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Remembering Victoria

Actors from The Sullivans, A Country Practice, All Saints and Home and Away joined with mourners to remember actress Victoria Longley.

Family, friends and colleagues yesterday remembered actress Victoria Longley, who died earlier this week after succumbing to breast cancer.

Mourners at St Matthias’s in Paddington included John Bell, Barry Otto, Steve Bisley, Brendan Cowell, Lyn Curran, William Zappa, Grant Dodwel, Anrdew Upton, Tammy McIntosh and actors from The Sullivans, A Country Practice, All Saints and Home and Away.

Actress Marina Finlay said that with Longley ”there was no holding back in expressing joy to its fullest. ”Equally, sorrow was never told to go away. If it came, it was invited to be explored and felt deeply.

”This then gave Victoria the rare ability to be there for her friends when they were having difficult times.

In his eulogy, Nicholas Eadie said it was ”actor heaven” working with Longley on stage.

”Her presence and stagecraft, her depth of character, her grace and beauty hit me like a refreshing southerly change on a hot summer’s day,” he said.

But he realised anyromantic interest was in vain, having discovered in the meantime that they were both gay.

”During that wonderful time we had, Vic and I would wrestle with this conundrum,” he said. ”It went against our sense of honesty but we were both realists, both ambitious and we didn’t run around advertising the fact. But we couldn’t [help but] get a little bit of a kick that each night we were fooling, completely fooling, the audience.”

Longley’s credits included Wildside, Young Lions, Water Rats, All Saints and Blackjack.

Mourners gave one final standing ovation as the colourfully painted coffin left the church.

Source: smh.com.au

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