image of person or book cover 5463644218545601853.jpg
The Australian Women's Weekly, 11 Aug. 1954, p. 10
Kay Keavney Kay Keavney i(A9853 works by)
Also writes as: Kay Keane
Born: Established: 1921 Drummoyne, Drummoyne - Concord area, Sydney Inner West, Sydney, New South Wales, ; Died: Ceased: 1989
Gender: Female
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Works By

Preview all
1 A Most Improbable Playwright Arrives Kay Keavney , 1981 single work column biography
— Appears in: The National Times , 26 April-2 May 1981; (p. 53)
1 Ranked with the Immortals--Christina Stead Kay Keavney , 1976 single work
— Appears in: The Australian Women's Weekly , 17 November 1976; (p. 71-72)
1 From George, with Sadness Kay Keavney , 1969 single work column
— Appears in: The Australian Women's Weekly , 3 September 1969; (p. 13)
1 Where Are the 'Helpless, Fluffy Females'? Kay Keavney , 1968 single work
— Appears in: The Australian Women's Weekly , 27 November 1968; (p. 2)
1 8 form y separately published work icon Skippy Lee Robinson , Dennis Hill , Ross Napier , Ted Roberts , Joy Cavill , Lee Robinson , Denys Burrows , Ed Devereaux , Moya Wood , Carol Odell , Joan Levy , Rae Glasser , Warren Glasser , James Workman , Tony Booth , J. Benn Darrow , Dennis Hill , Creswick Jenkinson , Michael Wright , Maureen Walsh , Scotty Denholm , Suzanne Baker , Peter Finnane , Peter Kay , Kay Keavney , John McCallum , Will Pryor , Ron Taylor , Margaret Trist , John Warwick , Rene Devereaux , Alex McDonald , Phyllis McLean , Ron McLean , Richard Raper , Stephen Rhodes , Martyn Sanderson , Valerie Taylor , Albie Thoms , Alan Veitch , Brian Wright , Stewart A. Fist , Bill Lambert , Harry Woollerton , ( dir. Eric Fullilove et. al. )agent 1966 Australia : Nine Network Fauna Productions , 1968-1970 Z1624851 1966 series - publisher film/TV

Set in the fictional Waratah National Park (NSW), the Skippy series focuses largely on the adventures of a young boy, Sonny Hammond, and his intelligent pet kangaroo, Skippy. Sonny is the youngest child of Head Ranger Matt Hammond. Matt was left a widower in his early forties when his wife Mary died not long after Sonny was born. Other principal characters are Sonny's older brother Mark, Flight Ranger Jerry King (the park's helicopter pilot), and Ranger Clancy Merrick, the teenage daughter of another park ranger.

1 2 form y separately published work icon Prelude to Harvest Kay Keavney , Australia : Australian Broadcasting Commission , 1963 14563982 1963 single work film/TV

'Prelude to Harvest tells some of the story of Sydney's early days when Phillip, determined to make the Colony a success in the face of crop failures, convicts unrest and the threat of famine.'

Source: 'PRELUDE TO HARVEST', The Canberra Times, 26 Jan. 1963, p. 16.

1 y separately published work icon The Barber Kay Keane , Sydney : Horwitz , 1962 Z1198866 1962 single work novel crime detective thriller
2 form y separately published work icon The Story of Peter Grey Richard Lane , Kay Keavney , ( dir. Ken Hannam ) Sydney : Seven Network , 1961-1962 7190348 1961 series - publisher film/TV

A daytime soap opera (like its predecessor, Autumn Affair), The Story of Peter Grey follows a young clergyman newly appointed to a large parish.

1 1 form y separately published work icon Eye of the Night Kay Keavney , ( dir. Christopher Muir ) Australia : Australian Broadcasting Commission , 1960 6464548 1960 single work film/TV thriller crime

According to a contemporary newspaper report, the television play 'concerns a mature man who throughout his life been has dominated by his mother.'

The report also paraphrases producer/director Christopher Muir as noting that 'preparation for the drama entailed visits to the Police department to study criminal detection techniques–and conferences with leading psychologists.'

Source:

'Psychological Drama', The Age, 18 February 1960, p.12.

1 form y separately published work icon Nor The Moon By Night Kay Keavney , 1959 Australia : Grace Gibson Productions , 1959 14527050 1959 series - publisher radio play

'Radio serial of the story of two brothers. Two men who loved the same woman. Alice Lang is a young English hospital nurse who flies to South Africa to marry Andrew Miller, the senior Game Warden of a wildlife sanctuary which he opens with his brother Rusty. Against a primitive background, haunted by crime and witchcraft, Alice learns to know her own heart and body, her capacity for fear and suffering and for courage with which to face her final ordeal.' (National Film and Sound Archive Australia)

1 1 form y separately published work icon The Adventures of Long John Silver Martin Rackin , Kay Keavney , ( dir. Lee Sholem ) Sydney : Treasure Island Pictures Australian Broadcasting Commission , 1954-1955 Z1831382 1954-1955 series - publisher film/TV adventure

The first television series produced in Australia was based on Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island, but drew its shape and tone more explicitly from two Disney films--Treasure Island (1950) and Long John Silver (1954)--particularly in the shift of Long John Silver from the morally ambiguous villain of the novel to the loveable rogue of the series. Both films used largely the same cast as the television series, and the latter film had also been produced in Australia. Though cast and crew included a number of American and English actors, directors, and script-writers, Australia did contribute cast and crew to the series, as well as funding and resources.

Don Storey notes in his Classic Australian Television:

It is somewhat ironic that this should be Australia's first television series, as pirate adventure had nothing to do with Australia's history, and television had not yet commenced here - the series could have been filmed anywhere. It was in effect a 'crossover' of the 1950's Australian film industry to television. (Most Australian films of the 1950's were produced by overseas companies - it was television, and in particular the series Homicide, which later provided a foundation for the revival of the Australian feature film industry in the 1970's [...]).

For a full list of episodes and authors, see Film Details.

1 form y separately published work icon A Tale of Christmas Kay Keavney , Sydney : National Productions , 1954 14563924 1954 single work film/TV
1 form y separately published work icon The Mystery of Nurse Lorimer Kay Keavney , 1953 Australia : ABC Radio National , 1953 14562925 1953 series - publisher radio play

'A fascinating sequel to the well-remembered feature "Nurse White"... "Nurse Lorimer" is a heartwarming, intimate story of hospital life."

Source: 'TWO NEW SHOWS ON 2GB TODAY', The Sydney Morning Herald, 3 Aug. 1953, p. 5

1 form y separately published work icon Thirty Minutes to Go Kay Keavney , Don Haring , Roy Ingleby , Coral Lansbury , James Workman , Australia : ARC , 1953 14527121 1953 single work radio play mystery

A thirty-minute crime drama offering thrills, suspense, and excitement. 

1 form y separately published work icon Front Page Girl Kay Keavney , Australia : Macquarie Network , 1951 14565370 1951 single work radio play thriller

'About a girl who makes the front pages of every newspaper, but not in the way she had dreamed.'

Source: 'Notes on Radio', The Sunday Herald, 22 Jul 1951, p. 12.

1 form y separately published work icon Ladies in Retirement Kay Keavney , Australia : Macquarie Network , 1951 14565014 1951 single work radio play thriller

'A fine dramatic play about an old housekeeper and her two sisters who are living at the same place. The landlady asks the two sisters to leave, and the housekeeper, hoping to keep the two sisters in the house, kills the landlady.'

Source: '2WL Radio Round-up', South Coast Times and Wollongong Argus, 28 May 1951, p. 3.

1 form y separately published work icon The Gathering Storm Kay Keavney , Australia : Macquarie Network , 1951 14564258 1951 single work radio play

'It is a tense drama of a young man's infatuation for a girl which actually grows into an obsession.

It tells the story of Ned Hardlestone, a young farmer who goes to a nearby town one night and meets Myrtle Gray. He becomes blindly and desperately infatuated with her. The girls does not return his love and plays on his infatuation for her own ends.'

Source: Source: '2WL Radio Round-Up', South Coast Times and Wollongong Argus, 30 Apr. 1951, p. 3.

1 form y separately published work icon The Layton Story Kay Keavney , 1950 Australia : ABC Radio National , 1950 14562514 1950 series - publisher radio play

'It's all about the Layton Family--four people whose adventures, joys and sorrows reflect much of the world we live in to-day. Yes, it's the story of a family that might well be yours--true-to-life, exciting, humorous. You'll like the Laytons and the people they meet as their saga unfolds.' 

Source: '"The Layton Story"', Mayborough Chronicle, 15 Jan. 1951, p. 4. 

1 form y separately published work icon Nurse White Kay Keavney , 1948 Australia : ABC Radio National , 1948 14561623 1948 series - publisher radio play

The story of a women who must overcome the heartbreak of leaving her newborn baby to work as a nurse.

'Bitterness, shock and misery form the background to this very human story - a story that will tug at the heartstrings of every listener.' 

Source: 'Advertising', The Age, 23 Sep. 1949, p. 7

1 form y separately published work icon Unto All Men Kay Keavney , 1946 Australia : 1946 14571433 1946 series - publisher radio play
X