Dorothy Crawford

Dorothy Muriel Turner Crawford, born on 21 March 1911 in Fitzroy, Melbourne, was an Australian actress, radio announcer, television producer, and book writer who also appeared on Broadway in 1939. Known at various points in her life as Dorothy Balderson, Dorothy Strong, and Dorothy Smith, she died on 2 September 1988 in Camberwell, Melbourne. Her father worked as a travelling salesperson, while her mother was a musician, singer, and organist. Her younger brother, Hector William Crawford, born in 1913, would become her closest professional collaborator. Crawford earned a scholarship to the Albert Street Conservatorium in East Melbourne, where she studied voice and piano.

Crawford's performing career began in radio drama, and in 1939 she took on the title role in Little Audrey, a live comedy series broadcast on Melbourne radio station 3UZ, playing a mischievous young child despite being 28 years old at the time. That same year she appeared on Broadway, a credit listed under her name Dorothy Crawford. In March 1942, she became one of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's first three female announcers in Victoria, a position she held while concealing her 1931 marriage and the birth of her child, as the ABC did not employ married women.

In 1945, Dorothy and Hector co-founded Crawford Productions Pty Ltd, initially operating under the name Hector Crawford Productions. Dorothy's contributions to the company centered on production, encompassing script-editing, casting, and producing. Among the radio series she produced was a dramatisation of the life of Dame Nellie Melba, broadcast in 1946 and featuring soprano Glenda Raymond. To help fund their productions, the siblings established the Crawford School of Broadcasting, which trained students in radio skills from the 1940s onward. Actor Noel Ferrier was among those who attended the school at around age 17 or 18.

Anticipating the arrival of television in Australia, Crawford founded the Crawford TV Workshop in 1954, a training institution for young people seeking careers in the new medium. The school, located at 14 Little Collins Street in Melbourne, offered instruction in television acting, announcing, writing, ballet, and radio acting, and operated until 1966. Crawford undertook an overseas study tour in mid-1956 to prepare further for the television era. Crawford Productions entered television that same year with quiz and game shows, including Wedding Day, which launched on Melbourne's HSV 7 within two weeks of the station's debut. The financial risk was considerable, and both Dorothy and Hector went without salaries for a year during the transition.

Drama ultimately defined Crawford Productions' legacy, and Dorothy served as executive producer on landmark Australian television series including Homicide, Division 4, Matlock Police, All the Rivers Run, Cop Shop, and The Sullivans. Crawford retired in 1978, having developed early signs of Parkinson's disease in the 1960s.

Her personal life included a marriage to Maxwell James Balderson in East St. Kilda in 1931; the couple had a son, Ian Crawford, who joined Crawford Productions around 1953 in the music and sound effects department. Crawford later married radio producer Roland Denniston Strong on 23 December, though the year is not specified in available records; they divorced approximately 20 years later in 1968 and had no children together.

In recognition of her support for Australian writers, the Australian Writers' Guild presented Crawford with a special AWGIE Award in 1973. In 2004, she was added to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women. Beginning in 1986, the Australian Writers' Guild established an annual Dorothy Crawford Award to honour outstanding contribution to the profession.