Sandy Gore

Sandy Gore (born 28 June 1950) is an Australian film and television actress, also with an extensive stage career in Australia.

Sandy Gore
Born	(1950-06-28) 28 June 1950 (age 75) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Education	National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) (1966)[1]
Occupation	Actress
Spouse	George Miller ​ ​ (m. 1985; div. 1992)​
Children	1[2]

Early life and education

Gore's childhood dream was to study Veterinary Science but she wasn't as academically inclined as she had hoped, when it came to her Biology studies. In the last term of school, her English teacher recommended she audition for the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), and after doing so, she was accepted into the course,^[3] graduating in 1966 with a Diploma in Acting.^[1]

Career

On television, Gore appeared in the hit series Prisoner in 1980, as Kay White, the payroll-embezzling accountant who met a sticky end when her gambling addiction got the better of her. She starred as Mother Ambrose in the acclaimed 1991 miniseries Brides of Christ.^[4] She played Aunt Hecla in 1992 children's sci-fi series Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left.^[5] She also starred as Irene Carter, the depressive mother in 1993 Crawfords comedy series Newlyweds, alongside Annie Jones, John Wood and Cathy Godbold.^[6] She made guest appearances in series such as Grass Roots, Farscape and Rafferty's Rules.

Gore was nominated three times for the Australian Film Institute Award (now AACTA Awards) for Best Supporting Actress, for her work in the Australian films Norman Loves Rose (1982), Undercover (1983) and Street Hero (1984). She also appeared in Evil Angels (1988) and Lorenzo's Oil (1992). She played Anja in 1997 independent family comedy film Paws, alongside Nathan Cavaleri and appeared in the 2008 Baz Luhrmann epic Australia.^[7][8]

Gore has worked extensively with the Melbourne Theatre Company and the Sydney Theatre Company. Her stage roles include an acclaimed performance in the play Wit in 2000.^[9] She played Baptista in the 2009 Australian tour of The Taming of the Shrew with the Bell Shakespeare Company,^[10] while in 2010, she was cast as Maria in the Sydney Theatre Company production of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, alongside Cate Blanchett and Richard Roxburgh^[10] and reprised the role in 2012, when it transferred to New York at the New York City Center.^[10]

Personal life

Gore was married to Mad Max director George Miller^[11] from 1985 to 1992.

Their daughter Augusta Miller, was born in the US when her father was working on 1987 film The Witches of Eastwick. Miller also studied acting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) from the age of 19, graduating in 2008, and later became a documentary producer.^[11]

After Gore and Miller were divorced, Gore raised her daughter in the Sydney suburb of Mosman.^[12]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Type
1970	The Lady from Peking	Marisa Russo	Feature film
1972	Pisces Dying		Film short
	The Man Who Played With Boats		Film short
1974	Petersen	Suburban Housewife	Feature film
1976	Eliza Fraser	Lady	Feature film
1978	The ABC of Love and Sex: Australia Style	Narrator	Feature film documentary
1981	The Stranger		Film short
1982	Momento		Film short
	Dead Easy	Frieda	Feature film
	Norman Loves Rose	Maureen	Feature film
1983	Moving Out	Miss Stanislaus	Feature film
	Night of Shadows	Margo / Clare Neale / Lucy	Film short
1984	Undercover	Nina	Feature film
	Street Hero	Bonnie Rogers	Feature film
	Access Code	Uncredited	Feature film
1988	Grievous Bodily Harm	Barbara Helmsley	Feature film
	Evil Angels (aka A Cry in the Dark)	Joy Kuhl	Feature film
1989	Luigi's Ladies	Cee	Feature film
	Minnamurra	Maude Richards	Feature film
1992	Lorenzo's Oil	Murphy Family	Feature film
1997	Paws	Anja	Feature film
1998	Kissing Katie Sandstrom		Film short
2000	The Magic Pudding	Frog on the Log (voice)	Animated feature film
2006	Darklovestory	Vera	Feature film
2008	Australia	Gloria Carney	Feature film
2013	Only One	Consultant	Film short
2015	Now Add Honey	Diane	Feature film
	Super Awesome!	Clarice Zegrab	Feature film
	Women He's Undressed	Hedda Hopper / Louella Parsons	documentary film
2021	Dust Cloud	Francine	Film short

Television

Year	Title	Role	Type
1967	Bellbird
1969–1973	Homicide	June Higgins / Jenny Moloney / Ruthie Miles / Ruth Cross	4 episodes
1969–1974	Division 4	Josie Nash / Mary Roberts / Martha Baldwin / Marie	4 episodes
1970	The Link Men	Dale	1 episode
	The Juggler		TV play
1972	The Norman Lindsay Festival – Dust or Polish?	Rita	TV play
1974	Matlock Police	Evelyn Armstrong	1 episode
1975	Cash and Company	Madam	1 episode
	Quality of Mercy	Sandy	Episode: "Send Him On His Way Rejoicing"
1976	Taggart's Treasure		TV movie
1979	Ray Lawler Trilogy	Nancy Wells / Pearl Cunningham	3 episodes
	Cop Shop	Margaret Jamieson	1 episode
	Twenty Good Years	Reba Cohen
1980	Prisoner	Kay White	18 episodes
1981	Bellamy	Leanne	Episode 25: "The Fizz"
	I Can Jump Puddles	Miss Claws	Miniseries, 1 episode
1984; 1991	A Country Practice	Barbara Bolton / Meg Cullen	2 episodes
1985	Fitness – Make It Your Own Business	Herself	Film documentary
	I Can't Get Started	Jenny	TV movie
	Remember Me	Adele	TV movie
1985; 1988	The Flying Doctors		2 episodes
1988	The Clean Machine	Marcia Irving	TV movie
1988; 1990	Rafferty's Rules	Helen Hawthorne	2 episodes
1989	Chances	Connie Taylor	TV movie (unaired)
1991	Brides of Christ	Mother Ambrose	Miniseries, 6 episodes
	A Country Practice	Meg Cullen	4 episodes
	Chances		1 episode
1992	Six Pack	Analyst	Episode: "Mimi Goes to the Analyst"
1993–1994	Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left	Aunt Hecla	14 episodes
	Newlyweds	Irene Carter	52 episodes
1995	Spirits of the Forest	Narrator	TV documentary
1999	Mumbo Jumbo	Phyllis	TV movie
2000	Murder Call	Penny Satchwell	1 episode
2000–2003	Farscape	Nurse Vreena / Judge	3 episodes
	Grass Roots	Dr. Salwah Mandikis	18 episodes
2004	Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars	Muoma	Miniseries, 2 episodes
2014	Rake	District Court Judge	1 episode
2016	Here Come the Habibs	Tetta	2 episodes
2017	Diary of an Uber Driver	Anne	1 episode
2021	The Unusual Suspects	Jeannie	Miniseries, 4 episodes
2023	Totally Completely Fine	Gloria	1 episode
	Bay of Fires	George	1 episode

Theatre

As actor

Year	Title	Role	Type	Ref
1968	Generation			[13]
	Halloran’s Little Boat	Ann Rush	St Martin’s Theatre, Melbourne	[13]
	The Judge			[14]
	The Little Foxes	Alexandra Giddins		[15]
	The Living Room	Rose Pemberton		[13]
1970	Widowers' Houses	Miss Blanche Sartorius		[16]
1971	The Legend of King O'Malley		Old Tote Theatre Company, Sydney
1973	Jugglers Three		Australian tour with MTC	[17]
1974	The Removalists		Russell St Theatre, Melbourne with MTC	[18]
	Pericles			[18]
	Coralie Lansdowne Says No	Coralie Lansdowne		[19]
1975	Much Ado About Nothing			[18]
1977	The Doll Trilogy: Summer of the Seventeenth Doll / Other Times / Kid Stakes	Nancy / Pearl	Theatre Royal Sydney, MTC	[18]
	Pygmalion	Eliza Doolittle	Melbourne Athenaeum with MTC	[18]
1978	Electra			[18]
1979	Makassar Reef		Nimrod St Theatre, Sydney, Russell St Theatre, Melbourne with MTC	[18]
	The Alchemist		Melbourne Athenaeum with MTC	[18]
	The Rivals			[18]
1980	Cinderella	Fairy Godmother		[20]
1981	Shorts at the Stables		Stables Theatre, Sydney	[18]
1982	As You Like It	Rosalind	Melbourne Athenaeum with MTC	[21]
	Party Wall		Nimrod St Theatre, Sydney	[18]
	A Happy and Holy Occasion		Sydney Opera House with STC	[18]
1984	The Pillars of Society	Miss Lona Hessel		[22]
	Extremities	Marjorie		[18]
1985	Sons of Cain	Nicole	Playhouse Theatre, Melbourne with STC	[23]
1989	Uncle Vanya		MTC	[18]
	Daylight Saving		Ensemble Theatre, Sydney	[18]
1989–1990	Big River	Mrs Adela Learmonth	Russell St Theatre, Melbourne with MTC	[24]
1992	Antony and Cleopatra	Cleopatra	Blackfriars Theatre, Sydney with STC	[25]
1994	Gift of the Gorgon	Helen	Wharf Theatre, Sydney with STC	[26]
1995	Les Parents Terribles	Leo	Sydney Opera House with STC	[10]
1996	Medea	Medea	Wharf Theatre, Sydney with STC	[10]
1998	Chasing the Dragon	Carol		[27][10]
	Amy's View	Esme	Sydney Opera House with STC	[10]
2000	Wit	Vivian Bearing	Ensemble Theatre, Sydney	[10]
2001	Morning Sacrifice	Portia Kingsbury	Wharf Theatre, Sydney with STC	[28]
	A Conversation	Lorin Zemanek	Ensemble Theatre, Sydney	[29]
2004	Scenes from a Separation	Margaret Molyneaux	Sydney Opera House with STC	[30][10]
2005–2006	The Retreat from Moscow	Alice	Ensemble Theatre, Sydney	[10][31]
2007	Love Lies Bleeding	Toinette	Wharf Theatre, Sydney with STC	[10]
	The Normal Heart			[18]
	Rooted		Earl Arts Centre, Launceston, Jane St Theatre, Sydney, Nimrod St Theatre, Sydney
2008	Travelling North	Frances	Playhouse, QPAC with QTC / Hit Productions	[10][32]
2009	The Taming of the Shrew	Baptista	Bell Shakespeare	[10]
2010	Uncle Vanya	Mariya	Sydney Theatre with STC	[10]
2011; 2012			Kennedy Center Washington DC, Lincoln Center, New York with STC	[10]
2012	Under Milk Wood	Mrs. Ogmore-Pritchard / Second Voice	Sydney Opera House with STC	[10][33]
	Becky Shaw	Susan	Ensemble Theatre, Sydney	[34]
2013	Small and Tired	Clytemnestra	Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney	[10]
	Parramatta Girls	Gayle	Riverside Productions	[10]
2014	Calpurnia Descending	Tootles / Maximilian Silvestri	STC / Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne	[10][35]
2015	Footfalls	Voice of Mother	STCSA	[10]
	Shellshock: Gallipoli Tortoise	June Lindsay	Riverside Theatre Parramatta	[3][10]
2016	The Great Fire	Alison	Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney	[36][10]
2017	The Hakawati	Hakawati #1	National Theatre of Parramatta	[10]
	Richard III	Queen Margaret	Sydney Opera House & Australian tour with Bell Shakespeare	[37][10]
	The Plant	Sue	Ensemble Theatre, Sydney	[10]
	Switzerland	Patricia Highsmith	Adelaide Festival Centre with STCSA	[38][10]
2019	Enright on the Night		Genesian Theatre, Sydney	[39]
2024	Sparkling Darkly	Monologue	Old Fitzroy Theatre, Sydney with Sugary Rum Productions	[10]

As director

Year	Title	Role	Type	Ref
2011	Love, Loss, and What I Wore	Associate Director	Sydney Opera House with RMI & Wayne Harrison Productions	[10]

Narration

Year	Title	Role	Type
	Black Bones, Red Earth	Narrator	Audiobook[40]

Awards

Year	Work	Award	Category	Result	Ref
1982	Norman Loves Rose	AFI Awards	Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role	Nominated	[41]
1983	Under Cover			Nominated	[42]
1984	Street Hero			Nominated	[43]
1992	Brides of Christ		Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Television Drama	Nominated