Jann Knijnenburg
Encyclopedia
Jann Knijnenburg (21 March 1938 – 28 February 2010) was an Australian stage
actor
and model
and matriarch of a theatrical family.
. Her striking beauty almost destined her for a career in modelling
and acting
, and at one time she performed on the stage with actors such as Barry Otto
and John Stanton in the pioneering days of Brisbane theatre. She had trained as a librarian after graduating from All Hallows School
in 1955, but became involved in a succession of beauty pageants in the 1950s including the Miss Australia
Quest. Her second cousin was etiquette
and modelling
luminary June Dally Watkins.
to make her fortune. She spurned lodging at the Australian expat enclave of Earls Court
, opting to live in the theatrical area Gerards Cross. Her neighbours and friends included Margaret Rutherford
, the British character actress best known for her portrayal of Miss Marple
. After turning her back on the catwalk and the stage
she worked in a number of high-powered jobs with Hallmark Cards, Schweppes and IBM, where she handled public relations, before landing the plum position of publicity at Australia House
. Part of the job description involved planning functions and entertaining VIP guests, which on one memorable occasion in 1963 included The Beatles
. The eldest of bank manager James Maguire Freeman and Clarice Maud Freeman's four children had come a long way.
and begin a new career as a suburban mum. Appie was training as a engineer in those days . Jann fell in love with him . They were engaged within weeks. While meeting Appie's parents in Holland the couple learned that if they were married for a year they would be eligible for a migration bonus designed to lure Europeans to Australia. So, discussing the matter, they decided to immediately marry in Appie's home town Wassenaar
. Upon returning to London
and their separate apartments, they went back to their old jobs until they could arrange a big church wedding.
and Nicholas. Despite the challenges of caring for three children under the age of three, and the cultural shock of adjusting to life as a suburban Brisbane
mum, she embarked on what became a lifelong fascination with antiques
. At the time of her death Jann was well known and respected as an expert in various areas of antiques including jewellery
, porcelain
and dolls. Life was almost perfect, marred only by the heartbreaking loss of several babies until a fourth boy, Michael, was born in 1974 at the height of the devastating Brisbane floods.
Jann had been raised as a Catholic and later in life became heavily involved with the church. She put her Christian
ideals into practice by taking dozens of troubled individuals under her wing.
, a rare and incurable abdominal cancer.
Undeterred, after she was diagnosed she and Appie decided to make the most of their remaining time together and went on a series of cruises, travelling to Tasmania
, New Zealand
and the Pacific islands. They stopped only when it became clear that Jann would be unable to make any more journeys. Jann also maintained her interest in the arts, recording a voice-over for a short film just weeks before she died.
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
and matriarch of a theatrical family.
Early life
As a young woman Jann Freeman led a glamorous life a world away from the safe suburban upbringing she had enjoyed in BrisbaneBrisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
. Her striking beauty almost destined her for a career in modelling
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
and acting
Acting
Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....
, and at one time she performed on the stage with actors such as Barry Otto
Barry Otto
Barry Otto is an Australian actor with a long list of memorable roles on stage and in film. Otto received an AFI Award for Best Supporting Actor in Strictly Ballroom as well as being nominated for Bliss, Cosi and The More Things Change......
and John Stanton in the pioneering days of Brisbane theatre. She had trained as a librarian after graduating from All Hallows School
All Hallows' School
All Hallows' School is a Catholic day school for girls, located close to the central business district of Brisbane, Queensland.Founded in 1861, the school follows in the tradition of the Irish Sisters of Mercy, and caters for over 1,300 girls from years five to 12...
in 1955, but became involved in a succession of beauty pageants in the 1950s including the Miss Australia
Miss Australia
Miss Australia is the title for the winner of the Miss Australia Quest/Awards, which ran from 1954 until 2000, when the last Miss Australia was named....
Quest. Her second cousin was etiquette
Etiquette
Etiquette is a code of behavior that delineates expectations for social behavior according to contemporary conventional norms within a society, social class, or group...
and modelling
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
luminary June Dally Watkins.
Career
Then, in 1961, like so many other young Australians at the time, she travelled to the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
to make her fortune. She spurned lodging at the Australian expat enclave of Earls Court
Earls Court
Earls Court is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It is an inner-city district centred on Earl's Court Road and surrounding streets, located 3.1 miles west south-west of Charing Cross. It borders the sub-districts of South Kensington to the East, West...
, opting to live in the theatrical area Gerards Cross. Her neighbours and friends included Margaret Rutherford
Margaret Rutherford
Dame Margaret Taylor Rutherford DBE was an English character actress, who first came to prominence following World War II in the film adaptations of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest...
, the British character actress best known for her portrayal of Miss Marple
Miss Marple
Jane Marple, usually referred to as Miss Marple, is a fictional character appearing in twelve of Agatha Christie's crime novels and in twenty short stories. Miss Marple is an elderly spinster who lives in the village of St. Mary Mead and acts as an amateur detective. She is one of the most famous...
. After turning her back on the catwalk and the stage
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
she worked in a number of high-powered jobs with Hallmark Cards, Schweppes and IBM, where she handled public relations, before landing the plum position of publicity at Australia House
Australia House
The High Commission of Australia in London is housed in Australia House, a building that also accommodates other Australian federal and state government agencies, including the Menzies Centre for Australian Studies, part of King's College London....
. Part of the job description involved planning functions and entertaining VIP guests, which on one memorable occasion in 1963 included The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
. The eldest of bank manager James Maguire Freeman and Clarice Maud Freeman's four children had come a long way.
Married life
But during her time in London she met a handsome young Dutchman on a blind date, Albert (Appie) Knijnenburg, something which was to see her return to AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and begin a new career as a suburban mum. Appie was training as a engineer in those days . Jann fell in love with him . They were engaged within weeks. While meeting Appie's parents in Holland the couple learned that if they were married for a year they would be eligible for a migration bonus designed to lure Europeans to Australia. So, discussing the matter, they decided to immediately marry in Appie's home town Wassenaar
Wassenaar
Wassenaar is a town in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. A fairly affluent suburb of The Hague, Wassenaar lies 10 km north of that city on the N44 highway near the North Sea coast. It is part of the Haaglanden region...
. Upon returning to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and their separate apartments, they went back to their old jobs until they could arrange a big church wedding.
Australia
The Knijnenburgs then set sail for Brisbane aboard the liner Aurelia, arriving in 1965. The first of four sons, Johannes (Hans), soon arrived on the scene, followed in quick succession by DavidDavid Knijnenburg
David Albertus Trelawney Knijnenburg is an Australian stage, television and film actor, best known for playing Alfred Hitchcock in his stage production Hitchcock & Herrmann and in assorted roles in Twelfth Night Theatre's numerous stage adaptations of classic BBC television series such as Dad's...
and Nicholas. Despite the challenges of caring for three children under the age of three, and the cultural shock of adjusting to life as a suburban Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
mum, she embarked on what became a lifelong fascination with antiques
Antiques
An antique is an old collectible item. It is collected or desirable because of its age , beauty, rarity, condition, utility, personal emotional connection, and/or other unique features...
. At the time of her death Jann was well known and respected as an expert in various areas of antiques including jewellery
Jewellery
Jewellery or jewelry is a form of personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.With some exceptions, such as medical alert bracelets or military dog tags, jewellery normally differs from other items of personal adornment in that it has no other purpose than to...
, porcelain
Porcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
and dolls. Life was almost perfect, marred only by the heartbreaking loss of several babies until a fourth boy, Michael, was born in 1974 at the height of the devastating Brisbane floods.
Jann had been raised as a Catholic and later in life became heavily involved with the church. She put her Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
ideals into practice by taking dozens of troubled individuals under her wing.
Later life and death
In her last years Jann contracted pseudomyxoma peritoneiPseudomyxoma peritonei
Pseudomyxoma Peritonei is an uncommon tumor known for its production of mucin in the abdominal cavity. If left untreated, mucin will eventually build up to the point where it compresses vital structures: the colon, the liver, kidneys,stomach, spleen, pancreas, etc.Unlike most cancers, this disease...
, a rare and incurable abdominal cancer.
Undeterred, after she was diagnosed she and Appie decided to make the most of their remaining time together and went on a series of cruises, travelling to Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and the Pacific islands. They stopped only when it became clear that Jann would be unable to make any more journeys. Jann also maintained her interest in the arts, recording a voice-over for a short film just weeks before she died.