Marjorie Lawrence: The World at Her Feet

Overview

Marjorie grew up in Winchelsea in country Victoria, Australia, dreaming of becoming an opera star like Dame Nellie Melba. In 1928 she went to Paris to study opera without knowing a word of French and having never heard of Richard Wagner. In 1941, at the height her success, she was tragically cut down by polio and became completely paralysed. With the help of Australian nurse, Sister Kenny, Marjorie regained movement in her upper body and resumed her career in a wheelchair. In 1955, MGM made a movie of her life, "Interrupted Melody", starring Eleanor Parker and Glenn Ford, which won an Academy Award.

Cast

Kiri Te Kanawa

Narrator

Ita Buttrose

Self

Richard Bonynge

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Brian Castles Onion

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Miki Oikawa

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John Bolton-Wood

Self