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Lizzie Birdsworth was a firm favourite with fans of Prisoner. The actress Sheila Florance led an extraordinary life, with Prisoner just being a very small part of it.
Her life story has just been released in the form of a fabulous book On The Inside - An Intimate Portrait of Sheila Florance. Written by her former daughter-in-law, Helen Martineau, we are taken right back to the beginning of Sheila's life and find out about her school life, growing up, living through the war and of course her work as an actress. The book is excellent reading and we wanted to find out more!
We spoke to author Helen Martineau about life with Sheila and the huge project she took on in writing her amazing biography...
 First of all, thanks Helen for sparing us some of your time to talk about one of Prisoner's best known inmates.
I’m pleased to share a little of what I know about the person behind Lizzie. There’s much more in the book of course, but even that couldn’t contain everything about larger-than-life Sheila.
You knew Sheila Florance as a mother-in-law when you married one of her Sons. Can you remember how you felt about meeting her for the first time? Was she famous when you were introduced to her?
I met her in the 1960s when I was 17 at Melbourne’s ABC television studios. I was in a ballet production and Sheila was working as a floor manager there (you couldn’t earn a living as an actor in Australia then). She was well known in theatrical circles but not famous. I was still nervous because my new boyfriend Peter (whom I later married) had built his mother up to sound rather formidable. He took me over to her to be introduced. Sheila smiled and said, in an exaggerated actressy tone, “He-llo dear. Would you like a glass of milk?” “Sheil, she’s not a child,” Peter whispered urgently. Sheila realized her mistake, threw back her head and laughed. Friends always said she had the loudest laugh in Australia. It was also the most infectious. You just had to join in.
So I started visiting her home. She would call me ‘My little Helenka’ and tell her friends that story, and add to it. There was always a crowd at her place, people of all ages, and she would entertain and feed them all. Her own children found this both wonderful and difficult. Sheila was the most extravert person I’ve ever met, and the most generous.
A lot of fans probably won't know about Sheila's work before starring in Prisoner. Can you give us a quick breakdown of what she did prior to playing Lizzie?
She started acting in Melbourne in 1934 when she was 17 – a beautiful blonde, with a wide sensual mouth. People who know her as Lizzie find it hard to imagine how stunning she was. Over the following years Sheila was a lively part of the development of professional theatre, television and film in this country, apart from the thirteen years she spent in England, including the awful war years (and what she got up to there is quite a story). The stage was her first love and she played some major roles over the years, but better paid work came through film and TV, even though she did mostly small roles until Prisoner.
We know that Sheila spoke with a very posh voice - nothing like the character of Lizzie Birdsworth in Prisoner, but I imagine that most of the people who know Sheila only remember her in Prisoner. Was there much of Lizzie in Sheila? What did Sheila think of Lizzie?
There was something of her in Lizzie, e.g. Sheila did her own thing no matter what others thought. She was naughty and funny, smoked like a chimney and loved her drink. She cared about other people and always wanted to help (in her own eccentric way). But she was far more forceful and dominating. As one of her friends stated, “If Sheila called; you obeyed.” Alan Hopgood said that she was definitely ‘Empress’ when the Prisoner cast were down in the green room (‘the Tunnel’). Her biography has plenty of behind the scenes stories about that side of things.
 She was greatly loved in Prisoner by both the cast and the viewers. What did Sheila think about her Prisoner fans? Was she surprised at just how well the character of Lizzie Birdsworth came through on screen?
She was indeed surprised. For her it began as just a job – and one where at last she would earn enough money to pay the bills (being extravagant and generous she was always short of money). She did come to appreciate Lizzie. One night she was sitting with her husband John watching an early episode. “Ooh, what a sweet old dear that Lizzie is,’ she said, forgetting who was actually on screen. John chortled, “Sheila. That’s you!”
But she was a very experienced actor and had been playing character roles for many years. She created Lizzie and gave her life, with almost no rehearsal time or assistance from the directors. So the fact that viewers loved Lizzie was a great reward for her effort and commitment. She was always ready to help the younger cast members too. They all remember how much she did that.
As for the fans, I think she had a soft spot for them. She was happy and willing to give them time. Even when she was gravely ill during the 1990 tour in England she put on a brave and friendly face (until she was raced to hospital). She had piles of fan mail and tried to give a personal response to every letter. She enjoyed the fame, even though she joked that it had been too long coming. But sometimes it was overwhelming, and sometimes people were simply rude. She couldn’t abide that. Sheila was a stickler for good manners.
We believe that Sheila sometimes had problems remembering her lines in Prisoner. Can you remember any of the stories she used to tell about how she got around this? We know that Val Lehman (Bea) and her became very good friends during the series and that Val often nudged Sheila when it was her time to speak!
Oh yes, Sheila was known for that even in her younger days – and for the hilarious results. In Prisoner Val used to squeeze her arm underneath the washing in the laundry. Colette would feed Sheila her lines … “Oh, Lizzie, weren’t you going to mention…” But often Sheila would just make things up, and it was sometimes so off the mark she sent the others into fits of giggling. There was a lot of fun and laughter during those years.
 Sheila used to be a great lover of her garden and won a number of awards in the local neighbourhood for having the best kept nature strip in the area. What else did she get up to when she wasn't working?
Plenty. Was this why she couldn’t learn her lines? Perhaps she was too busy entertaining friends, organizing and interfering in their romances (just ask Jentah Sobott or some of her other young female friends!), delivering her pots of home-made soup to the neighbours, encouraging young performers, doing charity work, getting into local political issues and more. Sheila had an enormous capacity for involvement and hard work.
You've just released Sheila's biography - "On The Inside : An Intimate Portrait of Sheila Florance". What prompted you into taking on such a project?
I was in a position to have seen many sides of Sheila. She was a one-off. Her life had so much colour – and black and white too, because she could be as awful as she was delightful. She suffered some real tragedies, yet she was so brave. So apart from her career and her fame, which in themselves make for a good story, for me as an author she was a truly fascinating character to delve into. I think too, that Sheila wanted her story told. I had a sense of her pushing me, especially when I became immersed in the writing.
How long did it take to write the book?
I started in 1994, interviewing people who knew and worked with Sheila. Then I had to leave it for some years. Younger son Philip and granddaughter Dominique (herself a lovely singer and charismatic performer) decided to continue with the interviews. We recorded nearly sixty, as well as little incidents from other friends. In 2000 when it came to getting it all together I was in a position to take over. And it was a demanding task. I’m really pleased that it has come together so well.
Without giving too much away, during your research did you find out anything about Sheila that surprised you?
I certainly did. Many of her extraordinary exploits really happened. But on researching the facts behind her stories I discovered some weren’t always as Sheila presented them. She had a vivid imagination and an ability to weave magical tales around her life that held her audiences spellbound - so much so she has become a legend among those who knew her.
 One of Sheila's last pieces of work was in the film "A Woman's Tale" which told the story of an old lady dying of cancer. Can you remember how Sheila felt about playing such a role, considering her own state of health at the time?
She knew she was dying but she wanted to do this film so much she persuaded the director Paul Cox that she would live to complete it. And she did – and stayed for six more months to see it go to screen, and to win her Best Leading Actress Award. Sheila never let illness stop her working or following her heart.
I think she wanted to make this last film because it contains her message: live fully, always. Don’t let anyone take away your individuality. And especially don’t allow them put you on the ‘junk heap’ just because you are old.
Finally, what do you think Sheila would think of the fact that Prisoner and indeed her character of Lizzie is still as popular as ever, all over the world - years after the series finished?
Is that her I hear having a good belly laugh?
"On The Inside: An Intimate Portrait of Sheila Florance" is on sale now in Australia.
There are no plans for an international release at present, however it is available through 'Partners in Crime' who will ship internationally.
Email roz@partnersincrime.com.au for further details and prices.
© 2005 On The Inside. Not to be reproduced without permission.
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