Sheila Kennelly

She started her career in stage plays in 1958, appearing with the Old Tote Theatre and the Nimrod Theatre Company, before undertaking a lengthy arts tour with A View from the Bridge and starring in numerous roles with the Neutral Bay Music Hall.[2]

Sheila had been a staple of the small screen since the late 1960s until retiring in 2008, firstly appearing in plays at the ABC, before taking soap opera and comedy relief roles

She became a household name in the hugely popular serial Number 96 as brassy bubbly barmaid Norma Whittaker, a comedy character opposite Gordon McDougall. Norma's trademark catchphrase was calling everyone 'Ducky'. Whilst her husband, amateur inventor Les was killed off in the infamous bomb blast storyline, Norma remained with the series for 4+1⁄2 years, returning for the final episode. Both characters also featured briefly in the Number 96 feature film version.

In one storyline, a fictional artist (played by Owen Weingott) visits the apartment and requests to paint a nude portrait of Norma; the painting is subsequently hung in the wine bar. This famed portrait of Norma, was in reality painted by the network's art director Eunice Dyer, and was based on "Chloé" a painting at a Melbourne hotel. After the series' demise it was given to Tom Oliver, who housed it at a wine establishment business he owned in Sydney Jacks Sellers[6]

In a 2009 reunion with the cast of Number 96 on Where Are They Now?, Kennelly stated she had wanted to become a serious actor featuring in plays by such dramatists as Arthur Miller and Bertolt Brecht, but ended up in Number 96 instead as Norma, in which she used a blonde wig to disguise 'the real Sheila'.

From 1980 until 1984, she appeared opposite Ross Higgins in the sitcom Kingswood Country. She played 'cheery wog', Rosa Berlucci who looked after Ted Bullpitt when his wife Thel played by Judi Farr left him.[3] Throughout the 1980s, she continued to make appearances in serials such as Glenview High, childrens' series Secret Valley, The Flying Doctors and in a few guest roles in A Country Practice

In 1987, she was given the choice of appearing in a small role in the film Evil Angels. She stated at the time she would have loved to have been in the film, purely to be able to say she had appeared with Meryl Streep,[7] but ultimately turned it down to appear in new Seven Network soap opera Home and Away as one of 16 original characters. She played retired carnival worker Floss McPhee for the first year of screening, but was eventually written out, as the producers wanted to concentrate on a younger cast and updated formula.[3]

Kennelly's later roles included guest parts in The Flying Doctors, Big Sky (in 1997), and medical drama All Saints.[3]