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Australian actress Wendy Hughes dead at 61 (photo: Wendy Hughes in ‘Newsfront’) Australian film, television, and stage actress Wendy Hughes, best known internationally for the big-screen dramas My Brilliant Career and Careful, He Might Hear You, died of cancer early today, March 8, 2014, in Sydney. Hughes (born on July 29, 1952, in Melbourne) was 61. Wendy Hughes’ film career kicked off in the mid-’70s, with Tim Burstall’s psychological drama ‘Jock’ Petersen / Petersen (1974), in which she plays the wife of a college professor who becomes romantically involved with a married student (Jack Thompson). "I spent a lot of the time naked and doing sex scenes," Hughes would later recall about her work in ‘Jock’ Petersen, "because in the seventies you all had to do that." In 1979, Hughes landed a key supporting role in the international arthouse hit My Brilliant Career, Gillian Armstrong’s late 19th-century-set tale of an independent-minded young woman (a Katharine Hepburn...

Wendy Hughes, who has died in Sydney aged 61, will be remembered by her peers as one of the finest actors of her generation.

Hughes won the AFI award for best actress for Careful, He Might Hear You in 1983 and was nominated on six other occasions, for Newsfront, My Brilliant Career, Lonely Hearts, My First Wife, Echoes of Paradise and Boundaries of the Heart.

.She was a brilliant actress who set the standard and was pioneering for her era,. filmmaker Philippe Mora, who was a close friend in the 1980s and early 1990s, told If.

.In my opinion without Wendy there would have been no Judy Davis, no Nicole Kidman and no Cate Blanchett. If timing had been different she would have been a major international star. As it is she leaves a legacy of perfect performances as one of Australia's greatest actresses..

Mora wanted to cast Hughes as the female...

Mia Wasikowska was named star of the year and Jack Thompson received the lifetime achievement award at the Australian International Movie Convention on the Gold Coast on Thursday night.

The Murray Forrest Award for Film Craft was bestowed on Oscar-winning cinematographer Andrew Lesnie.

In a ceremony at the Pavilion Ballroom at Jupiters Hotel and Casino, Natalie Miller introduced the Star of the Year Award, informing the audience of more than 800 that Wasikowska is in France filming Madame Bovary.

Wasikowska stars in John Curran.s Tracks, the adventure based on Robyn Davidson.s book telling of her 2,700km trek across the outback with her dog and four camels in 1977.

A clip was shown of Davidson presenting the award to the 24-year old actress at the Toronto International Film Festival. .The film was very special for me . it gave me the chance to be able to work in Australia again for the...

CSI on Wednesday bid an emotional farewell to star Marg Helgenberger, the latest original cast member to leave the long-running crime show on CBS. Cast and crew members — including series creator Anthony E. Zuiker and Executive Producer Carol Mendelsohn – packed the show’s set on the Universal City, Calif. lot to hear Helgenberger say goodbye after wrapping her 263rd episode as Catherine Willows. (The episode will air Jan. 25)

“I’ve been thinking a lot about this moment for a very long time,” began Helgenberger, who went on to reminisce about the show’s humble beginnings in 2000 and its becoming the worldwide phenomenon it is today.

Film industry veteran Alan Finney has been appointed chairman of The Australian Film Institute.

He replaces Morry Schwartz who stepped down after five years, although he will remain on the AFI’s board.

Schwartz said: “The time has come to pass the baton. Alan is one of our industry’s most respected people. I am confident that Alan will take the AFI from strength to strength. He starts with a new era, in a new city.”

AFI CEO Damian Trewhella said a major contribution from Schwartz was the foundation of the AFI Fellowship Program which supports innovative ideas and has provided in excess of $100,000 in industry grants. Trewhella said: “It’s been a mammoth undertaking and Morry’s talents and commitment have been invaluable.”

Finney has been involved in film since the 1960s including the formation of Hexagon Productions, the first ongoing joint venture between production and distribution entities in contemporary Australian history,...