Florence Henderson-One Saucy Lady

Florence Henderson has done it all- Broadway musicals, hosted TV chat and game shows, written cook books and fronted a TV cookery show. She's even a trained hypnotherapist.

Most people would remember her as the enduring Carol Brady from The Brady Bunch which was filmed from 1969 to 1974 but is probably being shown right now on a TV station in every country in the world.


At the moment Florence is in Australia to promote Ardmona's new range of tomato pastes..(motto :"paste the difference"..gedditt) so Ardmona threw a small bash for about 50 guests and Flo at the hip new restaurant Concrete Blonde in Kings Cross.

The Shuttle has met Florence before, around 20 years ago in London. She doesn't seem to have aged one bit despite being a grand 76 years old but looking a good 20 younger. And up close and personal she hasn't had any nips and tucks, Flo is just one of those lucky people with great bones which the camera simply loves.

Florence told us about her early life as the daughter of share crop farmers in Indiana where her dad grew tomatoes so she reckons she's a bit of an authority on this wonder food which she eats every day of life. Perhaps that's her secret.
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Clive James is still very much alive and not planning to leave this mortal coil any day soon and he'd like the world to know after the Shuttle (and the world's media) wrote him off last week.

We don't usually fall for tabloid beat-ups but we plead guilty to believing the UK Daily Mirror. Clive found out of his imminent demise when tributes started to flow in.
 Sorry Clive!

Broadway Has A New Aboriginal Star.

Gospel singer Olive Knight at home in the Kimberleys

Hugh Jackman's one man show 'Hugh Jackman, Back On Broadway" opened last Thursday in New York with a glittering opening night guest list including Donna Karan, Mandy Patinkin, Wendi Deng Murdoch and Hamish Bowles.

Olive Knight, an Aboriginal gospel singer from the Wangkatjungka community has swapped the dusty plains of the Kimberley for the bright lights of Broadway after being invited to perform in Hugh's one-man show.

 Olive has taught Jackman to sing the chorus of Somewhere Over the Rainbow in a traditional Aboriginal language and the segment with the cast (including Hugh) and Olive speaking in Walmarjari received a standing ovation.

I Am Woman

photo by Rob Rich

One guest at Monday's Tony Awards in New York was the Australian singer Helen Reddy who can be seen in this pic from New York Social Diary on the arm of actor David Hyde Pierce.

Toni Lamond

Reddy is probably best remembered for the massive hit she co-authored, I Am Woman that rocketed her to stardom in the US after a few hard years of living in cheap hotels. The hit changed Helen's fortunes and she had 15 hit songs in the Billboard Top 40 with 3 number one hits.

Helen was at the Tonys to see if her nephew, Tony Sheldon would pick up an award for best actor in a musical.
Sheldon appears as Bernadette in the Broadway box office hit Priscilla Queen of The Desert but he lost out to Norbert Leo Butz  for his role as an FBI agent in the play Catch Me If You Can. Reddy is the sister of Sheldon's mother, the Australian stage star Toni Lamond.

Helen also had an illustrious career on Broadway appearing in Blood Brothers, Call Me Madam as well as a successful one woman show  Shirley Valentine. She nows lives in a Darling Point apartment courtesy of a long time fan.

Go to David Patrick Columbia's excellent New York Social Diary for more terrific pics from the Tony Awards and below is Reddy's famous song : I Am Woman.