VETERAN Australian actor Judith McGrath has died at the age of 70.
Though she worked extensively as a character actress, McGrath won star billing in a handful of milestone Australian dramas, notably the groundbreaking Ten drama Prisoner, the iconic A Country Practice and Seven's long-running All Saints.
Audiences would know her from one of the three, depending on their age but it was for the groundbreaking prison drama Prisoner that she was perhaps best known.
For 253 episodes between 1979 and 1984, McGrath played Wentworth Detention Centre's dependable deputy governor Colleen Powell.
Though she was neither the show's star character, prison tough Bea Smith, nor its enduring villain, Officer Joan "The Freak" Ferguson, it is testament to the strength of McGrath's performance that fans considered Officer Powell - or "Po-face" as the prisoners nicknamed her - one of the show's great characters.
The character of Colleen Powell was initially introduced as a replacement for the departing Officer Vera "Vinegar Tits" Bennett, and was initially written as a tougher, more brutal iteration of the stern warder archetype.
But there was a vulnerability to McGrath's performance which gave Officer Powell a human dimension and in time she evolved into the show's ethical centre point, as the more sinister Officer Ferguson arrived to take the mantle of the show's villainess.
McGrath played Colleen Powell with a sardonic wit which she borrowed from her real life persona, and gave her a gently cynical personality which was balanced with a sharp sense of right and wrong.
McGrath was born in Brisbane and, unusually, initially resisted the lure of Sydney and Melbourne, which dominated television production at the time, and instead began her career in Brisbane's theatre scene.
In her early career, McGrath worked on a number of now iconic Australian programs including Bluey, Skyways, Young Ramsay and Special Squad.
She joined the cast of Prisoner in 1979 initially as a background officer, but later she was given dialogue and a more three dimensional character was fleshed out.
It was perhaps an unusual way to step into the limelight, but Prisoner frequently promoted characters from the periphery of the story to the centre of the action in such a fashion.
After Prisoner, she worked on series including Sword of Honour, Neighbours and Round the Twist.
McGrath also went on to create two more memorable characters: Bernice Hudson in A Country Practice and Von Ryan in All Saints.
Her most recent acting credit was the television series Winners & Losers, in which she played Maria Crawley.
McGrath had retired to Brisbane in recent years.
Fremantle Media's head of drama Jo Porter, who served as McGrath's executive producer on All Saints, and was also a friend, described her as "one of those incredible character actors who stole hearts and scenes, perhaps never really getting the true accolades she deserved."
"Judith was adored by her colleagues and by the public, though she would too modest to admit that," Porter added.
The most powerful demonstration of that is the outpouring of grief on social media since news of McGrath's death was announced, with fans sharing their sadness and their memories of a much beloved Australian actress.
McGrath was, Porter said, all "showgirl legs and the best laugh ever."
