Romper Room favourite Miss Helena still gets recognised wherever she goes. It’s not just her immaculate blonde hair, irrepressible sense of fun or that unmistakable voice.
“I was in the supermarket the other day, reaching to get something off the shelf, and somebody recognised my hands, although they’re old and scraggy now,” laughs the children’s TV legend. “I get noticed in the strangest places!”
THE NEXT GEN
Her enduring fame could soon spread to a whole new generation of fans. Having survived a bout with breast cancer and the death of her beloved husband – veteran weatherman Mike Bailey – in 2021, Miss Helena is ready to work again.
“My mother always said, ‘Don’t grow old and rust,’ so I’m very happy to be present and doing things,” says the vibrant mother-of-four and grandmother-of-two. “What’s the choice? I’m open to what life brings.”
She won’t be dating online, seeking out old boyfriends or, heaven forbid, appearing on The Golden Bachelor. “My daughter says men always want younger women,” jokes the 78-year-old. “Someone would have to be in their late 90s to be interested in me!”
But the former schoolteacher – and still proud owner of Romper Room’s mighty Magic Mirror – has now joined an innovative talent agency dedicated to giving evergreen actors and celebrities a new lease on life.
Helena is in good company. Gold Logie icons Rowena Wallace and Tony Barber have also signed up with The Publicity Arm’s Retro Talent Division, together with AFI Award nominee Peta Toppano, Sale Of The Century’s Victoria Nicolls and a galaxy of other stars, like popular host Craig Bennett and Home And Away’s Ryan Clarke and Kristy Wright.
“Stay tuned for the next exciting adventure,” chuckles Victoria who first became a household name playing lovable Raeleen Archer on 1970s soap The Restless Years. “It’s great to be represented by people who really know me, know what I’m capable of. I don’t have to explain myself or where I come from.”
Right now she’s coming from the NSW south coast, where she’s become a familiar figure to locals since moving from Sydney earlier this year. “I’m just in love with the countryside, the sunsets, the mist, the blankets of cockatoos, the Great Dividing Range in the distance…
LIFE OFF SCREEN
“I sing to the cows at the bottom of my garden,” chortles Victoria, whose zany National Panasonic adverts charmed Australian viewers in the 1980s. “When it rains the river rises, so I have a waterfront view. And the people are lovely.
“Sometimes they give a double take when they see me, but they don’t do anything. They just smile nicely. It happened in Woolworths recently. I was wearing a big orange shirt, my spy shirt, so nobody would notice me coming!”
Like Helena, the avid home renovator is excited to get back on screen. And of course she has a few ideas of her own. “I’d like to do a bag lady role,” says the proud mum of two daughters. “Or a retired detective who’s brought back for a case she could never solve in the past because she was ignored.”
Maria Grande, who co-founded The Retro Agency with longtime show business publicist and media agent Stephen Moriarty, has spent years organising fan events featuring veteran cast members from shows like Prisoner, Neighbours and Sons And Daughters.
Many were struggling to find acting work. Being older and less tech-savvy, it was often difficult for them to supply new self-filmed audition clips as required – some fell victim to unscrupulous rip-offs.
“Honestly, there were horror stories that broke my heart,” says Melbourne-based Maria, 57, who studied performance with Tony Bartuccio and The National Theatre. “Everyone thinks retro means old, but it doesn’t. It’s a classic revisited. And that’s what we are aiming to do with wonderful artists who have contributed so much to the entertainment industry, and still have so much to offer.”
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