like Alice (1981) (TV series) as Jean Paget
• Far East (1982) as Jo Reeves
• Silent Reach (1983) (TV series) as Antonia Russell
• Out of Time (1984) (Television feature) as Iris/Sammie
• Pozières (2000)
• Lost (2000) as Mrs Harris
• The Prime Minister is Missing (2008) (TV documentary) Narrator
• The Eye of the Storm (2011) as Lotte
• The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (2012, ABC1) as Mother Guttersnipe
• Downriver (2015) as Mary
• Barracuda (2016 ABC TV series) as Margot