Judy Davis (b.1959), actor, launched her own international career with her performance as Sybylla in Gillian Armstrong's My Brilliant Career (1979). Her subsequent Australian films have included Heatwave (1981), Winter of Our Dreams (1981), Kangaroo (1986), Children of the Revolution (1996) and The Man Who Sued God (2001). Renowned for playing complex and edgy women, Davis has won many acting accolades and awards, including both an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her television performance as Judy Garland in 2001. In Hollywood, she has played major film roles in Barton Fink (1991), Naked Lunch (1992) and The Ref (1994); she is a favourite of Woody Allen, for whom she appeared in Husbands and Wives (1992) Deconstructing Harry (1997) and Celebrity (1998). Davis made her directorial debut for the Sydney Theatre Company with Barrymore (1999) and has since directed School for Scandal (2001).
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1998
© William Yang
Accession number: 1998.14
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On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves: who we read, who we watch, who we listen to, who we cheer for, who we aspire to be, and who we'll never forget. The Companion is available to buy online and in the Portrait Gallery Store.
An interview with photographer William Yang who recalls his encounters with the author Patrick White.
Over the last five years the National Portrait Gallery has developed a collection of portrait photographs that reflects both the strength and diversity of Australian achievement as well as the talents of our photographers.
William Yang's art is about the telling of stories, his work is an intriguing mixture of philosophy, autobiography, social history and documentary imbued with a sense of the artist's own curiosity, humanity and humour
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