- Justine Saunders
Infobox actor
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name = Justine Saunders
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caption = Justine Saunders as Rhonda in a scene from "Number 96"
birthname = Justine Florence Saunders
birthdate =20 February 1953
location = Quilpie,Queensland ,Australia flagicon|Australia
deathdate =15 April 2007
deathplace = Sydney,New South Wales ,Australia flagicon|Australia
othername =
yearsactive = 1976–2003
spouse =
homepage =
notable role = Rhonda Jackson in "Number 96"
Pamela Madigan in "Prisoner"
academyawards =
emmyawards =
tonyawards =Justine Florence Saunders, OAM (
20 February 1953 –April 15 2007 ) was anAustralian stage, film and television actress. She was a member of the Woppaburra indigenous people, from the Kanomie clan ofKeppel Island inQueensland . She was born next to a railway track. At the age of 11, she was removed from her mother Heather, and taken to Brisbane and placed in aconvent . Heather was not told of Justine's whereabouts for more than ten years, and spent much of that time searching for her.She first came to prominence as a cast member of the 1970s
soap opera "Number 96" in 1976, and is also remembered for her role in "Prisoner" as Pamela Madigan.More recent TV credits include: "
Farscape ", "Blue Heelers ", the mini-series "Women of the Sun ", and "MDA".Her film work includes "
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith " and "The Fringe Dwellers ".In 1991 Justine Saunders was awarded a Medal of the
Order of Australia (OAM), for her services to the performing arts, her services to theNational Aboriginal Theatre , and for her assistance in setting up the Black Theatre and theAboriginal National Theatre Trust .In 2000, through the indigenous Senator
Aden Ridgeway , she returned the medal in protest at the emotional turmoil her mother was suffering over the Howard government's denial of the term "stolen generation ".Saunders died of
cancer at Hawkesbury District Hospital,Sydney , aged 54.External links
*
*Obituary.References
* Obituary "Aboriginal actress who broke stereotypes", by Gerry Carman and Pauline Clague, "
The Age ",17 April ,2007 .
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