Kate Fitzpatrick

Fitzpatrick was born in 1947 in Perth, Western Australia,^[3] the eldest of five siblings, to an artist mother and a geologist father, who travelled for nine months of each year doing geological mapping.^[4]

She grew up in the Adelaide suburb of Dover Gardens, where she developed her love for classical music, art and cricket. At the age of 14, she was among a group of art students selected by Jeffrey Smart ('Phidias' of the Argonauts Club) for a travelling art scholarship to Japan.^[4]

Fitzpatrick's father, disapproved of her interest in acting and sent her to a guidance counsellor who recommended she become a psychiatrist.^[4]

At the age of 18, Fitzpatrick was accepted as a drama student by NIDA and moved to Sydney.^[5] She graduated in 1967, and later returned to serve two terms on the board.^[3] She later studied an Arts degree.^[6]

Fitzpatrick's stage roles include The Lady of the Camellias, Hamlet, Celluloid Heroes, The Ride Across Lake Constance, Shadows of Blood, Rooted, Kennedy's Children. With the Old Tote Theatre Company she acted in The Legend of King O'Malley,^[3] The Season at Sarsaparilla,^[3] The Misanthrope, The Threepenny Opera,^[7] and Big Toys by Patrick White, who wrote the play for Fitzpatrick.^[3] She appeared in Visions for the Paris Theatre Company, and in The Recruiting Officer for the Melbourne Theatre Company. She played Magenta in the original Australian production of The Rocky Horror Show in 1974.^[7] In 2017, she appeared in Cabaret as Fraülein Schneider. She most recently toured Australia in Gas Light.^[7]

Fitzpatrick's film roles included appearances in Homesdale (1971),^[8] The Office Picnic (1972),^[8] Promised Woman (1975),^[8] The Great Macarthy (1975),^[8] The Removalists (1975),^[8] The Night Nurse (1977),^[8] police drama Goodbye Paradise (1983),^[8] superhero film The Return of Captain Invincible (1983),^[8] A World Apart (1988) and action thriller Heaven's Burning (1997).^[8] In 2025, she appeared in Renny Harlin's film, Deep Water.^[7]

Her early television appearances included Serpent in the Rainbow, Birds in the Bush,^[8] Certain Women,^[3] Rush,^[3] Ben Hall,^[3] Boney,^[3] and Homicide.^[3] Further television credits included Something in the Air,^[3] Scooter: Secret Agent,^[8] Blue Heelers,^[8] Marshall Law,^[9] Always Greener and All Saints.^[8] In 2006, Fitzpatrick briefly joined the cast of soap opera Neighbours^[9] in the role of Loris Timmins. In 2009, she appeared in Packed to the Rafters^[3] in a reprising guest role. In 2010, Fitzpatrick did a short film called Stay Awake and also appeared in the drama series Satisfaction.^[8]

In 1983, Fitzpatrick became the world's first female cricketing commentator on television, when she joined the Nine Network cricket commentating team, a gamble by Channel Nine to add a more female approach to the game and attract a larger audience. Allegedly, Fitzpatrick was not welcomed with open arms by the (until then) male bastion of cricket commentators, according to Angela Pippos.^[10] Nine's tactical move, in placing a female in a cricket commentator role, was not successful and Fitzpatrick didn't return for the following season.

Fitzpatrick has also performed numerous voiceover roles, including television commercials for brands such as Aldi, Moderna, Uber Reserve and Mazda.^[11]

Fitzpatrick is a published author, essayist, and humourist whose work has appeared in numerous major newspapers and journals over the last 30 years,^[12][13] including a column in The Sydney Morning Herald in the 1980s.^[14]

She has had three books published, including "Name Dropping" (2004) and "Air Mail" (2005).^[6] She was a political speech writer during the 1990s,^[6] spending four years working for the NSW Arts Minister.^[14] She has also worked as a florist.^[6]

Fitzpatrick was awarded the Queen’s Jubilee Medal for services to the theatre.^[6] Artist Florence Broadhurst painted her portrait for the Archibald Prize in 1975.^[6]

Fitzpatrick has a son named Joe Fitzpatrick with French architect José Albertini. Joe, an Australian commercial real estate professional, is well known in Sydney social circles. Before her marriage, she had a two-year close relationship with Imran Khan.^[4]

In her memoir "Name Dropping: An Incomplete Memoir", Fitzpatrick also recounts having had romantic relationships with actors Sam Neill and Jeremy Irons. She lived with barrister Charles Waterstreet, between 1978 and 1982, whom she took to court in 1996 for 'deceit and breach of contract', but lost the case. She declined eight offers of marriage, including one from Australian politician Tom Hughes when she was 29.^[4]

Fitzpatrick's memoir cites friendships with playwright Patrick White, prominent legal figure Michael McHugh, theatre director Jim Sharman, English former cricket captain Mike Brearley and actor Jack Nicholson. She also details feuds with Robyn Nevin (for whom she was bridesmaid at her wedding to playwright, Jim McNeill), Barbara Hershey and feminist Germaine Greer.^[4]