ACTORS’ & ENTERTAINERS’
BENEVOLENT FUND QLD
WHERE QUEENSLAND PERFORMING ARTS PROFESSIONALS TURN WHEN IN CRISIS OR IN NEED
Find Out MoreWELCOME TO THE
ACTORS’ & ENTERTAINERS’ BENEVOLENT FUND OF QUEENSLAND
Every year Australian performers make thousands of free appearances in support of deserving charities. But who looks after the performers in need? We do. Since 1975 as Queensland’s leading performing arts charity, the Actors’ & Entertainers’ Benevolent Fund has provided emergency assistance to hundreds of our members.
The Actors’ & Entertainers’ Benevolent Fund is a registered charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.
ABOUT THE FUND
The Actors’ & Entertainers’ Benevolent Fund (Qld) Inc. has been in existence in Queensland for over forty years and during that time has been able to assist hundreds of performers who for one reason or another have fallen on hard times and needed a helping hand.
The Fund was started in Queensland in 1975 with a donation of $500 from the Actors’ Benevolent Fund of NSW.
The Inaugural and Founding President of the Fund in Queensland was the late Alan Edwards AM MBE JP (founding Artistic Director of Queensland Theatre Company), who was involved for over twenty years – serving as President from 1975 – 1994.
NEWS
VALE: DR TONY GOULD AM
(17 April 1937 – 10 March 2020)
The arts in Australia has lost one of its most fervent champions with the passing of Tony Gould, AM
The founding Director of the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), Tony was remembered by those who knew him well and worked with him as someone who was not only passionately supportive of the performing arts but also cared deeply for the people behind the art.
Following on from an already impressive career in the arts both as an actor and a respected arts administrator, Tony was appointed as Director of the yet-to-be-built $130 million QPAC in 1979 after a worldwide search. He opened QPAC in 1985 and under his 23-year tenure more than 8 million people visited QPAC for more than 12,000 performances. Tony also established the Brisbane Festival and was Artistic Director from 1996 – 2004.
QPAC Chief Executive John Kotzas heralded Tony Gould’s peerless contribution to the performing arts in Queensland and Australia and acknowledged his lasting legacy.
“Tony was behind so much of what we enjoy as a vibrant arts and cultural landscape in Brisbane today,” he said.
“He had an incredible vision and knew that Queensland could play on the world stage. We could attract the world’s best performers to Brisbane, whilst also developing and celebrating Australian performers and creatives.
“Tony understood the power of the arts to make an impact and bring people together and laid a very strong foundation for QPAC to prioritise social justice programs in the performing arts, a thread that continues to run through our organisation today.
“His remarkable contribution to the arts is evident in the countless awards and accolades he received throughout his career and even into his retirement. It was a great privilege for us to acknowledge his impact on our industry with the naming of our exhibition space as the Tony Gould Gallery on his retirement in 2002.”
QPAC Producer and President of the Actor’s and Entertainer’s Benevolent Fund (AEBF) Paul Dellit worked closely with Tony throughout his time at QPAC, as part of the Brisbane Festival, and into his patronage of AEBF.
“For more than 40 years, Tony was one of the greatest champions of the arts in Queensland with a never-ending passion for supporting local artists and companies, First Nations artists and emerging artists,” he said.“Even after he left QPAC, Tony remained committed to the industry he loved, serving on the AEBF committee for many years, the last ten as patron and in 2008 he was awarded the AEBF Lifetime Achievement Award.
“It was a joy to work alongside Tony and those who did so found his energy for and belief in the arts incredibly inspiring. He will long be remembered as the quintessential patron of the arts in Queensland.
It was Tony Gould who laid the keystone of QPAC that remains at its heart today and that is the importance of community. Tony once reflected that “central to all aspects of planning was the conviction that the Centre needed to engage and interact with its community.”
Vale Tony Gould AM. He leaves behind an industry forever in his debt and richer for his selfless contribution over many years.
CONGRATULATIONS: PAUL DELLIT OAM
The Actors’ & Entertainers’ Benevolent Fund of Queensland would like to wish our incredible President Paul Dellit congratulations on his most deserved award, the Medal of Order of Australia, for his lifetime of service to the Performing Arts.
2017 Medal of the Order of Australia
ALAN EDWARDS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2017: ROBBY NASON
Robby has been presented with the 2017 Alan Edwards Award. She has been a part of the historical backbone of the arts industry in Queensland, having contributed over 50 years of continued service, given more than she’s received, and made a true difference.
Robby’s working lifetime has also seen the whole development of Queensland’s local and professional theatre, and she has been in there throughout, one of the people that make things happen; an invisible, unglamorous but essential cog turning the wheels. For more than 50 years there have been few jobs offstage that she has not undertaken (or in emergencies even onstage, book in hand), and few of our major companies and artists that she has not worked with.
To view a copy of the 2017 Alan Edwards Award Progam from the 29th May 2017, please CLICK HERE
VALE: CAROL BURNS, Actress / Director (29 October 1947 – 22 December 2015)
Thank you to everyone who attended A Tribute to Carol Burns on Monday February 8 at The Playhouse Theatre, QPAC. If you would like a digital copy of the program, you can download it by CLICKING HERE
