Elaine Joyce Knoesen (23 February 1939 – 17 September 2014) better known professionally as Elaine Lee, was a South African-born actress of radio and theatre and stage. She made her film debut in her native South Africa in 1968, but became best known in Australia for her role of fashion designer Vera Collins Sutton in the 1970s television soap opera Number 96.
Career Lee was born in 1939 in Springs, Transvaal Province (present-day Gauteng), and grew up on a gold mine until her father, an electrician, died when she was nine. She was brought up by her mother and had a sister Barbara. A former waitress, her acting career began in the 1960s in Johannesburg where she became a stage manager for a theatrical company and acted extensively in the theatre and on radio, starring in productions throughout her native South Africa, as well as Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Lee emigrated to Australia where she became well known Vera Collins in Number 96, starting in 1972. Lee was known as a sex symbol through the role of Vera, a perpetually unlucky-in-love fashionista and clairvoyant. Lee was an original cast member of the series and a key figure in many of the show's major storylines. Vera was raped three times, including by her onscreen husband Harry Collins (Norman Yemm). Lee remained in the role of Vera for four and a half years, finally leaving in mid-1976. She appeared in the 1974 feature film version of Number 96 in which she was raped by a group of bikers in the opening scene. Producer David Sale said that Number 96 was always going to be controversial and shocking, so we thought "start the film version with a rape sequence and get it over with".
A planned comedy spinoff from Number 96, called Fair Game and featuring Lee with Lynette Curran and Abigail, did not eventuate. Its pilot was divided up to create segments of three episodes of Number 96 (Episodes 1079–1081, airing in Sydney, November 1976).TV Week magazine, Southdown Press, 6 November 1976, "Sydney Viewing, Monday 8 – Tuesday 9".
Soon after leaving Number 96 Lee was cast as headmistress Margaret Gibson in Glenview High, which ran between 1977 and 1978. She then appeared in several productions of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, in TV movies and panel shows, and made guest appearances in drama series such as A Country Practice. She also continued her stage work, including the challenging one-woman show Turn on the Heat, loosely based on the last two hours of Marilyn Monroe's life.Atterton, Margot (ed.) The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Australian Showbiz, Sunshine Books, 1984; , p 230
Lee made sporadic appearances in Australian feature films during the 1990s. In 1997, she played a regular role in the critically panned Kingswood Country spin-off situation comedy Bullpitt!, and she had a recurring role in Heartbreak High.
In the 2000s Lee continued to make occasional appearances in Australian films and drama series, and she opened an acting school in Sydney with Judi Farr. In 2001 she appeared in the medical drama All Saints and in 2005 acted in soap opera Home and Away. Lee also presented a commentary on the 2006 DVD release of Number 96
Personal life Lee married South African-born Australian actor and comedian Garth Meade, with whom she had emigrated to Australia, in 1970. The marriage ended in divorce in 1976. Meade died of cancer in 2002, aged 77. A spiritual woman, Lee took up tarot card reading like her Number 96 character, and had a strong belief in reincarnation and the occult. Lee was a heavy smoker and suffered from related health issues including emphysema and subsequently had to use an oxygen tank. In her later years she fractured her hip, she died, aged 75, on 17 September 2014 in Sydney, Australia.
Elaine Lee at the time of Number 96, was a neighbour of actresses Gwen Plumb and her partner, actress Thelma ScottGiles, NIGEL "Number 96: Australia's Most Infamous Address"
Filmography
FILM Year Title Role Type 1968 Dr. Kalie Marge Film debut, South Africa 1969 Petticoat Safari Film, South Africa 1974 Number 96 Vera Collins Feature film 1977 Gone to Ground Grace Ferguson TV film 1979 Detective Philip Vernay Film short 1984 Super Sleuth Harriet Barker TV film 1987 Olive Elaine TV film1994 The Sum of Us Woman on Train Feature film Dallas Doll Mrs Winthrop Feature film2000 Sunday Gwen Film shortDogwoman: Dead Dog WalkingFreda BellTV film 2005BlackJack: In The Money Astrologer TV film 2006 Photograph Lydia Film short
TELEVISION Year Title Role Type 1971 Diamantendetektiv Dick Donald Marion Kingsley TV series, Germany (season 1, episode 7) 1973 The Evil Touch Marion Field TV series (season 1, episode 13) 1972–76 Number 96 Vera Collins / Vera Sutton TV series1976 Fair Game TV pilot Number 96: And They Said It Wouldn't Last Herself as Presenter / Vera Collins TV special 1977 Number 96: The Final Episode Herself with Number 96 cast TV special 1977–1978 Glenview High Margaret Gibson TV series (39 episodes) 1978; 1983 The Mike Walsh Show Guest – Herself with Joe Martin TV series, 1 episode 1980 Spring & Fall Socialite TV series, 1 episode 1982; 1993 A Country Practice Lillian SaundersLaurel DaviesApril Patterson TV series (12 episodes) 1982 MPSIB Lola Birch TV series, 1 episode 1983 Cop Shop Faith Bloomfield TV series, 1 episode 1983 The Mike Walsh Show Guest – Herself TV series, 1 episode 1985 Anzacs Madame TV miniseries, 4 episodes 1989 Rafferty's Rules Mrs. Prattley TV series, 1 episode1992 The Morning Show Herself (with Belinda Giblin) TV series, 1 episode The Midday Show Herself (with Belinda Giblin) TV series, 1 episode 1993 Tonight Live with Steve Vizard Herself TV series, 1 episode 1996 Good Morning Australia Herself & Paul Karo TV series, 1 episode1997–98Heartbreak High Maria Costello TV series (5 episodes)Bullpitt! Joan Collins TV series (26 episodes)1998Burke's BackyardHerselfTV series, 1 episode2000Bondi Banquet Drusilla Owens TV series2000FlipperTV series, 1 episode US2001All Saints Phyllis Martin TV series (Season 4, episode 11)2002The Best of Aussie DramaHerselfTV special 2005Home and Away Joy Foxton TV series (9 episodes) 2006 Number 96... The Final Years Herself DVD/Video 2006 Ten News Guest – Herself with Number 96 cast: Sheila Kennelly, Lynn Rainbow, Deborah Gray & Wendy Blacklock TV series, 1 episode 2006 Mornings with Kerri-Anne Guest - Herself with David Sale, Andrew Mercado & Deborah Gray TV series, 1 episode 2006 A Current Affair Herself TV series, 1 episode 2007 Where Are They Now? Herself – Guest with Number 96 cast: Joe Hasham, Chard Hayward, Sheila Kennelly, Chantal Contouri, James Elliott, Elizabeth Kirkby, Jeff Kevin, & Frances Hargreaves TV series, 1 episode 2010 The Playlist Guest – Herself & David Sale (writer) TV series, 1 episode 2012 Breakfast Herself – Guest with Number 96 cast: Martin Harris, Elizabeth Kirkby, Vivienne Garrett, Louise Howitt & David Sale (writer) TV series, 1 episode
References