This biography is republished from The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia. Written by Amanda McCormack, National Film and Sound Archive. See below for full attribution.
Born: 12 February 1959, Australia
Died: NA
Country most active: Australia
Also known as: NA
Sigrid Thornton, who was born in Canberra in 1959, is one of Australia’s most respected, popular and prolific screen and television actors. She has starred in many classic Australian films, including The Getting of Wisdom (1978), The Man from Snowy River (1982), The Lighthorsemen (1987) and The Man From Snowy River 2 (1988). Her television highlights include Prisoner (1979), 1915 (1982) the highly acclaimed All the Rivers Run (1983), Boy in the Bush (1984) the hugely successful series SeaChange (1998-2000), Little Oberon (2005), MDA (2005) and Underbelly: The Golden Mile (2010).
Thornton’s success in Australian film and TV during the 1980s led US producer, David Jacobs to create the female lead Amelia Lawson in his CBS series Paradise (1988-91) specifically for Sigrid, the first Australian actress in a starring role in a US network series.
Sigrid has received multiple awards, award nominations, honours and medals for her work in front and behind the cameras as well as onstage and in 2003 was honoured as one of the top 100 Australian Entertainers of the century by the Variety Club. She has also worked extensively behind the cameras on behalf of the film and television industry, and various charities, has served several terms as a member of the board of the Australian Film Institute and Film Victoria, chaired the Victorian Film & Television Taskforce and is a successful campaigner for the viability of the Australian film industry.
Works cited
Amanda McCormack, ‘Thornton, Sigrid’, in The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia, Australian Women’s Archives Project, 2014, http://www.womenaustralia.info/leaders/biogs/WLE0411b.htm, accessed 16 January 2022.