Jeanne Little

Jeanne Mitchell OAM (11 May 1938 – 7

November 2020), professionally known as
Jeanne Little, was an Australian
entertainer and television personality who
won the Gold Logie award in 1976. Her
first success on television was on The
Mike Walsh Show which earned her the
Gold Logie plus two other Logies. Other
television appearances include Midday
with Ray Martin and Beauty and the Beast.
She became known internationally after
appearing on Sir Michael Parkinson's chat
show. Her success transferred to theatre
when she landed roles on Jerry's Girls,
Legends and Marlene – A Tribute to
Dietrich.
 Jeanne Little
OAM

Little in 2008

Born Jeanne Mitchell

11 May 1938
Sydney, New South
Wales, Australia

Died 7 November 2020

(aged 82)
Sydney, New South
Wales, Australia
Occupation Television
personality •
actress •
stage performer •
singer • deviser •
costume designer
[1]

Years active 1969–2011

Known for Appearances on the

The Mike Walsh Show,
Beauty and the Beast

Spouse(s) Barry Little (m. 1971–2019)

(his death)

Biography
Little was born in Sydney, Australia.[2] She
made her television debut on Network
Ten's The Mike Walsh Show in September
1974.[2] Invited on as a guest showcasing
designer maternity clothes, Little quickly
became a regular, eventually (after a stint
at Channel Seven) moving with the Walsh
Show to Channel Nine. The Seven Network
had attempted two short-lived shows
featuring Little's unique talents: Jeanne's
Little Show (a variety/chat series) and
Cuckoo in the Nest, a situation comedy in
which she played a wacky Auntie Mame-
type character.[3] As part of The Mike
Walsh Show team again, Little wowed and
won audiences for the next 15 years.[4]
She was a guest on the Midday with Ray
Martin show,[3] and her appearance on the
BBC's Michael Parkinson variety show so
startled London critics she had the London
Evening News saying: "What a woman!
With her in the house you wouldn't want a
TV."[2] Among the overseas guests she
appeared with were US actor/comedians
Phyllis Diller and George Burns,[3] and
British theatre actor Danny La Rue.[5]

Little became known for her "flamboyant

outfits, an over-the-top personality and her
drawling speech".[2] In 1976, Little won a
Gold Logie for most popular television
personality, and subsequently won two
other Logies for her work on the Mike
Walsh Show.[6] Before the 2008 Logie
Awards, Little reflected on what her Gold
Logie win in 1976 meant to her, "Well
daaahling, I was in total shock. Absolute
shock, I thought, 'What me? Winning a
Gold Logie? For heaven's sake this is
ridiculous, there's been a mistake.'"[2]
During her heyday on television, she
released a single entitled "Dahling, Are You
Paying Attention?" which was named after
her well-known catchcry.[2]

In 1988, she performed at the Royal

Command Bicentennial Concert in Sydney
before the Prince and Princess of Wales.[7]
Her stage career took off with Jerry's Girls,
in which American director John Frost
teamed Little with well known entertainers
Marcia Hines, Debra Byrne and Judi
Connelli.[2] She then subsequently
appeared in Legends with Kerrie Biddell,
Toni Lamond, and Nancye Hayes at the
Sydney Opera House.[2]

She appeared in theatre since 1978,

including Marlene, Little's one-woman
tribute to actress and singer Marlene
Dietrich,[2] which toured Australia and the
US to critical acclaim, followed by More of
a Little, which was filled with songs, chat,
and anecdotes, as well as A Tribute to
Marilyn Monroe.[1]

In the late 1990s, through to the mid-

2000s, Little appeared on the panel
discussion show Beauty and the Beast,
with "beast" Stan Zemanek.[2][3]

In February 2011, it was announced Little

was suffering from Alzheimer's disease,
which was initially diagnosed in 2009.[8] In
August 2014, family members advised that
Little's illness had advanced to the stage
that she "no longer knows where she is or
what's going on around her".[9]
Personal life
Little married interior decorator Barry Little
in 1971.[10] Their daughter, Katie Little
Poulton, runs her own graphic arts studio
One of a Kind with her husband Tim, and is
patron of the Jeanne Little Alzheimer's
Research Fund, which has been set up in
her mother's honour to raise funds for
ongoing research into the disease.[11]
Katie has written a memoir about her
mother titled Catch a Falling Star.[12]

She was diagnosed with rapid-onset

Alzheimer's disease in 2009, and was
cared for in a Sydney nursing home, where
her husband Barry (1929–2019) also
resided.[13][14]

Little died on 7 November 2020 at the age

of 82.[15]

Honours
In 2001 Little was awarded the Centenary
Medal for service to the community.[16] In
the same year she received the Medal of
the Order of Australia (OAM).[17]

References
1. "Jeanne Little – The Australian Live
Performance Database" . AusStage.
 Retrieved 10 November 2020.
2. "Flamboyant Australian entertainer
and Gold Logie winner Jeanne Little
dies aged 82" . ABC News. Australian
Broadcasting Corporation. 7
November 2020. Retrieved
10 November 2020.
3. "The Wonder and Heartbreak of
Jeanne Little" . Starts at 60. 11
October 2016. Retrieved 10 November
2020.
4. "The heartbreaking note Jeanne
Little's daughter found after her
diagnosis" . 9 Now: Today. 2018.
Retrieved 10 November 2020.
5. "Jeanne Little: Australian TV icon
dead at 82" . Herald Sun. 8 November
2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
6. Williams, Glen (28 April 2008).
"Jeanne's TV Week Logies frocks
rock!" . Woman's Day. ACP
Magazines. Archived from the
original on 3 May 2008. Retrieved
5 February 2009.
7. Hackney, Peter (8 November 2020).
"Little Lady, Big Legacy" . Sydney
Sentinel. Retrieved 10 November
2020.
8. Jeannie Little's Battle Retrieved 6
February 2011.
 9. Knox, David (26 August 2014).
"Jeanne Little's family says her
condition has deteriorated" . TV
Tonight. TV Tonight. Retrieved
26 August 2014.
10. O'Brien, Siobhan (2006). Hello Darling!
the Jeanne Little story. Sydney, NSW:
Allen & Unwin. p. 102. ISBN 978-1-
74114-802-2.
11. "Jeanne Little Alzheimer's Research
Fund" . NeuRA Foundation. Retrieved
10 November 2020.
12. "Catch a Falling Star by Katie Little" .
QBD Books. Retrieved 10 November
2020.
13. "Jeanne Little's daughter creates
Alzheimer's fund" . ABC News.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
8 February 2011. Retrieved 4 August
2018.
14. "Jeanne Little no longer knows where
she is or what's happening around
her" . 9 News. Nine Digital. 25 August
2014. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
15. Han, Esther (7 November 2020).
"Legendary Australian entertainer
Jeanne Little dies" . The Sydney
Morning Herald. Retrieved
7 November 2020.
16. "Australian Honours 2001" . Australian
Government. Retrieved 3 June 2008.
17. "Australia Day 2001 Honours" .
Commonwealth of Australia Gazette.
Special (National : 1977 – 2012). 26
January 2001. p. 1. Retrieved
6 October 2019.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to:

Jeanne Little

Jeanne Little on IMDb

Jeanne Little discography at Discogs
 Transcript of interview with Jeanne
Little on ABC show George Negus
Tonight
Transcript of interview with Jeanne
Little on ABC show Talking Heads

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