Jill Perryman AM, MBE (born 30 May 1933) is an Australian former stage and screen actress and singer. Combining both her stage acting and her singing, she featured in numerous musical theatre roles, over eight decades and spanning 70 years of performing, starting from the age of 3 in a local production of the Austrian operetta White Horse Inn. She toured twice with a production of Hello Dolly! firstly in 1965, as an understudy to American star Carole Cook, as a member of the ensemble cast as character Irene Molley and again almost thirty years later in 1994 in the leading role. Perryman, is exceptional in local theatre, when many productions featured internationally imported stars, even whom had not commonly performed the leading roles on Broadway and the West End. Alongside her contemporaries Toni Lamond and Nancye Hayes, has been called one of the three local Grand Dame's of Musical Theatre. Perryman although a staple of theatre, has appeared in numerous guest roles in television series and briefly in film making her debut in Maybe This Time in 1980. Personal life Perryman was born in Melbourne, Victoria to a family notable for its achievements in theatre and entertainment. Her father, William Thomas Perryman, was an actor and performer, with notable credits from 1919 until 1938 and her mother Dorothy Eileen (formerly Duvall), born in Adelaide was an actress and singer, who appeared in a few productions from 1923 until 1932. Her older sister, Diana Perryman (1925–1979), was prominent in Australian theatre and also appeared in television roles. Her husband is Western Australian dancer-choreographer Kevan Johnston, and they have a son Tod Johnston, who is a media personality, radio and television presenter, and musician. Diana Perryman was posthumously awarded an MBE. Her daughter Trudy Dunn is also a performer Career Perryman in 1952, then aged 19, joined the company of J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd as a member of the chorus and in the following year was understudying leading roles in stage musicals, under Evie Hayes in a local production of Call Me Madam. Perryman was strong in voice and personality, and a long series of understudy and small roles eventually led her, through the recommendation of John McCallum (who was then joint managing director of J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd), to take the lead in the key Australian production of Funny Girl, a performance that won her an Erik Award