By Jenny Brown
Pictures: David Hahn
Like Woman's Day, Rowena Wallace is about to celebrate her 60th birthday.
A favourite cover star throughout the '80s and beyond, Rowena's long and eventful career has taken her from the glory of a Gold Logie win to the depths of despair — and we were always there throughout her journey.
You've certainly known some highs and lows in your life!
(Husky chuckle) I started at the top and worked my way down! Isn't it bizarre, I began with a lead role in a national TV series and then a film? Much later I realised I was supposed to be a waitress and work my way up.
Your first lead TV role, in You Can't See Round Corners, caused a sensation, didn't it?
Yes, I was only 19 and my co-star Ken Shorter put his hand up my skirt, for God's sake. We hadn't rehearsed it like that, so they got a wonderfully real reaction from me. The scene was so shocking it was blacked out in some states. There were huge photos on the newspaper front pages of Ken and me, with a cigarette in my hand. Talk about blasting yourself into orbit! Of course it's then very difficult to stay there.
You featured in some iconic early TV series — Division 4, Cop Shop and Prisoner. Was the industry very different back then?
It was run by creative people, not accountants, and everything was fun. I mean, we all whined about the scripts but looking back it was great TV. Sometimes in the early Crawfords days we didn't even have caravans on location. We used to get changed and made-up in the back of a car, or in the street, and if we wanted to go to the loo we had to knock on someone's door and ask if we could use their bathroom.
That could have made for some interesting photographs!
(Laughing) Lucky there were no mobile phones in those days! It was all quite bizarre. If you travelled down from Sydney to do a show you had to bring your own wardrobe (costumes) and they would send a list of the trams you had to catch. Then you'd arrive at the location, usually somewhere in the 'burbs, with your suitcase and nobody would be there. You'd be left wondering if you were in the right place and whether the crew was going to turn up!
But years down the track you were honoured with your own episode of This Is Your Life?
At the time, I thought I was at a charity function and I was tired and worried about my father, who was in hospital dying. I was on the verge of tears all night. And then, bugger me, out comes Mike Munro and I thought, "On no, it's
This Is Your Life." When he stopped by my table, you could hear me say "Oh s--t!" I wasn't ready for it. I had a terrible time and I had to sing a bloody song at the end as well.
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