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Jeanne Little: I'm Fine Daaahlings!

Beloved showbiz ‘daaahling’ Jeanne Little has finally hung up her fluttering false eyelashes and outrageous outfits after 36 years because, she says, she’s been shattering Aussie eardrums long enough!



Contrary to recent reports, the star is not frail nor is she on her deathbed, although she readily admits: ‘My memory isn’t what it used to be.’
The truth is that these days the zany personality – who nearly lost her husband Barry last year – prefers to lead a quiet life. Literally.
‘Darling it’s true – I’ve got a voice that’s been peeling paint and cracking plaster for way too many years,’ she jokes. ‘It’s been a wonderful run, every moment has been a dream and a scream; I’ve had an absolute ball. But, honestly, I don’t want to be one of those tired old “stars” who never knows when to bow out gracefully.’
Her decision to retire was made all the easier when Barry, her devoted sidekick of nearly
40 years, suffered a sudden, still-unexplained and near-fatal health crisis early last year.
‘His poor knees were giving out on him. We’re not getting any younger, darling, and those four flights of stairs at our old Paddington [Sydney] house were killers,’ Jeanne explains.
‘So we sold the house, Barry had his knees replaced and there was a terrible complication during surgery. He nearly didn’t make it.’
The stress of the situation preyed on her mind, and she started suffering from minor memory problems. The thought of losing her partner – the love of her life – was beyond painful.
‘Thank God Barry recovered and we’ve adjusted our lives accordingly – including getting rid of thousands of my crazy frocks and shoes,’ she laughs, recovering her customary bounce.
‘We had rooms full of costumes from my TV and stage career, and last year they were all packed
off to St Vincent de Paul. Darling, Vinnies must have become an instant drag queen’s paradise!’
Today Jeanne and Barry, a former interior designer, are content to be doting grandparents to Tom and Charlotte Little Poulson, aged five and three.
‘People say to me: “Oh Jeanne, can you believe you’re a grandmother?” I say I just have to look at myself in the mirror and I should have been one years ago!’ she shrieks.
‘Tom and Charlotte are absolutely adorable tornados of energy, they call Barry and me “Bar Bar” and “Ninny”, and now that we’ve retired it means there’s plenty of time for family. It’s beautiful,’ Jeanne says.
‘Truth is, I’m probably a terrible grandmother because when [our daughter] Katie and her husband Tim have us over to look after the kids, I’ve always got a sneaky packet of Tim Tams in my handbag. Katie tries to keep the kids healthy, and here I am undoing all her wonderful work!’
Despite having called it quits, showbiz is still running in Jeanne’s family with Tom following in his famous grandma’s footsteps. He’s learning piano, had singing and dancing lessons, recently signed on with a theatrical agent and he’s just landed his first gig – a commercial for the Disney Channel.
‘It’s wonderful, I’m fully supportive and who knows, Tom may well be the next Hugh Jackman – although they’re big shoes to fill as Hugh is just so wonderful and so wonderfully talented,’ says Jeanne, who first burst onto the showbiz scene in a kaleidoscope of colour, crazy frocks and that unmistakable voice totally by accident and was an instant hit with TV viewers.
‘Darling, I was eight-and-a-half months pregnant with our daughter Katie – it was back
in 1974, I’d just opened a small boutique making wild pregnancy smocks with elephants and
things sewn on, I appeared in a newspaper with my designs when The Mike Walsh Show rang and asked if I’d model my creations on the show. I thought wow, the publicity might kick my failing little dress business along, so I jumped at the chance.’ Jeanne says she’d never seen the show and didn’t really know what Mike looked like. And that’s where the fun began.
‘It was a blur. I’d glued on some huge eyelashes to make a splash. The taxi came, I grabbed a pile of outrageous smocks, I’m sitting next to Mike Walsh and I say: “Hello darling!” And he says: “Hello darling.” And I thought: “He’s so camp. Is this Mike Walsh?” Well it turns out Mike was away and John Michael Howson was hosting the show.‘John Michael and I still laugh ourselves silly over that crazy day. He thought they’d put on a drag queen with a pillow under her dress, and I thought: “How outrageous is Mike Walsh?! He’s camper than me,”’ says Jeanne, roaring with laughter.
The phones at the TV station went wild, everyone wanted to know who that woman with the extraordinary voice was, and it was the start of an amazing career.
Jeanne went on to win three Logies, was awarded the Order of Australia for her charity work and was a guest on the high-rating Michael Parkinson Show.
She also wrote several books, appeared in a string of hit musicals before starring in her own sell-out, one-woman shows, paying tribute to Marlene Dietrich and Marilyn Monroe.
‘Jeanne’s the most exceptional person,’ Barry says.
‘She’s always been so fabulously original and she’s proven she can handle it all.’
Jeanne’s daughter Katie, a graphic designer, recalls her zany mother racing from the TV studio to pick her up at school, always wearing some outrageous outfit like purple hotpants and matching purple wig.
‘Everyone at my school would literally lean out of the windows to see what my mum would be wearing. I would shrink with embarrassment. I was forever being asked if Jeanne Little really speaks like that, and no-one would believe me when I said: “Yes, from the moment she gets out of bed!”’ Katie laughs.
Jeanne reckons her life has always been extraordinary. She says she developed her unusual voice when her father dropped her on her head when she was a tot – and swears she was taken by aliens from her Sydney bedroom when she was in her teens (and luckily returned).
‘People think I’m crazy, but that’s just me,’ she says, settled comfortably into her quieter, simpler retirement.
‘We don’t have a lot of showbiz friends anymore,’ Barry says.
‘Truth be told, many can be frightful bores. We’ve always loved travelling, and right now we’re looking at taking a luxury cruise somewhere exotic.’