Philippa Baker (actress) explained

Birth Place:Sydney, Australia
Birth Date:[1]
Other Names:Phillippa Baker
Occupation:Actress
Years Active:1953–1989
Known For:Number 96 (TV series and film) as Roma Lubinski Godulfus

Philippa Baker, credited also as Phillippa Baker (born 1932)[1])note: not related to Australian actress Lesley Baker). is an Australian retired actress of radio, theatre and television in series and teleplays and telefilms (although appeared in a couple of features)

Baker started her career in theatre and in the early 1950s, before spending five years appearing in the Gwen Meredith radio series Blue Hills, moving to the new medium of television she featured in televised plays, before taking several cameos in a few TV soap operas, primarily for Crawford Productions,

However, she is best known for in the soap opera Number 96, in the 1970s as a comedy duo with Johnny Lockwood, as Russian deli worker Roma Lubinski, she later marries his character Aldo, but due to the series falling ratings, both characters were subsequently killed off in a bomb blast storyline. Baker and Lockwood also featured in the film version in 1974.

She played Dame Enid Lyons in the miniseries True Believers, in 1988.

Baker post-96 had several small role's in telmovies and miniseries, but did however appear in the Yahoo Serious film Young Einstein in 1988, in a cameo as Freud's mum. She left the acting industry the following year in 1989, after more than 35 years of performing, returning to her regular day work as a librarian until officially retiring.[1]

Early life and education

Baker was born in Sydney in 1932[2] and attended the Independent Theatre, alongside Number 96 co-star Sheila Kennelly training under Doris Fitton.

Career

Radio

Baker acted in the long-running radio serial Blue Hills, spending five years playing a Scottish nurse.[3]

Television and film

Baker appeared in television plays by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from 1958 onwards, and then featured in a few different roles in early Crawford Productions police procedurals Homicide and Division Four. Baker however became best known for playing Roma in top-rated soap opera Number 96. She joined as Russian emigrant Roma Lubinski early in the show's run in 1972, becoming a comedy double-act with Johnny Lockwood, who played her character's soon-to-be husband Aldo, the deli proprietor, Roma works in the deli and owns her own restaurant, it is reviewed she is a concentration camp survivor.[4]

Aldo and Roma reprised their roles in the 1974 feature film version of Number 96. They were written out of the serial in late 1974 with all the attached publicity, but returned several weeks later: it was always planned as a temporary absence and revealed the media stories where a publicity stunt.

By August 1975 however, the program's ratings had entered a slump and a drastic revamp of the show was planned. The writers decided to write out several high-profile characters, so in early September 1975 the show's famous bomb blast killed four residents including Roma and Aldo. The couples where extremely popular and there was much campaigning by fans to bring back there favourite characters. In 1976 Baker and co-star Lockwood appeared in a retrospective documentary special, titled ...And They Said It Wouldn't Last, commemorating the 1000th episode of Number 96.

In 1976 Baker joined comedy series The Norman Gunston Show in a recurring sketch The Checkout Chicks, a parody of melodramatic soap operas set in a supermarket. The Checkout Chicks featured other former Number 96 actors Abigail, Vivienne Garrett, Candy Raymond, Judy Lynne and Anne Louise Lambert.

In 1977, she appeared in the guest role of Mrs. Jamieson (Dennis Jameison's mother) in the soap opera The Young Doctors.

Through the 1980s Baker made various appearances in theatre, television and film. She had small roles in the films Annie's Coming Out (1984) and Young Einstein (1988).

Theatre

Baker also worked in theatre between 1953 and 1989, including productions of The Glass Menagerie, The Cherry Orchard, Hedda Gabler and A Streetcar Named Desire [5]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRole
1958A Rose Without a Thorn Tiley TV movie
1962Funnel Web Marion Westlake TV movie
1962Family Album Harriet Winter TV movie
1964A Sound of Trumpets TV Movie
1970"Eden House" (an episode of series Australian Plays) Helen TV movie
1974Number 96 Roma Godolfus Feature film
1976Murcheson Creek TV movie
1977Say You Want Me TV movie
1981A Hard God Monica TV movie
1984Annie's Coming Out (aka A Test of Love) Sister Waterman Feature film
1988Young Einstein Freud's mother Feature film

Television

YearTitleRoleType
1963The Hungry Ones TV mini-series
1968Contrabandits Prudence TV series
1971The Godfathers Molly TV series
1970–71Division 4 2 roles:
- Mrs Couter
- Helen McGuire
TV series
1970–72Homicide 3 roles:
- Mrs Allen
- Mrs Campbell
- Mrs Johnson
TV series
1972–75Number 96 Mrs. Roma Lubinski/Godolfus TV series
1975The Norman Gunston Show Member of "Check-out Chicks" (soap opera parody) TV series
1976 Number 96 ...And They Said It Wouldn't LastHerself TV special celebrating 1000th episode of Number 96
1977Pig in a Poke TV miniseries, episode: Christine's Story
1977The Young Doctors Mrs. Jamison TV series, 5 episodes
1981Australian Theatre Festival Monica TV series
1981The Weekly's War Mrs. Cruickshank TV miniseries
1984Five Mile Creek Mrs. Curtis TV series
1988The Dirtwater Dynasty Landlady TV miniseries
1988True Believers TV miniseries

Theatre

YearTitleRole
The Glass Menagerie
The Cherry Orchard
Hedda Gabler
A Streetcar Named Desire

Notes and References

  1. Willingham, Margot "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Australian Showbiz"
  2. Web site: Biographical cuttings on Philippa Baker actress. National Library of Australia.
  3. Fawcett, Tony. "The Double Life of Mrs Godolfus!" TV Week. 4 August 1973, p.20
  4. Giles, Nigel "NUMBER 96:AUSTRALIA MOST INFAMOUS ADDRESS"
  5. Web site: Philippa Baker Theatre. AusStage.