Judi Farr (born Judith Mary Stuart Farr; 5 October 1938 – 30 June 2023) was an Australian actress whose career spanned theatre, film, and television for over seven decades. She was particularly noted for her roles in early Australian sitcoms such as My Name's McGooley, What's Yours? (1967–1968) and its sequel Rita and Wally (1968), as well as for portraying Thelma Bullpitt in the long‑running series Kingswood Country (1980–1982). In later years, she appeared in contemporary television dramas including Please Like Me (2013) and A Place to Call Home (2013–2015), and earned an Australian Film Institute (AFI) award for her supporting role in the film Walking on Water (2002).
Early life and education
Born in Cairns, Queensland, Farr was the eldest child of Phyllis and Herbert “Bert” Farr. After her father’s death in Borneo during World War II, the family relocated to Bondi, Sydney. Farr excelled in elocution, winning a competition at age nine by reciting Shakespeare at Sydney Town Hall. She studied ballet for ten years, attended Holy Cross School in Woollahra, and briefly enrolled in drama school before joining the amateur Colony Players and later the Genesian Theatre, where she performed in The Skin of Our Teeth at age 19.
Career
Television – Farr made her TV debut in a live 1962 broadcast of The Taming of the Shrew on ABC. She gained widespread recognition as Rita Stiller in My Name's McGooley, What's Yours? and continued the role in Rita and Wally. Her portrayal of Thelma Bullpitt in Kingswood Country became one of her most iconic performances. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s she appeared in numerous drama series, police procedurals, and soap operas, including Number 96, A Country Practice, All Saints, and CrashBurn. In the 2010s she featured as Aunt Peg in Please Like Me and as a recurring character in A Place to Call Home.
Film – Farr’s first film appearance was a brief uncredited role in They're a Weird Mob (1966). Subsequent film credits include Fatty Finn (1980), The Year My Voice Broke (1987), Flirting (1991), Oscar and Lucinda (1997), Walking on Water (2002) – for which she won the AFI Best Supporting Actress award – and December Boys (2007).
Theatre – Farr performed with major Australian theatre companies, touring nationally and internationally with productions such as Cloudstreet. Notable stage roles included performances in Death of a Salesman, Lettice and Lovage (opposite June Salter), Angels in America, and a critically acclaimed turn in Women of Troy, which earned her the 1992 Theatre Critics Award.
Honours and awards
- 1992 Theatre Critics Award for Women of Troy
- 2002 Australian Film Institute (AFI) Best Supporting Actress for Walking on Water
- 2016 Sydney Theatre Lifetime Achievement Award (Sydney Theatre Awards)
- Appointed Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours for significant service to the performing arts as an actor.
Personal life
In 1963, Farr married actor Derry Macgillicuddy; the couple had three children: Sean, Sarah, and Bridie. She faced health challenges later in life, including a diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma of the parotid gland, which required surgical treatment and reconstruction, as well as a stroke in 2016.
Illness and death
Farr retired from acting in 2015 after a prolonged battle with cancer. She died of respiratory failure on 30 June 2023, aged 84, after a long illness.