Barbara Llewellyn

Barbara Llewellyn was born into show business. Her father John was an actor and her mother owned and operated the top theatrical agency in Sydney. At the age of five Barbara won the 'Jack Davey Radio Show' talent contest. Two years later she became an Australian icon by starring in the now famous 'Aeroplane Jelly' television commercial. She mimed the well-known Aeroplane Jelly jingle and was ever after identified as The Girl on the Swing. Barbara's childhood and early teenage years were filled with work in commercials, documentaries, films such as 'The Sundowners' and theatre, including the original Sydney production of The Sound of Music. At 17 she was accepted into NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Arts) and while there she performed in numerous stage productions, graduating in 1971. She starred in Seven Little Australians and was a regular in 'Class of '74' and 'Class of '75', 'Young Ramsay', 'Matlock Police', 'The Box' and other now classic Australian TV shows. She became a secret star of the international hit 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' when she provided the voice of school girl Edith, played by Christine Schuller. A role kept secret for over 30 years, she also provided the voice for other school girls in the movie, background chatter and poetry recitations heard in the movie. Barbara Llewellyn now lives in Queensland with her husband Rod Kirkham. As a child he was one of the six original cast members of 'Young Talent Time' and went on to become an actor in his own right. Rod and Barbara met on the set of 'The Box' where they became a couple, marrying in 1978. Barbara is the director of Bright Light Multimedia and continues writing, performing and publishing. She writes songs with a special focus, at the moment children's lullabies, and maintains her Bright Light Café website to which she is looking at adding an online radio channel to further promote her work and those of her stable of authors. She has also written a novel about life after death titled 'Letters to Michael', which is the first in her series on that subject.