Donald Crombie

Donald Charles Crombie was born on 5 July 1942 in Brisbane, Queensland. and studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art. ==Career==

Crombie started work at the Commonwealth Film Unit (now Screen Australia) around 1963. Over his long career (as of 2008 – 46 years in total, with 35 years as a freelancer), he directed feature films, telemovies, mini-series, drama series, documentaries, and commercials, and also wrote film and television scripts. He was known for pioneering depictions of strong, independent women as central characters, a rare feature of 1970s screen work. ==Memberships and other activities==

Crombie was a board member of the Australian Writers' Guild, Australian Screen Directors Authorship Collecting Society (ASDACS), and Australian Screen Directors' Association (ASDA; now Australian Directors' Guild). ==Recognition and honours==

Crombie's 1967 short documentary Is Anybody Doing Anything About It? won a Silver Award at the Australian Film Awards (AFI Awards). In 1970, his film Personnel or People? won a Bronze Award in the Educational category of the AFI Awards In 1979, ''Cathy's Child'' was nominated for the AFI Award for Best Film. His 1981 film The Killing of Angel Street premiered at the 32nd Berlin Film Festival, where it received an honourable mention. Crombie was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Queen's Birthday 2017 Honours List, "For significant service to the Australian film and television industry through contributions as a director and writer, and to professional organisations". After his death in April 2025, South Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel wrote in The Sydney Morning Herald, that Crombie had been his "first film hero", and called him "a giant of the industry". In his opinion, the films Caddy and ''Cathy's Child'' ranked alongside Gillian Armstrong's 1979 film My Brilliant Career, in being "groundbreaking in cinematically presenting a female perspective and portraying women navigating their own paths and asserting their voices". ==Personal life and death==

Crombie was married to Judith Crombie, former SAFC CEO, The couple had four children, three of whom worked in radio, theatre, or film. who went to school and was friends with Justin Kurzel. == Filmography ==

Feature films • The Choice (1971) • Caddie (1976) • The Irishman (1978) (also writer) • ''Cathy's Child'' (1979) • The Killing of Angel Street (1981) • Kitty and the Bagman (1983) • Playing Beatie Bow (1986) • Rough Diamonds (1994) (also writer) • Selkie (2000) Television • ''Stacey's Gym'' (1973) • Who Killed Jenny Langby? (1974; docudrama film; also co-writer) • Do I Have to Kill My Child? (1976) (also writer) • Cyclone Tracy (1986) (miniseries) • The Heroes (1988) (miniseries) • The Alien Years (1988) (miniseries) • The Saint: Fear in Fun Park (1989) • The River Kings (1991) (miniseries) • Heroes II: The Return (1991) (miniseries) • The Feds: Terror (1993) • Time Trax (1993–1994) • The Celluloid Heroes (1995) (documentary series) • Flipper (1995–1997) • Tales of the South Seas (1998) • ''McLeod's Daughters'' (2001–2002) Other • Aircraft at Work (1966) (documentary) (also writer) • Is Anybody Doing Anything About It? (1967) (short documentary for the Commonwealth Film Unit; also writer) • Sailor (1968) (documentary) • Top End (1968) (documentary) • Our Land Australia (1972) (documentary) (also producer, co-writer) • Robbery Under Arms (1985) (cinema and a television miniseries release) ==References==