Lorrae Desmond

Lorrae Desmond was an Australian singer, TV presenter, and actress who had a career spanning over 50 years. She was born in Mittagong, New South Wales, to Polish immigrants. She started her career in England, where she performed as a singer and entertainer during World War II. She also represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1957. She returned to Australia in the 1960s and became the host of her own musical variety show, The Lorrae Desmond Show, which won her the first ever Gold Logie for a woman in 1962. She also toured Vietnam and other countries to entertain the troops, for which she was awarded an MBE. She later became an actress and played Shirley Gilroy in the popular soap opera A Country Practice from 1981 to 1992. She also appeared in other shows such as Homicide, Number 96, and Home and Away. She retired from acting in 2001 and wrote a play called Honey, based on a novel by Bryce Courtenay. She died at the age of 91 in Gold Coast, Queensland.