Obituary: Justine Saunders
Justine Saunders
January 3, 1953-April 15, 2007
Justine Saunders died on the weekend after a long illness, she was 54.
Born one of seventeen children at Quilpie, she was of Keppel Island's Kanomie clan. She was removed from her family to a convent school at a young age (where she experienced theatre for the first time as a performer in school shows).
As a teenager she left Queensland for Sydney and a career as an actress. She got her first professional acting job in 1974. At that time there was little work for indigenous performers beyond the stereotypes of the scantily-clad "black savage." Saunders fought against it and at one point said to her agent, "Could you please tell them I do speak English and I do wear clothes."
Spectacularly good looking, sassy and determined, Saunders became one of the pioneering forces of contemporary indigenous performance. She was a role model and pathbreaker, particularly for the young women, such as Deborah Mailman and Leah Purcell, who followed her through the breach she made in prejudiced attitudes.
Saunders came to national and international prominence with roles in Fred Schepisi's The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith (1978), the 1981 TV mini-series Women of the Sun and the 1986 movie The Fringe Dwellers. She appeared on TV in diverse roles from No. 96 and Prisoner to Blue Heelers, Farscape and MDA. Her theatre credits were as extensive and she was last seen in Reg Cribb's Last Cab to Darwin with Barry Otto in 2004.
Saunders also played a prominent part in establishing the Black Theatre and in setting up the Aboriginal National Theatre Trust. She was a feisty political presence and handed back her Order of Australia in 2000 because of prime minister John Howard's attitude to Aboriginal reconciliation.
In October 2005 Saunders left her hospital bed to attend the annual Deadlys - where she was presented with a hugely deserved Lifetime Achievement Award. (She is pictured here accepting the award, with thanks to www.vibe.com.au.)
The Australia Council's Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Arts (ATSIA) board statement quotes Saunders as saying: "The curtain may come down, but hopefully the next generation can see what is achievable if this Little Black Duck can do it."
Saunders died of cancer in Hawkesbury District Hospital with her partner Peter Whittle at her bedside.
