Bettie Fisher

Bettie Fisher (c. 1939 – 12 May 1976) was an Australian Aboriginal musician and theatre manager of the Jerrinja people.

Early life and education

Fisher was born at the Orient Point Aboriginal Mission near Berry, New South Wales, in around 1939. Her heritage is the Jerrinja people.[1][2] Her father was Leslie Amburlah and her mother was Christine née Connolly.[1]

While Fisher was still a child, the family moved to Newcastle,[2] where she attended Cardiff Public School until her expulsion aged twelve.[1]

Career

From about 1954, Fisher sang jazz and blues in clubs in both her native state and Queensland.[3][4] With Jimmy Little and Freddy Little, she was a member of the first all-Aboriginal show touring New South Wales clubs for six years.[1][2][3][4][5] Her television appearances included Bandstand on 2 December 1962, singing Up a Lazy River and Basin Street Blues,[1] and Graeme Bell's Trad Jazz program.[4] After she had stopped touring,[3]

Fisher became a member of the executive committee of the Foundation for Aboriginal Affairs in 1971.[1]

In early 1974, she became the first administrator of the newly reformed Black Theatre Arts and Cultural Centre.[1][3][2][6]: 98  Under her leadership, the centre offered workshops in modern and traditional dancing, karate, photography,[1][3] fashion design and modelling,[7] and script writing.[1] Fisher organised performances at the centre by visiting black artists, including Roberta Flack and Osibisa.[1][2] The first play performed at the centre was The Chocolate Frog; Fisher was instrumental in having the play workshopped with prisoners in NSW jails.[1] Fisher argued for the cast of another play, The Cake Man, to be Aboriginal only, with white characters played by black actors, as in the street theatre and short performances produced by the centre.[6]: 102  The director, Bob Maza, disagreed, and discussions resulted in the casting of some non-Indigenous actors, including Max Cullen and Danny Adcock.[6]: 102 

Personal life and death

Fisher was married twice. Her first marriage, to a man called Fisher, was terminated by divorce,[1] but she retained the name. In October 1974, Fisher married Tom Hogan, state coordinator of the NSW Builders Labourers Federation.[8] Attendants at the wedding included Mum Shirl and Bobbi Sykes.[8]

Fisher died in Royal South Sydney Hospital on 12 May 1976;[1][2][6]: 108  the cause of death was coronary arteriosclerosis.[1] Her ashes are buried at Botany Cemetery.[1][9]

References
  1. Cole, Anna; Lewis, Wendy (1996). "Fisher, Bettie (1939–1976)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved 23 August 2019. This article was published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 14, (Melbourne University Press), 1996
  2. "Aboriginal theatre manager dies". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales. 13 May 1976. p. 4. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  3. "Bettie galvanises the Black Theatre". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales. 11 January 1975. p. 9. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  4. Yates, Kerry (17 July 1963). "REVUE IS TRULY ALL-AUSTRALIAN". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 31, no. 7. Australia. p. 12. Retrieved 24 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "Advertising: Merrylands R.S.L. Sub-branch Club". The Broadcaster. Vol. 13, no. 17. New South Wales, Australia. 23 July 1968. p. 2. Retrieved 24 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. Casey, Maryrose (2004). Creating Frames: Contemporary Indigenous Theatre 1967-1990. University of Queensland Press. ISBN 9780702234323. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  7. Wilkinson, Mary (20 November 1975). "Beautiful black fashion". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales. p. 13. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  8. "Aboriginal wedding in Redfern hall". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales. 19 October 1974. p. 3. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  9. Bacetic, Claudia (5 September 1987). "Brian Syron plays a leading role". The Sydney Morning Herald Good Weekend. pp. 51–52. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
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