This biography is republished from The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia. Written by Kathryn Mcleod, National Film and Sound Archive. See below for full attribution.
Born: 20 August 1938, Australia
Died: 15 July 1998
Country most active: Australia
Also known as: NA
Amber Mae Cecil was born in 1938 to two of Australia’s best known radio figures, actress Rosalind Kennerdale and senior producer for the ABC, Lawrence H Cecil. She made her radio debut at 12 years of age in a Grace Gibson production called Night Beat. The talented young actress was cast in her first lead role at the age of 13 in the ABC radio play Lace on Her Petticoat.
At 15, Cecil left school to co-star in the popular family comedy, Life with Dexter. The radio show was recorded live each week before an audience at 2GB and Cecil continued in the role for 11 years. By the age of 18 she was in constant demand as one of Australia’s leading radio stars. During the 1950s, Cecil played the lead in the radio serial Life Can be Beautiful, and had an ongoing role in the serial Doctor Paul. She played one of the Macarthur twins in Blue Hills until 1976 and later starred in several Shakespeare radio plays broadcast by ABC radio. She died in 1998.
Work cited
Kathryn Mcleod, ‘Cecil, Amber Mae’, in The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia, Australian Women’s Archives Project, 2014, https://www.womenaustralia.info/leaders/biogs/WLE0295b.htm, accessed 16 January 2022.