Australian stage, screen, and TV actress Lorraine Bayly, 89, died on Feb. 28. Bayly was probably best remembered as the host of the kiddie show Play School (from 1966-78), but she was also very active in other ventures. She costarred on TV in The Sullivans and Carson’s Law, and was also seen in The Rovers, Homicide, The Man from Snowy Rover, 1915, Neighbours, Pizza, and Locks of Love, among other films and TV shows. As a child, she did a ventriloquist act and played classical piano on the radio; onstage, she was seen in such varied plays as Gas Light, Calendar Girls, Dear Liar (as Mrs. Pat), The Rehearsal, We Bombed in New Haven, and The Sound of Music. Bayly told interviewer Steve Dow that even after her retirement, she enjoyed meeting fans on the street. “I do a test quite often when I go grocery shopping on Saturdays,” she said. “I walk to the shops, and as people come towards me to pass, I sum them up, and I’ll often just say, ‘Hello,’ you know? I love seeing the reactions you get from different people. Often – more so young people, unfortunately – they just freeze. Some reply. But it’s lovely the reaction you get from older people: ‘Oh!’ then a lovely warm smile.”
