Madeleine Orr started her professional career as a singer, but soon moved into radio productions and repertory and commercial theatre. Her earliest recorded stage appearances, dating back to 1937, included a production of
J. B. Priestley's
Duet in Floodlight at the Tivoli Theatre and in a one act-play, ''Pedlar's Progress
, at the Melbourne Little Theatre. In the early 1940s, she was a cast member of two radio serials, Bright Horizons
and Golden Sanctuaries'', produced by 2CH in Sydney. She went on to appear in the Melbourne season of
Doris Fitton's
Dark of the Moon, "an unusual folk play with music", which opened at the Comedy Theatre in 1952. For many years, Orr was also associated with the St Martin's Theatre, a small independent playhouse in the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra. She appeared there in productions of several Australian plays including
The Tower by
Hal Porter (1964) and
The Jabberwock (1966) by Patricia Napper, as well as the Australian premiere of
The Physicists (1964) by Swiss playwright
Friedrich Dürrenmatt. Like many Australian actors of her generation, Orr intended to travel to the United Kingdom to further her professional experience and, after several proposed but postponed trips, finally arrived in early 1965 She spent more than seven months in London, living with Australian-born opera singer
Sylvia Fisher and her husband Ubaldo Gardini in their
Bayswater home. During that time, Orr was briefly employed by the BBC and appeared in the television play
Verdict. Otherwise, she spent much of her time attending West End shows, including productions of
Ivanov (with
John Gielgud) and ''
Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad'' (with
Hermione Gingold). She also attended a controversial "late night show" performed by
Elizabeth Seal and her husband Zach Matalon, which closed after that one performance. On her return to Melbourne in December 1965, Orr informed the local press that "I was disappointed by the general standard of theatre in London's West End". Orr remained in Sydney for two weeks' rest, returning to Melbourne in January 1967. Her next appearance on the musical stage was in an original Australian show entitled
Razza-ma-tazz (and all that Jazz), co-written by
John-Michael Howson, which was produced at the Southland Theatre in 1968. In a 1966 theatre programme biography, Orr was also described "a composer of popular ballads", whose compositions had been used on many occasions by the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation. By the early 1970s, Madeline Orr had settled permanently in London, where she appeared in two episodes of
Crossroads (1973) and the TV mini-series adaptation of
David Copperfield (1974). She then performed the role of Mrs McFudd in the West End revival of the stage musical
Irene (1976). The latter show included, in the title role, fellow Australian actress
Julie Anthony, who had won acclaim in the 1974 Australian production of the same show. Although Orr had not appeared in that production, her role of Mrs McFudd was played by Australian actress Connie Hobbs, who, ironically, would take over the role of Madge Allsop after Orr's death in 1979. Madeleine Orr first appeared as Dame Edna Everage's long-suffering bridesmaid and companion in the BBC TV series
The Barry Humphries Show (1976). Several photographs of Orr, in character as Madge, were subsequently included in Humphries' book, ''Dame Edna's Coffee Table Book
, which was published in London later that year. In June 1978, Orr returned to Australia to help Humphries publicise his latest LP release, The Sound of Edna''. At the record launch, Orr (again in the guise of Madge Allsop) arrived in the back of a panel van and then recited a poem that was purportedly written for the occasion by Dame Edna herself. As Madge explained to the press, "Dame Edna wrote it because I'm a bit of an idiot". A newspaper article describing the event was accompanied by a photograph of Dame Edna (in her punk outfit) with bridesmaid Madge, both straddling a huge motorcycle. One of the songs on the album, titled "My Bridesmaid and I", was dedicated to Madge Allsop; a photograph of Orr, in character, was subsequently included in Humphries' accompanying publication ''The Sound of Edna: Dame Edna's Family Songbook'' (1979) Madeleine Orr then returned to London, where, in her last TV appearance before her death, she played Mrs Hemmings in a 1979 episode of the
Arthur Lowe vehicle
Potter. ==Personal life==