Star cast farewells beloved pioneer - The Australian

Patricia Lovell, aka Miss Pat, with Mr Squiggle. Source: Supplied

TO a generation of Australian children, she was Miss Pat, the onscreen sidekick of television marionette Mr Squiggle. But at Patricia Lovell's memorial service yesterday in Sydney, the television presenter who became a film producer was remembered as an industry pioneer, a mother, a friend and a grandmother.

More than 200 mourners filled St Thomas's Anglican Church in North Sydney for a service led with a light touch by the Reverend Simon Manchester.

He reflected on Lovell's two best-known films, saying the memorial was an opportunity to reflect on her life. "It is also a chance to look forward," he said. "Will it be a mystery like Picnic at Hanging Rock, a tragedy like Gallipoli or (will we) see if there's any chance of a sequel?"

Peter Weir, who directed both those films, was represented at the service by his wife Wendy and daughter Ingrid, who mingled with Lovell's friends and colleagues. Maggie Tabberer and Stuart Wagstaff, who had been panelists in the 60s with Lovell on Seven Network's Beauty and the Beast, attended the service.

Also present were Lovell's former colleagues from the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, among them its present chief executive Sandra Levy.

NSW Governor Marie Bashir attended the service in a personal rather than a formal role while Mad Max director George Miller took time out from post-production on the latest installment of the action franchise to pay his respects.

Film critic David Stratton told how he first met Lovell in 1969, when she was working on The Today Show and he was running the Sydney Film Festival. He described himself as "a regular visitor" on her film sets, saying he visited Picnic at Hanging Rock at Maldon in Victoria and later, the set of Gallipoli in Port Lincoln. He described Lovell as a person who strove to be optimistic and to share her optimism with others.

"Her contribution to the film and television industry has been enormous," Stratton said. "Patricia was always candid and brave and filmmakers owe her a great debt."

Lovell's daughter, Jenny, an actress, and her son, Simon, a helicopter pilot, both spoke with great affection about their mother.

Jenny Lovell thanked the friends of her mother she called "the Avalon safety net" who helped make it possible for Pat to remain living at home until her death on January 26, aged 83. Simon Lovell recalled being proud as a youngster of having "one of the hottest mums at Newport Primary" but he said he grew tired of repeatedly being asked by children: "Is Mr Squiggle your dad?"

Anthony Buckley, the producer of Oyster Farmer, told how film luminaries Ken G. Hall and Raymond Longford had also both been farewelled from St Thomas's and toasted at the Union Hotel across the road. "So here we have Longford, Hall and Lovell, a great legacy indeed," Buckley said.