Congratulations to Sigrid Thornton who was awarded an AO in this week’s Queen’s Birthday Awards.
Sigi has been a great supporter of Sisters in Crime. Back in the nineties, she spoke to an event about her role in Whipping Boy (1996) where she played a female lawyer heads a government taskforce investigating a suspected paedophile racket in Sydney.
In 1996, she presented the 3rd Scarlet Stiletto Awards and in 2007, launched Scarlet Stiletto: The First Cut, a collection of winning stories from 1994–2006. In 2017 she again presented the Scarlet Stiletto Awards – the 24th!!
Sigi’s criminal acting career stretches back to Homicide and Division 4 (1975), Prisoner (1979–80), Whipping Boy (1996), SeaChange (1998–2000), Underbelly: The Golden Mile (2010) and The Code (2016). She was one of the main cast in Wentworth (2016–18), playing Sonia Stevens.
Sigi reprises her role as Laura Gibson in a reboot of SeaChange due to screen on the Nine Network later this year. Deb Cox, one of the show’s original co-creators alongside Andrew Knight (Hacksaw Ridge) is executive producer of the reboot with Fiona Eagger, David Mott from ITV and Lois Randall. (Deb Cox and Fiona Eagger also produced Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries TV series and the forthcoming film.)
Sigi also has a Mo Award, some Logies and an AFTA Award.
She was a founding Board Director of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts, served several terms as a Director of the Australian Film Institute and Film Victoria, was patron of Women in Film and Television, and currently serves as a Board Director of Melbourne’s Malthouse Theatre and the National Institute of Dramatic Arts.
Sigi is also known for her work with World Vision, the Royal Children’s Hospital, Vision Australia, Reach Foundation and other charitable causes. She has lobbied successive governments to keep libraries open and to resource the Australian film and television industry. She has been appointed to several federal and state film bodies, including Film Victoria and is involved in helping to sustain and develop the industry.
What a woman! We love her.