By Elise Hawthorne
Internationally acclaimed actress Miriam Margolyes OBE and her great friend Sydneysider Robin Amadio, the doyenne of Australian social journalism are firm friends, meeting over 35 years ago. These two women define the term ‘ageless’, and I believe the secret to their success is that they are both endlessly fascinated with the human condition, they have friendly outgoing personalities and are both still working successfully in their chosen professions.
Miriam Margolyes’ story began when she was conceived during a WW2 bombing raid in Oxford, England. The much loved only child of Ruth and Joseph Margolyes, a Jewish couple whose ancestors hailed from Poland and Belarus immigrating to the UK in the mid-1800s. Miriam grew up in a culturally Jewish home, attending shul on high holidays and Sunday School on weekends. Miriam’s dad spoke Yiddish and, in 2011, Margolyes recorded a narrative for the album The Devil’s Brides by klezmer musician-ethnographer Yale Strom.
Miriam & her mother Ruth Margolyes
Robin Amadio grew up in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, her mother Rita emigrated from Germany to Australia in 1932, marrying Robin’s father acclaimed Sydney Symphony Orchestra flautist Neville Amadio. Like Miriam, Robin is an only child – both Robin’s and Miriam’s mothers have both been described as being “a force of nature” and wanting the best for their daughters, encouraging them in their chosen careers. Robin isn’t Jewish, but she grew up surrounded by many Jewish friends including her SCEGGS Darlinghurst classmates, many who are still close friends over 60 years later and indeed good friend the late Beryl Green introduced Robin and Miriam to each other way back in 1982.
Rita and Robin Amadio at Princes in 1952
The more I learnt about Miriam and Robin’s mothers the more I realised what they had in common. Both Rita and Ruth worked in retail, both performers in their own way as they had to use their personality to help them be successful salespeople. Rita worked for Elizabeth Arden, mixing with society matrons from the Hordern and Fairfax families, ironically many years later so did her daughter Robin. Miriam’s father Joseph was a physician with a love of words and scholarship, which was passed on to his daughter; Miriam attended Newnham College, Cambridge, where she read English. There, in her twenties, she began acting and appeared in productions by the famous Cambridge Footlights comedy troupe.
From that audacious start, Miriam has gone on to act in hundreds of productions including characters in Blackadder, James and the Giant Peach, Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, Babe, Yentl, Happy Feet and playing Professor Sprout in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets to name just a few. In 1989, Miriam co-wrote and performed a one-woman show, Dickens’ Women, astonishing audiences, she played 23 characters from Dickens’ novels, touring various countries including Australia. In 1994 Miriam won the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mrs Mingott in Martin Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence. She was one of the original cast of the London production of the musical Wicked, and in 2009, she appeared in Endgame by Samuel Beckett in London’s West End. And my particular favourite, in 2004, Miriam played the role of Peg Sellers, the mother of Peter Sellers, in the Golden Globe winning film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. When asked her favourite film, Miriam nominated the epic historical drama Sunshine; she played Rose Sonnenschein alongside Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz, the movie follows the fortunes of a family of Hungarian Jews over the course of nearly 150 years.
An unexpected slight change of direction came Miriam’s way when in 2016 she appeared in The Real Marigold Hotel, a travel documentary that follows a group of eight well-known English seniors who travel to India to find out what retirement life is like there compared to in the UK. The series was reprised for two Christmas Specials The Real Marigold On Tour to Florida and Kyoto and The Real Marigold On Tour to Chengdu and Havana. In early 2018, Miriam hosted a 3-part series for the BBC titled Miriam’s Big American Adventure, where she got to speak to citizens of the USA concerning the day-to-day issues they are dealing with post the election of President Trump.
Like Miriam, Robin’s career is in the arts; self-expression runs in her family. Her father Neville Amadio was a very popular and well-known musician in his day, and her grandfather and her son Jaime Robertson were both talented actors. Jaime and Miriam were also good friends; he passed away a couple of years ago from motor neurone disease, he is very much missed by his family and many friends.
Robin started her career in the 1950s in the public relations and advertising department of David Jones in Sydney, moving on to become a cadet journalist with the Daily and Sunday Telegraph under the watchful eye of women’s editor Mickey McNicol, both working for the boss of all bosses Sir Frank Packer. Robin covered the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne; she also worked in Fleet Street in London before marrying her husband, Jimmy Robertson, moving to live with him on a sheep farm in the Falkland Islands for the next 23 years.
Returning to Sydney in the early 1980s, Robin resumed her career in journalism as the social columnist for the Woman’s Weekly ‘Going Places’ pages then moving to the Wentworth Courier 20 years ago bringing her joie de vivre and extensive contact book with her. When I asked these two fascinating women and firm friends what they each liked about the other, both smiled and told me the following…
Robin said, “Miriam is a warm person, and when we first met, it felt like I had known her for years – I instantly liked her. Miriam’s compulsive honesty, inquisitive mind and outgoing personality mean I always enjoy our time together whether it’s going to a play, a book launch or a lunch catch-up, there is never a dull moment.”
Miriam said, “it is very easy to like Robin, she is an interesting person who enriches my life by sharing her friends and interests; I feel lucky to have her in her life. I dearly loved Robin’s son Jaime and our shared love of such a beautiful man also bonded us for life.”
Both Miriam and Robin have a lot in common and have similar interests; their friendship is based on love and mutual admiration – it’s simple, they both just like spending time together when they can. As Miriam travels extensively, they keep in contact via email, skype and phone, meeting up in Australia as often as possible. Miriam and Robin are both women whom I greatly admire as people and as friends.
Top photo: Robin Amadio and Miriam Margolyes
Article reprinted from JewishCare’s Keeping In Touch magazine www.jewishcare.com.au
Get Social