Patsy King

She was born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on 16 September 1930.[1] She aspired to become a dress designer[1] and spent her early years in the United Kingdom.[6] Returning to Australia and opting to work in the theatre, she trained as a classical stage actress, specialising in straight drama and Shakespeare with the Melbourne National Theatre. In 1959, she married English-born theatre impresario John Sumner, the founder and artistic director of the aforementioned company. They divorced in 1967.[3]

King appeared in teleplays on the ABC in the early 1960s, before featuring in a variety of television serials and guest roles in a range of Crawford Productions series such as Hunter, The Sullivans and The Box as well as in the police procedurals Matlock Police, Division 4, Bluey, Cop Shop, and Homicide, in which she played 14 different character parts. She also acted in Power Without Glory, Chopper Squad, Out of Love and the comedy series Good Morning, Mr. Doubleday.

King became a regular cast member of the TV series Bellbird as Kate Andrews. Internationally she is known as an original cast member of Prisoner, also known as Prisoner: Cell Block H, as the first governor of the fictional Wentworth Detention Centre. She appeared in 351 episodes as well-coiffured Governor/Warden Erica Davidson. The role of Governor was originally offered to Googie Withers, who had played the role in the unrelated but similar British prison series Within These Walls. After the series ended, King toured the United Kingdom in a stage play based on the series.[8]

King wore high heels and an up-style French roll hairstyle when playing the role, as series creator Reg Watson wanted her to tower over the prison inmates. During her tenure on the show her character was kidnapped, escaped from a burning building, was sacked, reinstated, resigned, bickered with the Department, suffered family trauma, including her niece ending up in the prison on drug charges, had numerous failed romances, left her husband and was the victim of a shooting during an end-of-season cliffhanger.[3]

She was an early presenter on the ABC TV show Play School, and also appeared on The Magic Circle Club and Adventure Island.[7][1][9][10]

Although best known to TV audiences, King trained and started her early career as a stage actress in the early 1950s, and later worked as a playwright roles in productions ranging from the classic to period piece costumed roles, including Victoria Regina, The Miser, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Richard II, Blithe Spirit, Absurd Person Singular, Half a Sixpence, A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur, Love For Love and Love Letters. King earned awards for her theatre roles, including the Erik Award and Melbourne Critics Award for Four Poster.