Chris Gardner was the pen name for Marjorie Gardner, an English-Australian writer of television, radio and theatre.
She was born in England and emigrated to Australia in the 1950s, settling at Woody Point, Queensland. Gardner started writing when briefly bed-ridden due to a slipped disc then became more serious about it when she joined a Brisbane radio group in 1956.
Her radio plays were produced by the ABC. She also wrote for stage and television. Her stage play The Pub at Pelican Creek was commended in the 1958 General Motors play competition. Her television play Dark Under the Sun featured one of the first interracial romances on Australian television.
Select credits
- The Masterpiece (1957) - short story
- A Gift for George (1957) - short story
- The Pub at Pelican Creek (1958) - stage play
- Conflict (1958) - short story
- Dark Under the Sun (1960) - television play, also adapted for radio
- The House of Mancello (1962) - television play, also adapted for radio
- A Private Island (1964) - television play, also adapted for radio in 1965
- A passage in the life of Mr Watkins Tottle - radio play
- Who's Perfect? - radio play
- Kate's Journal - radio play
References
- Rees, Leslie (1987). Australian drama, 1970-1985 : a historical and critical survey. Angus & Robertson. p. 381. ISBN 978-0-207-15354-9.
- "Q'land housewife writes TV drama". TV Times Qld. 4 February 1960. p. 5.
- "Untitled". The Age. 12 April 1962. p. 15.
- Tennant, Kylie (19 December 1958). "Talent without experience in play contest". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 2.
- "Excellent drama lacked viewers". The Age. 1 April 1960. p. 31.
- "All the Radio Programmes", ABC Weekly, 19 (43), Sydney, 23 October 1957, retrieved 11 September 2023 – via Trove
- "Tuesday June 14", ABC Weekly, 19 (24), Sydney, 15 June 1957, retrieved 11 September 2023 – via Trove
- 'Place in Australian Plays' Eunice Hanger The Australian Quarterly Vol. 34, No. 2 (Jun., 1962), pp. 67-73 (7 pages)
- "Sundry Shows", The Bulletin, 81 (4213), Sydney, N.S.W: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 9 Nov 1960, retrieved 11 September 2023 – via Trove
- "Tuesday June 3", ABC Weekly, 20 (22), Sydney, 28 May 1958, retrieved 11 September 2023 – via Trove
- "In evening gown, she bottled peaches". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 29. Australia. 16 May 1962. p. 13. Retrieved 31 January 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
- "Drama on radio". The Age. 29 April 1965. p. 25.
- "ABC-TV finds the road to Asia". The Canberra Times. Vol. 39, no. 11, 021. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 7 December 1964. p. 17. Retrieved 11 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
External links
- Chris Gardner at IMDB
- Chris Gardner at Ausstage