Ilona Rodgers | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ilona Jeanette Rodgers 28 April 1942 Harrogate, West Riding of Yorkshire, England |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1962–present |
Ilona Jeannette Rodgers (born 28 April 1942) is an actress of stage, television and film. Born in Harrogate, West Riding of Yorkshire, where she started her career, she later went on to appear in New Zealand and Australian productions.
Rodgers has also worked in American productions including Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Power Rangers
Rodgers, a native of Yorkshire, trained in both Bristol and Surrey, starting her career on the stage. Breakthrough roles came in British television, including Carol in The Sensorites, a six-episode adventure in the BBC science-fiction series Doctor Who.[1] She also acted in an adaptation of Martin Chuzzlewit, and made guest appearances in The Avengers and Adam Adamant Lives!. She had a guest role in America in The Beverly Hillbillies[2][3] and The Saint. Her final British screen credit was an episode of Paul Temple in 1970, before she emigrated to New Zealand.[4]
Rodgers first lived in New Zealand from 1973, appearing in soap opera Close to Home and successful goldmining drama Hunter's Gold (retitled Scott Hunter in some territories).
Between 1978 and the mid-1980s she lived in Australia. There, she appeared in television programmes The Sullivans, over 200 episodes of Sons and Daughters (as Patricia Hamilton's sister, Margaret Dunne) and the 1985 Australian miniseries Anzacs (as Lady Thea Barrington), as well as nine episodes of Prisoner in 1983 as character Zara Moonbeam, an imprisoned medium who claimed to have clairvoyant powers.
After relocating back to New Zealand, her work included medical soap Shortland Street and presenting duties on a light entertainment and advertorial program called Good Morning.
Rodger's best-known role in New Zealand is probably TV series Gloss. She starred in Gloss for three seasons, from 1987 to 1990, playing bossy magazine editor Maxine Redfern. The series was about a fictional publishing empire run by the Redfern family.[5] Rodgers played the Australian wife of New Zealand comedian Billy T. James in the final, sitcom version of The Billy T James Show (1990).
Her stage work has included the one-woman play Shirley Valentine,[6] By Degrees written by Roger Hall, and Three Tall Women by Edward Albee.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Salt and Pepper | Marianne Renaud | |
| 1968 | Snow Treasure | Bente Nielsen | |
| 1984 | Utu | Emily Williamson | |
| 2009 | I'm Not Harry Jenson | Margaret | |
| 2011 | Rest for the Wicked | Esther | |
| 2013 | Chloe | Jen | Short |
| 2015 | Syrenia | Nanna Mary |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1962–1964 | Emergency – Ward 10 | Nurse Sarah Smith | Recurring role |
| 1963 | The Human Jungle | First Nurse | "Over and Out" |
| 1963 | ITV Play of the Week | Caroline Campbell | "Conspiracy of Silence" |
| 1963 | The Avengers | Receptionist | "Six Hands Across a Table" |
| 1964 | Martin Chuzzlewit | Mary Graham | TV miniseries |
| 1964 | Doctor Who | Carol Richmond | "The Sensorites" (6 episodes) |
| 1966 | Adam Adamant Lives! | Susan | "The Terribly Happy Embalmers" |
| 1967 | This Man Craig | Violette Johns | "You Can Choose Your Friends" |
| 1967 | The Avengers | Samantha Slade | "The Bird Who Knew Too Much" |
| 1967 | The Saint | Mary | "A Double in Diamonds" |
| 1967 | Thirty-Minute Theatre | Judy | "The Wake" |
| 1967 | Theatre 625 | Angiolina Zarri | "As a Man Grows Older" |
| 1968 | Theatre 625 | The Baroness | "The Pistol Shot" |
| 1968 | The Beverly Hillbillies | Sandra MacGregor | "Coming Through the Rye" |
| 1968 | Sherlock Holmes | Rachel Carey | "Black Peter" |
| 1968 | ITV Playhouse | Sally | "Premiere: Foxhole in Bayswater" |
| 1969 | ITV Playhouse | Judy | "Murder: When Robin Was a Boy" |
| 1969 | Dr. Finlay's Casebook | Kathrin Soutar | "The Visitation" |
| 1969 | Barrister at Law | Jane Paston | TV film |
| 1970 | Strange Report | Beth | "Swindle - Square Root of Evil" |
| 1970 | Paul Temple | Nancy | "Swan Song for Colonel Harp" |
| 1975 | Close to Home | Vivian | Soap Opera |
| 1975 | Winners and Losers | Katherine | "The Woman at the Store" |
| 1976 | The Sullivans | Kate Meredith | TV series |
| 1977 | Hunter's Gold | Molly Grogan | TV series |
| 1977 | Colour Scheme | Ursula Harme | TV film |
| 1978 | Died in the Wool | Ursula Harme | TV film |
| 1978 | Gather Your Dreams | Aunt | TV series |
| 1978 | Child's Play | "Rumpelstiltskin" | |
| 1981 | Outbreak of Love | Marcia Rockingham | TV film |
| 1982 | Sara Dane | Julia Ryder | TV film |
| 1982 | 1915 | Mrs. Reilly | TV miniseries |
| 1983 | Prisoner | Zara Moonbeam | Recurring role (series 5) |
| 1983 | Silent Reach | Patty Mountford | TV miniseries |
| 1983–84 | Sons and Daughters | Margaret Dunne | Main role (series 2) |
| 1984 | Special Squad | Helen Anderson | "Until Death" |
| 1985 | Anzacs | Lady Thea Barrington | TV miniseries |
| 1987 | Gloss | Maxine Redfern | Main role |
| 1988 | The Far Country | Jane Armitage | TV film |
| 1989 | Night of the Red Hunter | Jill Piper | TV series |
| 1990 | The Billy T James Show | Thelma | TV series |
| 1990–1992 | The New Adventures of Black Beauty | Hilda Burton | Main role (series 1) |
| 1992 | Marlin Bay | Charlotte Kincaid | TV series |
| 1995 | Riding High | Mrs. Harrington | "1.37", "1.47", "1.48" |
| 1995 | Hercules: The Legendary Journeys | Queen Camilla | "The Festival of Dionsyus" |
| 1997 | Hercules: The Legendary Journeys | Queen Euriana | "Long Live the King" |
| 1998 | City Life | Beverley Gribble | "1.19" |
| 2003–2005 | Shortland Street | Ngaire Thompson | TV series |
| 2006 | Maddigan's Quest | Gabrielle | "Off the Map" |
| 2016 | Power Rangers Dino Charge | G-Ma Betty | "Catching Some Rays" |
| 2016 | Dirty Laundry | Nana Pat | Regular role |
| 2018 | Westside | Season 4 episode | |
| 2018 | The Brokenwood Mysteries | Mrs McTavish | Series 5 |
| 2018 | The Bad Seed | Barbara Cole | |
| 2020 | Power Rangers Beast Morphers | Stacy | "Goin’ Ape" |