| Maggie Dence | |
| Birth Name: | Margaret Helen Dence |
| Birth Date: | 1942 2, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Actress, comedienne |
| Spouse: | Graham Rouse |
| Years Active: | 1959–present |
Margaret Helen Dence (born 1 February 1942) is an Australian actress of stage and screen, with a career spanning some seven decades. She is equally at home in both comedy and drama roles.
Dence[1] is best known to early audiences for her roles in the satirical TV comedy The Mavis Bramston Show, and also serving as that series' mascot (originally portrayed by Noeline Brown).
Dence featured in comedy Kingswood Country with stars Ross Higgins and Judi Farr as snobbish Merle Bullpit.
Her dramatic roles she is known for were in TV series The Sullivans as Rose Sullivan, Prisoner as Bev Baker and Neighbours as school headmistress Dorothy Burke.
Dence played various characters influential Australian satirical sketch comedy program The Mavis Bramston Show from 1966 and 1968. One of her characters was the title character Mavis Bramston[2] – the joke being that Mavis appeared in only the opening segment of each episode and was not seen again thereafter. She was also a recurring guest in the popular 1980s sitcom Kingswood Country, playing the snobbish Merle Bulpitt.
Her best-known soap opera roles are The Sullivans as the sweet-natured Rose Sullivan between 1976 and 1978, Prisoner in a darker role in 1984 as an evil psychopath and serial killer called Bev 'The Beast' Baker, and Neighbours as stern school headmistress Dorothy Burke in the early 1990s.
Dence also had smaller cameo roles in TV serials A Country Practice,[3] The Flying Doctors, All Saints and Heartbreak High.
In 2005 she appeared in the award-winning Australian film Look Both Ways.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Wake in Fright | Receptionist | Feature film | |
| 1982 | Shop assistant | Feature film | ||
| 1982 | Italian Lady | Feature film | ||
| 1988 | Cherith | Film short | ||
| 1989 | Luigi's Ladies | Shandra | Feature film | |
| 2003 | Danny Deckchair | Meredith Butcher | Feature film | |
| 2003 | Peter Pan | Lady Quiller Couch | ||
| 2005 | Look Both Ways | Joan | Feature film | |
| 2009 | Grace | Nona | Film short | |
| 2015 | Old Witch | Film short | ||
| 2015 | Elaine | Film short | ||
| 2016 | Film short | |||
| 2016 | Setaceous | Film short | ||
| 2018 | Granny | Granny | Film short | |
| 2018 | Inside Water | Yabby | Film short | |
| 2019 | Strangers | Bibi | Film short | |
| 20?? | Dirt Cheap | Irene | Feature film | |
| 2021 | The Drover's Wife | Mrs. Shirley McGuiness | Feature film | |
| 2023 | The Appleton Ladies' Potato Race | Miss Vaughn | Feature film |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966–1968 | The Mavis Bramston Show | Regular lead role: Mavis Bramston | TV series | |
| 1966 | In Perth Tonight | Guest - Herself | TV series | |
| 1967; 1975 | Homicide | Guest role: Elaine Fleming | TV series, 1 episode: "The Legacy" | |
| 1968–1969 | I've Married a Bachelor | Recurring role | TV series, 3 episodes "You Tell Me Your Dreams, I'll Tell You My Dreams", "Into the Breach" | |
| 1969 | Skippy the Bush Kangaroo | Guest role: Soprano | TV series, 1 episode: "El Toro" | |
| 1970 | The Link Men | Guest role: Edie Whitman | TV series, 1 episode 11: "Somebody's Kid Is Missing" | |
| 1972 | A Nice Day at the Office | Guest role: Mrs. Quiggley | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 1973 | Boney | Guest role: Mrs. Coutts | TV series, 1 episode: "Boney and the Emu Man" | |
| 1973 | Division 4 | Guest role: Marion Evans | TV series, 1 episode: "Willie" | |
| 1974 | Silent Number | Guest role: Nurse Janet Kay | TV series, 1 episode: "Bang, Bang, You're Dead" | |
| 1975 | Homicide | Guest roles: Anne Carson / Elaine Fleming | TV series, 1 episode: "Brick Veneer" | |
| 1976–1979 | The Sullivans | Regular role: Aunty Rose Sullivan | TV series, 250 episodes | |
| 1979 | Doctor Down Under | Guest cast: Mrs. Peabody | TV series, 1 episode: "A Bird in the Hand" | |
| 1979 | The Mike Walsh Show | Guest - Herself | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 1980 | Trial by Marriage | TV series | ||
| 1980–1984 | Kingswood Country | Regular role:Merle Bullpit | TV series, 18 episodes; | |
| 1981 | A Town Like Alice | Recurring role: Mrs. O'Connor | TV miniseries, 2 episodes | |
| 1981 | Daily at Dawn | Guest role: | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 1981 | The World Around Us Stress - It Wasn't Meant to be Easy | Herself | TV documentary | |
| 1981 | A Country Practice | Guest role: Jan Hardy | TV series, 2 episodes: "Secrets: Parts 1 & 2" | |
| 1981 | Holiday Island | Guest role | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 1982 | A Country Practice | Guest role: Courtney Fraser | TV series, 2 episodes: "Show Down: Parts 1 & 2" | |
| 1984 | A Country Practice | Guest role: Blanche Mitchell | TV series, 2 episodes: "Ships in the Night: Parts 1 & 2" | |
| 1984 | Prisoner | Recurring role: Bev Baker | TV series, 6 episodes | |
| 1985 | The Perfectionist | Rosie Peters | TV film | |
| 1985 | Possession | Guest role: Lady Shannon | TV series | |
| 1985 | WINNERS: The Other Facts of Life | Psychiatrist | TV film | |
| 1987 | Willing and Abel | Guest role: | TV series, 1 episode: "Miss September" | |
| 1987 | The Flying Doctors | Guest role: Helen Manning | TV series, 1 episode: "Sapphire" | |
| 1988 | Act of Betrayal | Dorothy | TV film | |
| 1989 | A Country Practice | Guest role: Victoria Fleming | TV series, 2 episodes: "Bel Canto: Parts 1 & 2" | |
| 1989 | Rafferty's Rules | Guest role: Vanessa Pearce | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 1989 | Edens Lost | Recurring role: Producer | TV miniseries, 4 episodes | |
| 1989 | Home Brew | Marjorie Daley | TV film | |
| 1990 | More Winners: The Big Wish | Lady Mikeevil | TV film | |
| 1990–1993 | Neighbours | Regular role: Dorothy Burke | TV series, 356 episodes | |
| 1994 | G.P. | Guest role: Judith Marr | TV series, 1 episode: "Coitus Interruptus" | |
| 1994 | The Mavis Bramston 30th Anniversary | Herself | TV special | |
| 1995 | Correlli | Guest role: Maureen Barnes | TV series, 1 episode: "An Early Release" | |
| 1995 | Neighbours: A 10th Anniversary Celebration | Herself | TV special | |
| 1996 | 40 Years of TV Stars... Then and Now | Herself | TV special | |
| 1997 | Heartbreak High | Guest role: Mrs. Mac | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 1998 | Blue Heelers | Guest role: Elizabeth Schulz | TV series, 1 episode: "Letting Go" | |
| 1998 | Driven Crazy | Guest role: Granny Rose | TV series, 1 episode: "Mousechap" | |
| 1998-2007 | All Saints | Guest roles: Lyn Brown / Maggie Cooper / June Markham | TV series, 5 episodes, 1 episode: "Forget Me Not" | |
| 2000 | Water Rats | Guest role: Joy Turner | TV series, 1 episode: "Mummy Dearest" | |
| 2000 | Grass Roots | Guest role: Ellen Leonard | TV series, 1 episode: "The Whole Year" | |
| 2000 | Stingers | Guest role: Celia Jones | TV series, 1 episode: "Organised Crime" | |
| 2001 | Good Morning Australia | Guest - Herself | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 2002 | Fairy Tale Police Department | Regular role: (voice) | TV series, 26 episodes: "Pinocchio: Puppet in Peril" | |
| 2002 | Always Greener | Guest role: Sister Stern | TV series, 1 episode: "Understanding the Cry" | |
| 2002–2003 | All Saints | Recurring role: June Markham | TV series, episodes: "Chemistry", "Trust", "Friend in Need" | |
| 2006 | Roma | TV film | ||
| 2006 | Ten News | Herself at Australian TV 50 Years exhibit | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 2008 | Milly, Molly | Voice | TV series | |
| 2008 | Out of the Blue | Regular role: Olive Hammond | TV series, 17 episodes | |
| 2012; 2015 | The Morning Show | Guest - Herself | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 2013 | The Very Trevor Ashley Show | Guest role: Old Lady | TV series, 1 episode: "Pilot" | |
| 2013–2015 | Wonderland | Recurring role: Ruth MacPherson | TV series, 9 episodes | |
| 2013; 2016 | Today Extra | Guest - Herself | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 2014; 2016 | Black Comedy | Guest role | TV series, 2 episodes | |
| 2015 | The Morning Show | Guest - Herself | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 2015 | Ready for This | Guest role: Mabel | TV series, 1 episode: "Fresh Meat" | |
| 2016 | The Daily Edition | Guest - Herself | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 2016; 2019 | Today Extra | Guest | TV series, 2 episodes | |
| 2016 | Rake | Guest role: Janet | ABC TV series, 1 episode: "4.3" | |
| 2017 | Attack! Attack | Art? | Regular role: Gran | TV series, 4 episodes |
| 2019 | Today Extra | Guest - Herself | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 2019 | The Commons | Guest role: Janice | TV miniseries, 1 episode | |
| 2019 | Frayed | Recurring role: Mrs Atkins | ABC TV series, 7 episodes | |
| 2022 | Pushing The Boundaries: The Mavis Bramston Show | Herself | Film documentary | |
| 2022-2023 | Heartbreak High | Recurring role: Nan | TV series, 3 episodes | |
| 2022 | Significant Others | Recurring role: Pam | ABC TV series, 3 episodes | |
| 2023 | The Messenger[4] | Regular role: Milla Roseby | ABC TV series, 6 episodes | |
| 2023 | Queen of Oz | Guest role: June | TV series, episode: "Ginger Eyebrows" |
Dence was named (on 29 September) the 2011 recipient of the Equity Awards Lifetime Achievement Award for her outstanding services to the performing arts – both stage and screen – and her longstanding involvement with the NSW Actors' Benevolent Fund. The award, presented by Foxtel, is from Maggie's peers and members of her union, the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance Equity (Performers) Section, which she joined in 1962.
Dence was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours "for service to the performing arts".[7] [8]