What do you think?
Rate this book
Sheila Florance - on the Inside
SHEILA FLORANCE ON THE INSIDE – an Intimate Portrait
Sheila Florance said with her characteristic irony, ‘I set out aged nineteen with every intention of becoming the world’s greatest Shakespearean actress and ended up as Lizzie Birdsworth, the shearers’ poisoner!’ This much-loved character in the cult TV soapie Prisoner brought Sheila worldwide fame – after fifty years of hard work during the formative years of the Australian performing arts. It culminated just days before her death at seventy-five with an Australian Film Institute Leading Actress award for her last film A Woman’s Tale.
Onstage and off her life was theatre on a grand scale. Everything was extravagant about Sheila – in the parties she threw, her humour and tall tales, her friendships, her anger and loves. As a fighter for justice, her approach was eccentric and front-on. She wouldn’t have called herself a feminist yet she always battled for and supported women.
She suffered a difficult childhood, war in England, the tragic inexplicable death of her eighteen-year-old daughter, two drama-filled marriages and a constant tension between her main passions – family and acting. It was quite a journey yet Sheila’s courage and determination to be true to herself never faltered. In this very personal biography, her daughter-in-law and confidante, Helen Martineau, reveals the fascinating public career and behind-the-scenes upheavals of a memorable and inspiring woman, who in her final illness found the peace that long eluded her.
I bought the book as a kind of duty to the memory of Sheila. But I simply couldn’t put it down. You captured her in all her moods and complexity. – Elspeth Ballantyne; warder Meg Morris in Prisoner and Sheila’s long-time friend
Second updated edition – first published 2005 as ‘On the inside – an Intimate Portrait of Sheila Florance’
Sheila Florance said with her characteristic irony, ‘I set out aged nineteen with every intention of becoming the world’s greatest Shakespearean actress and ended up as Lizzie Birdsworth, the shearers’ poisoner!’ This much-loved character in the cult TV soapie Prisoner brought Sheila worldwide fame – after fifty years of hard work during the formative years of the Australian performing arts. It culminated just days before her death at seventy-five with an Australian Film Institute Leading Actress award for her last film A Woman’s Tale.
Onstage and off her life was theatre on a grand scale. Everything was extravagant about Sheila – in the parties she threw, her humour and tall tales, her friendships, her anger and loves. As a fighter for justice, her approach was eccentric and front-on. She wouldn’t have called herself a feminist yet she always battled for and supported women.
She suffered a difficult childhood, war in England, the tragic inexplicable death of her eighteen-year-old daughter, two drama-filled marriages and a constant tension between her main passions – family and acting. It was quite a journey yet Sheila’s courage and determination to be true to herself never faltered. In this very personal biography, her daughter-in-law and confidante, Helen Martineau, reveals the fascinating public career and behind-the-scenes upheavals of a memorable and inspiring woman, who in her final illness found the peace that long eluded her.
I bought the book as a kind of duty to the memory of Sheila. But I simply couldn’t put it down. You captured her in all her moods and complexity. – Elspeth Ballantyne; warder Meg Morris in Prisoner and Sheila’s long-time friend
Second updated edition – first published 2005 as ‘On the inside – an Intimate Portrait of Sheila Florance’
360 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2005
5 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 30, 2017
Thank you
I am so glad I came across this book...Sheila Florence fascinated me from the very first time I saw her in "Prisoner" . I was absolutely a fan, just by her nature that broke through. There are those that act, then those who just seem to be a perfect fit. Making you believe they are the part. I am thankful for the author sharing the life of this amazing woman.
I am so glad I came across this book...Sheila Florence fascinated me from the very first time I saw her in "Prisoner" . I was absolutely a fan, just by her nature that broke through. There are those that act, then those who just seem to be a perfect fit. Making you believe they are the part. I am thankful for the author sharing the life of this amazing woman.
July 16, 2019
A fascinating book about a unique and gifted woman.
October 31, 2023
I don't think I've ever read a biography that's made me so emotional. I'm from England, so I had only come across Sheila in her role as Lizzie Birdsworth, but this book taught me more about her as a person.
I loved her self-assuredness - that in 1934 she was the one who proposed to her first husband, not the other way round. I found her very relatable - those "Moments of spontaneous combustion"! Written by her ex daughter-in-law, the book is honest about her good and bad points in a lovely, nonjudgmental way. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I loved her self-assuredness - that in 1934 she was the one who proposed to her first husband, not the other way round. I found her very relatable - those "Moments of spontaneous combustion"! Written by her ex daughter-in-law, the book is honest about her good and bad points in a lovely, nonjudgmental way. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
July 24, 2019
Sure an amazing lady, fascinating life story, a few things surprised me, it made me laugh, it made me cry and want to share things with others, I couldn't put it down.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews