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Films/Videos Sunshine Christmas 1977 Sunshine Christmas (1977) A musician, brooding over the marriage of his sometime girlfriend, decides to take his adopted daughter home to Texas to celebrate Christmas with his family. While there, he begins to rekindle the relationship he once had with his childhood girlfriend. External Website

Autobiography/Memoir The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell Bertrand Russell 2000 Bertrand Russell was born in 1872 and grew up in kinship care. He died in 1970. One of the most influential figures of the twentieth century, he transformed philosophy, was a Nobel Prize winner for Literature and was imprisoned several times as a result of his pacifism. His views on religion, education, sex, politics and many other topics, made him one of the most read and revered writers of the age. External Website

Films/Videos A Family Affair 2015 Tom’ s father, Rob, and his older brother, Rene, were suddenly and inexplicably put into an orphanage when Rob was about 3 years of age. Just as suddenly, 2 years later they were removed and returned to live with their single mother, Marianne Hertz, a well-known model in the Netherlands at the time. In the documentary, Tom recalls how traumatic it was for him to be dumped into the orphanage. His mother visited regularly, and these times he loved; when he was with her all seemed well with the world. But each time she left, he felt abandoned all over again. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience The Dutch House Ann Patchett 2019 A richly moving story that explores the indelible bond between two siblings, the house of their childhood, and a past that will not let them go. The Dutch House belongs to a tradition in both fairy tales and American fiction of motherless children (sometimes raised by their father, often with the aid of an aunt or trusty hired help) Two siblings, Maeve and Danny Conroy, bond tightly after their mother leaves home when they're 10 and 3. Home is the eponymous Dutch House, a 1922 mansion outside Philadelphia that their father, Cyril, a real estate mogul, bought fully furnished in an estate sale as a surprise for his wife in 1946, when Maeve was 5. The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another. It is this unshakeable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures. Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. External Website

Blogs/Web Pages/Articles Eleanor and George’s story – love at the Foundling Hospital Janette Bright 2021 Meet Eleanor and George, who grew up in the Foundling Hospital in the 18th Century and found love. External Website

Biography of Care Experienced People A History of Silence Lloyd Jones 2013 In his A History of Silence (2013), NZ writer Lloyd Jones explores his family history and discovers that both his parents were displaced from their birth families as children. Jones' father, Lew, was put into an orphanage when his mother died. From then he was in and out of foster care. Jones' mother, Joyce, was given up for adoption when she was 4. Lloyd Jones is one of NZs best known contemporary writers. He says he was lucky as the youngest child because he didn't have to leave school at 15 and his older brother insisted he go to university. External Website

Authors H American Singer, songwriter, actress ➝ Singer, Songwriter US ➝ Jazz and swing music singer ➝ Singer, musician ➝ Musician, Songwriter ➝ Singer, dancer, actress, activist ➝ Dancer, Yellow Wiggle ➝ Singer, record producer ➝ Singer, songwriter, guitarist ➝ Back to Top

Writers Kenneth Grahame 1859-1932 Kenneth Grahame (1859 – 1932) was a British writer. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, the 3rd of 4 children. In 1864, his mother died after giving birth to the youngest boy, and his father sent the 4 children to live in Berkshire, England, with their maternal grandmother who is described as ‘cold’ and ‘forbidding’. Apart from one brief attempt to live together, Kenneth never saw his father again. Kenneth Grahame is most famous for The Wind in the Willows (1908), one of the classics of children's literature. He also wrote The Reluctant Dragon. Both books were later adapted for stage and film, of which A. A. Milne's Toad of Toad Hall, based on part of The Wind in the Willows, was the first. Other adaptations include the Disney films The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad and The Reluctant Dragon. External Website

Blogs/Web Pages/Articles 10 Screwed Up Movie Orphans Spout 2011 10 Screwed Up Movie Orphans External Website

Authors U New portrait of Queen Victoria's African goddaughter unveiled ➝ Back to Top

Films/Videos Intimate Relations 1996 Intimate Relations is a (1996) Canadian-British film, starring Rupert Graves as Harold Guppey, Julie Walters as Marjorie Beaslie and Laura Sadler (1980-2003) as 14-year-old Joyce Beaslie. When Harold first appears in the film after leaving the Merchant Navy, he tells his brother Morris, who hasn’t seen him since he was a child that he was in Australia for a bit and had been travelling ever since he left the 'home'. Morris’ wife tells Harold that he’s not welcome in their lives - he’s just not the sort of person they want around their child. The viewer discovers Harold's father died when he was 10 years old and he was 'sent away' - about 1933 (presumably to Australia, which would make him one of the migrant children) as his mum couldn't cope with his 'unruly behaviour'. The film is a black comedy about a young man who has an affair with the middle-aged housewife he is lodging with. The film takes place in the 1950s in the suburbs of London and is based on the true story of Albert Goozee who killed his landlady and her daughter, and either was or became a paedophile. He was sentenced to death but had a reprieve days before on grounds that he had been "provoked beyond reason", and the sentence commuted to life imprisonment. He was diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia and detained at Broadmoor. After he was released, he went on to commit more crimes including at aged 73, the indecent assault of two girls aged 12 and 13. This brings into question why this disturbing film was made into a black comedy. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience Sins of the Father Sharon Bairden 2020 Lucas Findlay thinks he has struck gold when he marries Rebecca (who grew up in state care), but she married him for one reason only - to destroy him. Trauma runs deepWhen her past comes back to haunt her, Rebecca begins to disconnect from herself and the world around her. As secrets are unearthed, she begins to fear for her sanity ... and her life.Truth will outWith her world unravelling around her, Rebecca clings to her determination to make Lucas pay, whatever the cost.Forgive his sinsBut someone must pay for the sins of the father... External Website

Films/Videos Madame Web 2024 Madame Web is a 2024 American superhero film featuring the eponymous Marvel Comics character. It is the 4th film in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe and stars Dakota Johnson in the title role. Cassandra Web grew up in the foster care system. After she qualified as paramedic, she began working for the New York City Fire Department. During a dangerous call-out, Cassie has a near-death experience and realizes she can see into the future. Cassie intervenes to save the lives of 3 girls, who in turn save Cassie’s life. External Website

Television Shows Anh Do's Brush with Fame 2016 This Australian series features comedian Anh Do painting a portrait of his high-profile subject while conducting an interview with them. CEP who have been painted and interviewed by Anh Do include: Jack Charles, Kyle Sandlilands, Jack Charles, Sigrid Thornton, Saroo Brierley, Archie Roach, Jack Thompson & Layne Beachley External Website

Fiction by Care Experienced authors Man Who Lived Underground Richard Wright 2021 The Man Who Lived Underground was first submitted to Richard Wright's publisher in 1941, but was rejected, perhaps, one person suggests, because its "depiction of police brutality was "unbearable"". It is being published in 2021, and tells the story of an African American man who is coerced into confessing a crime he did not commit and then escapes to live underground in the sewer system. External Website

Television Shows Boy Swallows Universe (television series) 2024 In the adaptation of Trent Dalton’s 2019 novel, Boy Swallows Universe, significant Australian actor, Bryan Brown (b. 1947), plays the role of Slim Halliday, the ‘notorious crim’ who babysits and is a mentor for the protagonist 13-year-old Eli Bell (played by Felix Cameron). Halliday, also known as The Houdini of Bogo Road, was orphaned at age 12 and grew up in an Anglican orphanage. Convicted of killing a taxi-driver – which Slim long denied – Halliday was imprisoned in Brisbane’s infamous Boggo Road Gaol in 1952. Arthur ‘Slim’ Halliday was a family friend and always kind to Trent Dalton when he was growing up. He was also a wise man. Another character in Boy Swallows Universe who was orphaned as a child is Gary John Lawrence who becomes Lyle Orlik (Travis Fimmel). Lawrence was Trent Dalton’s stepfather and Lyle Orlike (played by Travis Fimmel) is Eli Bell’s stepfather in the book and television series. Gary John Lawrence was orphaned as a child, according to this Daily Mail Australia article. He was on the streets as a teenager and in gaol for the first time at age 20. In Boggo Road Gaol, Lawrence was highly regarded because he was head cook. “He was also known for having served the most time there without ever having been convicted of murder.” Lawrence taught himself to read while he was in prison. He’s remembered as a good stepfather to Trent Dalton and his brothers, as Lyle is in the television series. Gary Lawrence was released from prison for the last time in 2001. External Website

Television Shows The Golden Hour 2022 There are 2 men who were orphaned as children in the Dutch series, The Golden Hour (2022, Netflix). Both are from Afghanistan. One is a detective based in Amsterdam, the other is a terrorist. External Website

Authors G The Orphan in Fiction and Comics since the 19th Century ➝ Back to Top

Television Shows Bergerac 2025 Bergerac (2025) is a reboot of the eponymous police procedure that ran from 1981 until 1991. In this new series, a young woman has been murdered and, later, her baby abducted. The baby is quickly located and we find out she is an orphan and was adopted. Disturbingly, it is the baby’s adoptive father who makes a ransom demand for her return. *Spoiler alert* At the end of the series, the baby is being formally considered for adoption by the couple who originally took her from an environment they considered toxic. External Website

Actors Noel Tovey Aboriginal Australian actor, dancer, singer, director, choreographer and writer, Noel Tovey (b. 1934), was in a children’s home and foster care as a child. Noel was the 3rd of 5 children born into an impoverished family living in the inner-city suburb of Carlton, Melbourne. His mother, Winifred Ann Tovey, was Aboriginal and his father, Frederick Morton, was of African-Canadian-French-Creole heritage. When Noel was 6, their parents abandoned their children and the Welfare Authorities put them into the Royal Park Depot, and from there Noel was taken in by Arthur Challenger and his mother, who lived in Burren Junction, more than 600km north-west of Sydney. n 1954 Noel danced in Paint Your Wagon, which toured in Adelaide and Sydney. Later, Noel Tovey trained at the national Theatre Ballet School. Then in 1961, he was in London working as the principal dancer for the Sadler’s Wells Company. He also made his debut as a singer and choreographer in London, directing and choreographing numerous productions across Europe. While in London, Noel and his partner set up what became one of the top galleries in London, L’Odeon. Noel didn’t return to Australian until 1990. He set up a performing arts course and continued his work as a director. Little Black Bastard, Noel Tovel’s autobiography, was published in 2004 to critical acclaim. The one man play based on the book was also well received in Australia, at the Edinburgh Festival in 2010 and the London Origins Festival in 2011. Noel Tovey has served on the NSW Arts Council, the 2000 Olympic Arts Festival and the AIDS Trust of Australia, amongst others. He set up the Novel Tovey Scholarship Fund to assist those from disadvantaged backgrounds to attend the Flying Fruit Fly Circus, a leading youth arts company. External Website