Evadne Price: Difference between revisions
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| name = Evadne Price Fletcher Attiwill |
| name = Evadne Price Dabelstein Fletcher Attiwill |
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| image = Evadne Price at work.jpg |
| image = Evadne Price at work.jpg |
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| pseudonym = Evadne Price,<br>Helen Zenna Smith |
| pseudonym = Evadne Price,<br>Helen Zenna Smith |
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| birth_name = Eva |
| birth_name = Eva Grace Price |
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| birth_date = |
| birth_date = {{birth date|1888|8|28|df=yes}} |
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| birth_place = Merewether, |
| birth_place = [[Merewether, New South Wales]], [[Australia]] |
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| death_date = {{ |
| death_date = {{death date and age|1985|04|17|1888|8|28|df=y}} |
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| death_place = [[Sydney]], [[Australia]] |
| death_place = [[Sydney]], [[Australia]] |
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| resting_place = |
| resting_place = |
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| occupation = [[actress, writer]] |
| occupation = [[actress]], [[writer]] |
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| language = [[English language|English]] |
| language = [[English language|English]] |
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| nationality = Australian |
| nationality = [[Australia|Australian]]-[[United Kingdom|British]] |
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| ethnicity = |
| ethnicity = |
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| citizenship = |
| citizenship = |
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| movement = |
| movement = |
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| notableworks = [[Not So Quiet: Stepdaughters of War]] |
| notableworks = [[Not So Quiet: Stepdaughters of War]] |
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| spouse = 1: Henry A. Dabelstein |
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| partner = |
| partner = |
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| children = |
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'''Evadne Price''', née ''Eva Grace Price'' (b. 28 August 1888 in [[Merewether, New South Wales]], [[Australia]] - d. 17 April 1985 in [[Sydney]], [[Australia]]), was an [[Australia|Australian]]-[[United Kingdom|British]] [[writer]], actress, [[astrologer]] and media personality. She also wrote under the pseudonym '''Helen Zenna Smith'''. |
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She became famous for her many [[romance novel]]s, most of which were serialised in the national newspapers, as well as her [[ |
She became famous for her many [[romance novel]]s, most of which were serialised in the national newspapers, as well as her [[children's literature|children's books]] starring the popular character [[Jane Turpin]]. She also published an occasional astrology column for [[SHE magazine]], and is now best remembered for her semi-biographical World War I novel ''Not So Quiet: Stepdaughters of War'', a feminist reprise to ''[[All Quiet on the Western Front]]''. In Germany she'd been compared to Adrienne Thomas, whose book, ''Katrin becomes a soldier'' was published in 1930. She was a vice-president of the [[Romantic Novelists' Association]]. |
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==Biography== |
==Biography== |
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===Birth and |
===Birth and first marriage=== |
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Fiction abounds in the autobiographical details supplied by own Evadne Price. There is considerable evidence that she was born '''Eva Grace Price''' on 28 August 1888 in Merewether, New South Wales, Australia (NSW Registry of BDM cert. no. 1888/032162). Daugther of British parents, her father, Jonathan Dixon Price, was a miner. In "SHE Stargazes" she gives her birth date as 28 August (p.82). There is no genealogical evidence to support her claim that she was born at sea c. 1896 (National Union Catalogue) or her later claim to have been born in England c. 1901. Acording her, she lied about her age, when her father died, and she went on stage to support herself and travel alone to England. |
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⚫ | The article "Newcastle Girl is Film Writer" (''Newcastle Morning Herald'', 20 June 1939, p.6) reports that Evadne Price/Helen Zenna Smith was born in Merewether and attended the Junction School in Merewether. She was probably also the Eva G. Price who attended the West Maitland Public School for Girls in 1902 and the Largs Public School in 1903. She performed in the end-of-year school concerts at these establishments, giving recitations (as reported in the ''Maitland Daily Mercury''). |
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Fiction abounds in the autobiographical details supplied by Evadne Price. There is no genealogical evidence to support her claim that she was born at sea c.1896 or her later claim to have been born in England c. 1901. There is considerable evidence that she was born Eva Grace Price on 28 August 1888 in Merewether, NSW (NSW Registry of BDM cert. no. 1888/032162). Eva's father, Jonathan Dixon Price, was a miner. |
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In "SHE Stargazes" Evadne gives her birth date as 28 August (p.82). |
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The article "Newcastle Girl is Film Writer" (''Newcastle Morning Herald'', 20 June 1939, p.6) reports that Evadne Price/Helen Zenna Smith was born in Merewether and outlines her career to that date. |
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Early Years |
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⚫ | By 1914 Eva Price was touring the English Provinces playing minor roles (''Nottingham Evening Post'', 10 Feb. 1914, p.3). In 1916, as her acting career blossomed, she changed "Eva" to the more evocative "Evadne" (''Derby Daily Telegraph'', 21 March 1916 p.2). Her acting career ended c. 1920 and she turned to journalism. She wrote a column for the ''Sunday Chronicle'' and other newspapers. |
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Evadne's acting career ended c. 1920 and she turned to journalism. She wrote a column for the ''Sunday Chronicle'' and other newspapers. |
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Second Marriage |
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Third Marriage |
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===Journalism and the war=== |
===Journalism and the war=== |
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===Romance novel author=== |
===Romance novel author=== |
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Evadne Price was a very successful romance novelist and also wrote some [[romance novel]]s under the pseudonym Helen Zenna Smith. Some of her books were serialized in the weekly British weekly ''The People''. Several hundred of her novels were serialized in the ''[[Novel (magazine)|Novel]]'' magazine |
Evadne Price was a very successful romance novelist and also wrote some [[romance novel]]s under the pseudonym Helen Zenna Smith. Some of her books were serialized in the weekly British weekly ''The People''. Several hundred of her novels were serialized in the ''[[Novel (magazine)|Novel]]'' magazine. She was a vice-president of the [[Romantic Novelists' Association]].<ref name="PastRNAOfficers">{{Citation|title=Past RNA Officers|url=http://www.rna-uk.org/index.php?page=pastofficers}}</ref> |
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===Playwright and screenwriter=== |
===Playwright and screenwriter=== |
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Price's career as a romance novelist took her into playwriting, radio scriptwriting and screenwriting. Her play ''Big Ben'', written for the [[The Malvern Festival (1929-1939)|Malvern Festival]] in 1939, was a successful one (''[[The Times (London)|The Times]]'' called it "a large, comfortable play with a soul to call its own"). ''The Phantom Light'' (1937) was a stage version of her novel, ''The Haunted Light''. The play was also made into a film starring [[Gordon Harker]]. ''Once a Crook'' (1939) - a play which was co-written by Price and her husband |
Price's career as a romance novelist took her into playwriting, radio scriptwriting and screenwriting. Her play ''Big Ben'', written for the [[The Malvern Festival (1929-1939)|Malvern Festival]] in 1939, was a successful one (''[[The Times (London)|The Times]]'' called it "a large, comfortable play with a soul to call its own"). ''The Phantom Light'' (1937) was a stage version of her novel, ''The Haunted Light''. The play was also made into a film starring [[Gordon Harker]]. ''Once a Crook'' (1939) - a play which was co-written by Price and her husband Ken Attiwill, was also both a play and a film. She also acted in the movie ''[[Trouble with Junia]]'' (1967) in the minor part of Miss Hallyday beside her husband Ken Attiwill. |
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===Astrology=== |
===Astrology=== |
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Evadne Price had a parallel career as a broadcaster during the early years of [[British television]]. Her afternoon horoscope show called "Fun with the Stars" led to a long-running evening program. Price was dubbed the "new astrologer extraordinaire" for twenty-five years for the ''SHE'' magazine and published a successful collection of these columns as ''SHE Stargazes''. When she and her husband retired to [[Australia]] in 1976, Evadne Price wrote the monthly horoscope column for Australian ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]''. |
Evadne Price had a parallel career as a broadcaster during the early years of [[British television]]. Her afternoon horoscope show called "Fun with the Stars" led to a long-running evening program. Price was dubbed the "new astrologer extraordinaire" for twenty-five years for the ''SHE'' magazine and published a successful collection of these columns as ''SHE Stargazes''. When she and her husband retired to their native [[Australia]] in 1976, Evadne Price wrote the monthly horoscope column for Australian ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]''. |
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She also appeared weekly on the ITV Central evening news magazine show with a 5 minute astrological reading and she would always close with the catchphrase "think [[luck]]y and you'll be lucky". |
She also appeared weekly on the ITV Central evening news magazine show with a 5 minute astrological reading and she would always close with the catchphrase "think [[luck]]y and you'll be lucky". |
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===Final Years=== |
===Final Years=== |
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Evadne Price died on 17 April 1985 in Sydney, Australia. Evadne Price has an unfinished autobiography which was to have been named ''Mother Painted Nude''. |
Evadne Price died on 17 April 1985 in Sydney, Australia at 96. Evadne Price has an unfinished autobiography which was to have been named ''Mother Painted Nude''. |
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==Bibliography== |
==Bibliography== |
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{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> |
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> |
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| NAME = Price, Evadne |
| NAME = Price, Evadne |
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| ALTERNATIVE NAMES = |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Smith, Helen Zenna |
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| SHORT DESCRIPTION = British writer |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = Australian-British writer |
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| DATE OF BIRTH = |
| DATE OF BIRTH = 28 August 1888 |
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| PLACE OF BIRTH = |
| PLACE OF BIRTH = Merewether, New South Wales, Australia |
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| DATE OF DEATH = 17 April 1985 |
| DATE OF DEATH = 17 April 1985 |
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| PLACE OF DEATH = |
| PLACE OF DEATH = Sydney, [[Australia |
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}} |
}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Evadne}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Evadne}} |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:1888 births]] |
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[[Category:1985 deaths]] |
[[Category:1985 deaths]] |
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[[Category:British children's writers]] |
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[[Category:War correspondents of World War II]] |
[[Category:War correspondents of World War II]] |
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[[Category:Year of birth unknown]] |
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[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]] |
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]] |
Revision as of 22:41, 21 October 2014
Evadne Price Dabelstein Fletcher Attiwill | |
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Born | Eva Grace Price 28 August 1888 Merewether, New South Wales, Australia |
Died | 17 April 1985 Sydney, Australia | (aged 96)
Pen name | Evadne Price, Helen Zenna Smith |
Occupation | actress, writer |
Language | English |
Nationality | Australian-British |
Period | 1908-1985 |
Genre | Children's, Romance |
Notable works | Not So Quiet: Stepdaughters of War |
Spouse | 1: Henry A. Dabelstein (1909-19??) 2: Charles A. Fletcher (1920-1924) 3: Kenneth Andrew Attiwill (1929-1960)[1] |
Evadne Price, née Eva Grace Price (b. 28 August 1888 in Merewether, New South Wales, Australia - d. 17 April 1985 in Sydney, Australia), was an Australian-British writer, actress, astrologer and media personality. She also wrote under the pseudonym Helen Zenna Smith.
She became famous for her many romance novels, most of which were serialised in the national newspapers, as well as her children's books starring the popular character Jane Turpin. She also published an occasional astrology column for SHE magazine, and is now best remembered for her semi-biographical World War I novel Not So Quiet: Stepdaughters of War, a feminist reprise to All Quiet on the Western Front. In Germany she'd been compared to Adrienne Thomas, whose book, Katrin becomes a soldier was published in 1930. She was a vice-president of the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Biography
Birth and first marriage
Fiction abounds in the autobiographical details supplied by own Evadne Price. There is considerable evidence that she was born Eva Grace Price on 28 August 1888 in Merewether, New South Wales, Australia (NSW Registry of BDM cert. no. 1888/032162). Daugther of British parents, her father, Jonathan Dixon Price, was a miner. In "SHE Stargazes" she gives her birth date as 28 August (p.82). There is no genealogical evidence to support her claim that she was born at sea c. 1896 (National Union Catalogue) or her later claim to have been born in England c. 1901. Acording her, she lied about her age, when her father died, and she went on stage to support herself and travel alone to England.
The article "Newcastle Girl is Film Writer" (Newcastle Morning Herald, 20 June 1939, p.6) reports that Evadne Price/Helen Zenna Smith was born in Merewether and attended the Junction School in Merewether. She was probably also the Eva G. Price who attended the West Maitland Public School for Girls in 1902 and the Largs Public School in 1903. She performed in the end-of-year school concerts at these establishments, giving recitations (as reported in the Maitland Daily Mercury).
In 1908 twenty-year-old Eva Price played the First Twin in Australia's first production of "Peter Pan".
On 28 August 1909, at her 21st birthday, Eva Grace Price, actress, daughter of Jonathan Dixon Price, married a German-born actor Henry A. Dabelstein in Sydney (NSW Registry of BDM cert. no. 1909/007059). Henry may have used a stage name for his acting career.
England
By 1914 Eva Price was touring the English Provinces playing minor roles (Nottingham Evening Post, 10 Feb. 1914, p.3). In 1916, as her acting career blossomed, she changed "Eva" to the more evocative "Evadne" (Derby Daily Telegraph, 21 March 1916 p.2). Her acting career ended c. 1920 and she turned to journalism. She wrote a column for the Sunday Chronicle and other newspapers.
Evadne Grace Price married Charles A. Fletcher in London in 1920. There was no mention of her previous marriage on the GRO entry form. Charles A. Fletcher, Captain in the 3rd Devonshire Regiment, died in the Sudan in 1924.
In 1920 her place of birth was reported to be on board an ocean liner - more romantic than being the daughter of a coal miner in Australia (The Sunday Post, Lanarkshire, 7 March 1920 p.11).
In 1939 Evadne Fletcher married the also Australian writer, Kenneth Andrew Attiwill (alias Ken Attiwill 1906-1992) in Kent, England.
Journalism and the war
Many of Price's stories are set in a backdrop of the World Wars. Price's semi-biographical sketch of a group of ambulance drivers in World War I - Not So Quiet: Stepdaughters of War (1930), received critical acclaim, and was published under her pseudonym, Helen Zenna Smith. A British publisher initially approached Price to write a spoof on Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front. Price managed to persuade him to publish an account of a woman's experience of the war instead. She contacted Winnifred Young, a British ambulance driver who had kept war diaries to provide her with a basis for her story. It was translated into French as "Pas Si Calme" by Gallimard, Paris in 1931. It was translated into Spanish as "Hay novedad en el frente...: (Hijastras de Guerra)", in 1935. Also translated into Dutch; a trilogy "Gij vrouwen....!", "Vrouwen in nood" and "Vrouwenroeping".
During World War II, Price was the war correspondent for The People from 1943, covering the Allied invasion and all of the major war stories through the Nuremberg Trials. Her husband was a POW in Japan, and was presumed dead for two years.
Jane Turpin stories
Evadne Price is also remembered for her children's stories, which she often published in magazines. Her most well known creation in this field was Jane Turpin, often referred to as the "Female William" and serialized in the Novel magazine from 1928. Price, however, did not take kindly to Jane stories being referred to as a copy of the William series. She went on record saying she "had never heard of William", even though William stories were regularly advertised on Jane book dust jackets. The famous illustrator Thomas Henry Fisher, who illustrated both Jane and William books, even signed the illustrations for the Jane books as "Marriott" so as to distinguish the two series.
Romance novel author
Evadne Price was a very successful romance novelist and also wrote some romance novels under the pseudonym Helen Zenna Smith. Some of her books were serialized in the weekly British weekly The People. Several hundred of her novels were serialized in the Novel magazine. She was a vice-president of the Romantic Novelists' Association.[2]
Playwright and screenwriter
Price's career as a romance novelist took her into playwriting, radio scriptwriting and screenwriting. Her play Big Ben, written for the Malvern Festival in 1939, was a successful one (The Times called it "a large, comfortable play with a soul to call its own"). The Phantom Light (1937) was a stage version of her novel, The Haunted Light. The play was also made into a film starring Gordon Harker. Once a Crook (1939) - a play which was co-written by Price and her husband Ken Attiwill, was also both a play and a film. She also acted in the movie Trouble with Junia (1967) in the minor part of Miss Hallyday beside her husband Ken Attiwill.
Astrology
Evadne Price had a parallel career as a broadcaster during the early years of British television. Her afternoon horoscope show called "Fun with the Stars" led to a long-running evening program. Price was dubbed the "new astrologer extraordinaire" for twenty-five years for the SHE magazine and published a successful collection of these columns as SHE Stargazes. When she and her husband retired to their native Australia in 1976, Evadne Price wrote the monthly horoscope column for Australian Vogue.
She also appeared weekly on the ITV Central evening news magazine show with a 5 minute astrological reading and she would always close with the catchphrase "think lucky and you'll be lucky".
Final Years
Evadne Price died on 17 April 1985 in Sydney, Australia at 96. Evadne Price has an unfinished autobiography which was to have been named Mother Painted Nude.
Bibliography
As Evadne Price
Jane Series
- NB: All "Jane" books were published by Robert Hale, London unless otherwise mentioned
- Just Jane, John Hamilton, London (1928)
- Meet Jane, Newnes, London (1930)
- Enter - Jane, Newnes, London (1932)
- Jane the Fourth (1937)
- Jane the Sleuth (1939)
- Jane the Unlucky (1939)
- Jane the Popular (1939)
- Jane the Patient (1940)
- Jane Gets Busy (1940)
- Jane at War (1947)
- Jane and Co. (selected stories by Mary Cadogan) Macmillan Publishers (1985)
Single novels
- The Wrong Mrs. Sylvester (1930s)
- One Woman's Freedom, Longmans, Green London (1932)
- Diary of a Red-haired Girl (1932)
- The Haunted Light (1933)
- Strip Girl! (1934)
- Society Girl! (1935)
- Red for Danger, John Long, London (1936)
- Glamour Girl (1937)
- Escape to Marriage (1951)
- The Dishonoured Wife (1951)
- My Pretty Sister, Herbert Jenkins Ltd (1952)
- Her Stolen Life, Merit Books, London (1954)
- The Love Trap (1958)
- My Platonic Wife (1950s)
- Air Hostess in Love (1962)
- 'She' Stargazes, National Magazine Company, London (1965)
As Helen Zenna Smith
Stepdaughters of War Series
- Not So Quiet...: Stepdaughters of War, Albert E. Marriot, London (1930)
- Women of the Aftermath (1931)
Single novels
- Shadow Women (1932)
- Luxury Ladies (1933)
- The Haunted Light (1933)
- They Lived With Me (1934)
Known Discography
- The Christmas Story, Narration by Evadne Price, LP, Label: Ember
Broadway Credits
- Stepdaughters of War, based on the novel by Helen Zenna Smith, Empire Theatre (started 6 October 1930 for 24 performances)
Filmography
- The Phantom Light (1935) (playwright The Haunted Light)
- Wolf's Clothing (1936) (play author, screenwriter)
- When the Poppies Bloom Again (1937) (script)
- Merry Comes to Town aka Merry Comes to Stay (UK: alternative title) (1937) (short story author)
- Silver Top (1938) (short story author)
- Lightning Conductor (1938) (short story author)
- Blondes for Danger (1938) (novel author)
- Once a Crook (1941) (play author)
- Not Wanted on Voyage (1957) (play author, screenwriter)
- Trouble with Junia (1967) (actress)
References and sources
- Afterword by Jane Marcus, Not So Quiet...Stepdaughters of War, Evadne Price, The Feminist Press, 1989.
- Adrienne Thomas: DIE KATRIN WIRD SOLDAT und Anderes aus Lothringen, Röhrig Universitätsverlag, St. Ingbert 2008, 510 S., 37 Abb., ISBN 978-3-86110-455-1
External links
- Recording of 1977 interview with Evadne Price
- Evadne Price at IMDb
- Internet Broadway Database
- NY Times book review
- Template:Worldcat id
{{Persondata | NAME = Price, Evadne | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Smith, Helen Zenna | SHORT DESCRIPTION = Australian-British writer | DATE OF BIRTH = 28 August 1888 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Merewether, New South Wales, Australia | DATE OF DEATH = 17 April 1985 | PLACE OF DEATH = Sydney, [[Australia }}