I’M BUSIER THAN I’VE EVER BEEN
Just as Alf Stewart formed an instant bond with his first wife Martha 50 years ago, so did the actors who portray them, Ray Meagher and Belinda Giblin. As Belinda, now back in the Bay, reveals, she and Ray are lifelong pals.
ON THEIR FIRST MEETING
“I’ve known Ray since I was 21,” she tells New Idea. “I was doing a play in Queensland and Ray was there on opening night. He kind of rocked up and said ‘G’day!’ and we’ve been friends ever since. “It’s really lovely working with Ray. We’re like Porgy and Bess. It’s so comfortable, so it’s really like coming back home. He’s an absolute gentleman and a very empathetic and generous actor. We also make each other laugh an awful lot. He’s like a big
brother.”
ON HER LAST STINT IN THE BAY AS MARTHA
“The last time Martha came back, Alf wanted nothing to do with her,” she explains. “Roo [Georgie Parker] told her to leave, but now she has decided to come back again as Alf rang her. She wants to heal things because she couldn’t bear to leave them as they were. And so, there is the possibility of a relationship between Alf and Martha again.”
ON REKINDLING ROMANCE WITH ALF
“I have to say the writers have done it very delicately. Ray and I are mates, so it’s certainly not a huge effort for us to get along. We just do.”
ON INCLUDING MORE SENIOR CHARACTERS
“I said to the writers after the first stint, ‘You’ve got to provide for the grey nomads here!’,” she says. “The young ones in the show are wonderful – dedicated, committed actors – I have a lot of respect for them all. But we also need to provide something for my demographic. Life is vigorous and vibrant for us, too.”
ON HER LIFE AWAY FROM SHOWBIZ
Happily married for decades to set designer Axel Bartz, Belinda’s life away from the Bay is wonderfully full. As well as being one of our busiest TV and theatre actors, the star is in demand as a corporate trainer – when she’s not spending time, that is, with her family including her two young grandchildren.
“My grandchildren Oliver and Mia are aged 7 and 5,” says Belinda. “I’m very proud of my family and I love being a grandmother. We talk a lot – my grandchildren and I – and we have what is known as ‘chat room’ where we tell stories and anecdotes.
“I’m pretty blessed,” she smiles. “The thing about me is I live from day to day. I don’t live in the past much and I don’t look into the future a lot. I just go ‘Right – here’s a new day. What’s going to happen?’ I’m an optimist and I always have been.”