Ruth Winifred Cracknell AM (6 July 1925 – 13 May 2002) lived in Chatswood. She was a character actress and author, her career encompassing many genres including radio, television, film, and especially theatre. She appeared in many dramatic as well as comedy roles throughout a career spanning some 56 years.
Perhaps her most endearing character was that of an elderly woman, Maggie Beare, who was slowly becoming senile. She was cared for by her long-suffering younger son Arthur (Garry McDonald), to whom she was often indifferent but on whom she was also dependent and whom she often cynically played off against her self-centred older son Robert (Henri Szeps) and daughter-in-law Liz (played by Judy Morris).
