Australasian Cinema > directors >
Kate Howarde (1864-1939) (co-)directed only the one film, and that in association with another, Charles Villiers, but is significant because it is claimed that she was the first Australasian woman to direct a feature film (@ 6500 feet, Possum Paddock would have run for well over an hour).
Pike & Cooper:
Kate Howarde (her full name was Kate Howarde Black) made no other films after Possum Paddock but the play, like the film, remained in demand throughout the 1920s, in both Australia and New Zealand. As an entrepreneur, she had begun to manage her own touring theatrical company while still in her teens, working first in country towns, and later throughout Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. She was also a prolific author of plays, songs and vaudeville acts, but her most popular achievement by far was Possum Paddock. She died on 18 February 1939 at the age of 70. Her daughter, Leslie Adrien (sometimes billed as Lesley Adrienne), often acted in her plays, and took the central female part in the film.
Garry Gillard | New: 27 July, 2023 | Now: 27 July, 2023