Agnes Gavin

Agnes Gavin (1872–1947), was an Australian actor and screenwriter in the silent film era. She worked in collaboration with her husband John Gavin throughout her career. She wrote the majority of his films and was arguably the first specialist screenwriter in the history of the Australian film industry.[1] In newspapers she was advertised as the "well known picture dramatizer"[2] and was praised for creating "cleverly constructed stories".[3] Many of her films are considered lost.

Personal life

She was born in Sydney as Agnes Adele Wangenheim. At the age of eighteen she married Barnett Kurtz, and became Agnes Kurtz. Barnett Kurtz had first attempted to demand a divorce in March 1897, unsuccessfully. Gavin later demanded one herself on the grounds of adultery, and this time was successful. At the hearing, the judge read a rude letter that Gavin had sent her husband, which she admitted to have written solely to annoy him. Their divorce was highly publicized.[4][5]

On October 3, 1898, she married stage actor John Gavin,[6] and for many years they worked together in Vaudeville and Bland Holt's stage company.

In 1904, Agnes Gavin was accused of abusing her neighbor with violent language, as well as menacing her with a hammer and threatening to chop down her door with an ax. The court ordered her bound to the peace for six months.[7]

In her first marriage she had a daughter named Isadore, who died on September 12, 1917.[8] John Gavin died in 1938 and Agnes followed in 1947. The couple is survived by two daughters and several grandchildren.[9]

Career

In 1910, Gavin and her husband made their first film together, Thunderbolt, produced by H. A. Forsyth. John Gavin played the main character.In their next film with Forsyth, Moonlite, Gavin played an aboriginal girl named Bunda Bunda while wearing blackface.

Agnes Gavin then went on to write several films for Crick and Finlay, which her husband directed.

In 1911, her husband started his own production company, the Gavin Photo-Play Studio. She wrote the films he directed, occasionally playing in them alongside her husband.

The pair were best known for making films about bushrangers such as Captain Thunderbolt, Captain Moonlite, Ben Hall and Frank Gardiner, and convict-era melodramas.[10][11]

She adapted her 1917 film The Murder of Captain Fryatt into a play: Captain Fryatt; Or, For King and Country.

In 1918 she and her husband moved to Hollywood, returning briefly to Australia in 1922 and then permanently in 1925.

Filmography

Scripts

Books

Plays

References

  1. ↑ Stephen Vagg, 'A Brief History of Australian Screenwriting'. Lumina Issue 7, May 2011
  2. ↑ "Advertising.". The Referee. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 19 July 1911. p. 16. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "GENERAL GOSSIP.". The Referee. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 15 November 1911. p. 16. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "A SINGULAR LETTER.". The Australasian. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 4 December 1897. p. 24. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "Without Prejudice.". Table Talk. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 3 December 1897. p. 3. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  6. ↑ "Family Notices.". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 5 September 1899. p. 1. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  7. ↑ "THEATRICALS IN COURT.". The Evening News. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 25 August 1904. p. 5. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  8. ↑ "Family Notices.". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 12 September 1917. p. 8. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  9. ↑ "Family Notices.". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 10 January 1947. p. 14. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  10. ↑ "A Well-known Biograph Actor.". The Newsletter: an Australian Paper for Australian People. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 4 February 1911. p. 3. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  11. ↑ "A Great Australian.". The Newsletter: an Australian Paper for Australian People. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 4 November 1911. p. 3. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  12. ↑ "THE KEY OF FATE.". The Sunday Times. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 8 August 1926. p. 24. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  13. ↑ Copyright registration at National Archives of Australia
  14. ↑ Copyright registration at National Archives of Australia
  15. ↑ Copyright registration at National Archives of Australia
  16. ↑ Copyright registration at National Archives of Australia

External links

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