A graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Penne Hackforth-Jones’ (’66) career in film and television spanned 30 years. She made her film debut opposite Sam Neill and Jack Thompson in 1979’s The Journalist and went on to work with some of the country’s best – including PJ Hogan, Toni Collette and Bruce Beresford in films such as Muriel’s Wedding, Paradise Road, Diana and Me and Black and White. In 1990, Penne received an AFI nomination for her performance opposite Warren Mitchell and Ruth Cracknell in Kokoda Crescent. She also starred in the highly anticipated release, Mao’s Last Dancer, and in The Tree which opened at The Cannes Film Festival in 2011.

In 1979, Penne’s role as Jessica Johnson in the pioneering Cash and Company earned her both Australian Film & Television and Penguin (Television Society of Australia) Awards for Best Actress. She appeared in countless other television dramas, including the Australian classics Homicide, Matlock, A Country Practice, Mother and Son, Rafferty’s Rules, GP, Chandon Pictures and 30 Seconds. Penne’s writing credits included Barbara Baynton: Between Two Worlds, a biography of her great-grandmother, who was unique among Australian women writers at the turn of the last century.

Penne passed away in Melbourne in 2013.

Updated January 2016