| JAN | 1-15 16-31 | APR | 1-15 16-30 | JULY | 1-15 16-31 | OCT | 1-15 16-31 |
| FEB | 1-15 16-29 | MAY | 1-15 16-31 | AUG | 1-15 16-31 | NOV | 1-15 16-30 |
| MAR | 1-15 16-31 | JUNE | 1-15 16-31 | SEPT | 1-15 16-30 | DEC | 1-15 16-31 |
April is an exciting month for birthdays in Australia. Here are some of the people born during April.
WERE YOU or someone you know born in June? You’ll find below some notable Australian politicians, footballers, actors, musicians, athletes and even a couple of Brownlow Medal winners that have June birthdays.
APRIL 1 TO 15
| Birth | Death | Born in April | A little bit about them . . . |
| 01 April 1893 | -1980 | Cicely Courtneidge Esmerelda Cicely Courtneidge | English-Australian actress and comedienne, born into a theatrical family she starred in a variety of stage plays and musicals during her 70 years performing, awarded Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1972. |
| 01 April 1971 | Lachy Hulme | Australian actor and screenwriter (Matrix Reloaded, Matrix Revolutions, Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, Gallipoli, Howzat Kerry Packer’s War, Offspring) | |
| 01 April 1973 | Kym Wilson | Australian actress (Brides of Christ, Heartbreak High, All Saints, A Country Practice), 1992 Logie Award | |
| 01 April 1968 | Gina Jeffreys Gina Hillenberg Gina McCormack | Australian country music singer (Girls Night Out, Two Stars Fell, Didn’t We Shine, Dancin’ with Elvis) Country Music Award (CMAA) 2002, 1999, 1996, 1995, 1994 | |
| 01 April 1975 | John Butler John Charles Wiltshire-Butler | Australian-American musician, songwriter, front man for the John Butler Trio (Zebra, Something’s Gotta Give, Good Excuse, Sunrise Over Sea, April Uprising, Three) APRA Award 2004, 2006, 2008, ARIA Award 2004 | |
| 02 April 1926 | Jack Brabham John Arthur Brabham “Black Jack” | Australian mechanical engineer, race car driver, Royal Australian Air Force flight mechanic, became the largest manufacturer of custom racing cars in the world in the 1960s, first and only man to win the Formula One world championship driving his own car, Australian of the Year 1966, National Living Treasure 2012 | |
| 02 April 1979 | Mark Gregor Donaldson | Australian soldier, awarded Victoria Cross for Australia for operations in Afghanistan 2 September 2008 during Operation Slipper, member Special Air Service Regiment, portrait appears on Australian postage stamp in 2015 Australian Legends series | |
| 02 April 1982 | Bianca Lee Chatfield | Australian netballer, played over 200 games for Melbourne Phoenix and Melbourne Vixens, Silver Medal 2006 Commonwealth Games, Gold Medal 2007 Netball World Championships, Bronze Medals 2009 & 2011 World Netball Series | |
| 03 April 1913 | -2009 | William Dudley Refshauge | Australian medical officer, in 1939 joined Australian Imperial Force and saw service in Battle of Bardia, capture of Tobruk, Greek campaign, Battle of Crete, New Guinea, Borneo, promoted to rank of Major in 1942, rejoined Australian Army in 1951 during the Korean War, promoted to Major General 1955, Honorary Physician to Queen Elizabeth II (1955-64), Secretary-General of the World Medical Association (1973-76), 1990 RSL Anzac Peace Prize |
| 03 April 1989 | Israel Falou | Australian footballer played in 3 different codes – Rugby League (NRL), Rugby Union, Australian Rules Football (AFL), youngest player to ever play for Melbourne Storm at 17, in 2007 was youngest player to represent Australia in Australian test side against New Zealand | |
| 04 April 1891 | -1982 | Samuel Wynn Shlomo ben David Weintraub | Polish-Australian wine merchant (Wynn Estate) and Jewish community leader, restaurateur, migrated from Bremen German to Melbourne Australia in 1913, worked in a vineyard and a cork factory buying his first small shop on time-payments, later expanded to producing his own wines, in 1972 Wynn Winegrowers was sold to Allied Breweries & Tooheys, 12 times president of Kadimah (Jewish National Library) in Melbourne, all 67 members of his extended family were annihilated in Europe during WWII. |
| 04 April 1911 | -1992 | Max Dupain | Australian photographer, Sunbaker (1937) became his most famous photo and was purchased by National Gallery of Australia, Canberra in 1976 |
| 04 April 1979 | -2008 | Heath Ledger Heath Andrew Ledger | Australian actor (10 Things I Hate About You, The Patriot, A Knight’s Tale, Monster’s Ball, Ned Kelly, Brother’s Grimm, Lords of Dogtown, I’m Not There, Brokeback Mountain, Casanova, Candy, Dark Knight, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus), avid chess player winning WA Junior Chess Championship at age 10, Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Dark Knight), daughter Matilda Rose born 28 Oct 2005 |
| 05 April 1972 | Paul Michael Okon | Australian footballer, coach, captained Australian National Team, Australian Football Hall of Fame 2009 | |
| 06 April 1922 | -1999 | Gordon Maitland Chater | British-Australian stage, radio, TV actor (Mavis Bramston Show, My Name’s McGooley What’s Yours), Gold Logie 1966 |
| 06 April 1982 | Michael Guy Chislett | Australian musician (bands: The Academy Is, Pistol Youth), played and toured with Hillsong United (All of the Above, United We Stand) | |
| 07 April 1968 | Duncan Armstrong Duncan John D’Arcy Armstrong | Australian freestyle swimmer, 1988 Seoul Olympic Gold Medal, Sport Australia Hall of Fame 1993 | |
| 07 April 1972 | Joanne Brown | Australian softball catcher, 2000 Olympics Sydney Bronze Medal, 1996 Olympics Atlanta Bronze Medal, Softball Australia Hall of Fame 2004 | |
| 07 April 1939 | -1992 | Brett Whiteley | Australian painter, Archibald Prize 1976 & 78, Sulman Prize 1976 & 78, Wynne Prize 1977, 78 & 84, only person to win all 3 prizes in same year (1978), 15 years after his death his painting Olgas for Ernest Giles sold for an Australian record of $3.5 million |
| 08 April 1900 | -1979 | Marie Byles Marie Beuzeville Byles | Australian, solicitor, feminist, explorer, first woman to be admitted as a solicitor in NSW (1924), author of By Cargo Boat and Mountain about her expeditions around the world, campaigned for social justice, significant in introducing and promoting Buddhism in NSW, wrote The Lotus and the Spinning Wheel, bequeathed her home to the National Trust of Australia NSW to preserve the native bushland and surrounding reserves |
| 08 April 1951 | Peta Toppano Peita Margaret Toppano | British-Australian actress (Class of ’75, Young Doctors, Prisoner, Home & Away, Heartbreak High, Return to Eden, Paper Man, Which Way Home, Bordertown, Never Tell Me Never, Harbour Beat) | |
| 08 April 1952 | -1995 | Gregg Hansford | Australian motorcycle and touring car racer, winner 1993 Bathurst 1000, died in 1995 from an impact with another car while competing at over 200 km/h in a Supertouring race at Phillip Island |
| 09 April 1929 | -1993 | Fred Hollows Frederick Cossom Hollows | Australian ophthalmologist, known for his work in restoring eyesight to thousands of people in Australia and around the world, more than 1 million people can see because of initiatives he instigated, pioneered a low cost method for manufacturing intraocular lenses, trained doctors in poor communities overseas to perform simple eye surgery, started the Fred Hollows Foundation (1992), received many awards and honours including Australian of the Year 1990, Human Rights Medal 1990, featured on the 2010 $1 coin from the Royal Australian Mint, although he was an atheist he given a state funeral service at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, but buried in Bourke NSW |
| 09 April 1867 | -1941 | John C. Watson | 3rd Prime Minister of Australia (1904-04), Australian Commonwealth Labor Party, he is the youngest Prime Minister in Australia’s history taking office at 37, served 3 months 21days in Australia’s highest office |
| 09 April 1909 | -1986 | Robert Helpmann Robert Murray Helpman | Australian dancer, actor, choreographer, at 27 joined touring dance company of Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, actor (The Red Shoes, One of Our Aircraft Is Missing, 55 Days at Peking, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Patrick, Don Quixote), Director of the Australian Ballet 1974-76, in respect given a state funeral in Sydney, Australian of the Year 1965 |
| 10 April 1935 | Peter Hollingworth Peter John Hollingworth | Australian retired Anglican bishop, 8th Archbishop of Brisbane (1989-91), 23rd Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia (2001-03), Australian of the Year 1991, Australian Living Treasures 1997 | |
| 11 April 1928 | -2013 | Tommy Tycho Thomas Tycho | Hungarian-Australian pianist, conductor, composer, film scores (Young Einstein, Reckless Kelly), TV music (Anzac series, Riptide), medal ceremony music for Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games |
| 11 April 1866 | -1953 | Bernard Patrick O’Dowd | Australian poet, activist, child prodigy, Chief Parliamentary Draughtsman in the Supreme Court in Melbourne for 48 years, co-publisher and writer for radical paper Tocsin, poetry included (The Silent Land, Seven Deadly Sins, Dawnward, The Bush) |
| 12 April 1883 | -1959 | Dally Messenger Herbert Henry Messenger “The Master” | Australian rugby footballer, recognised as one of the greatest-ever players in either code, represented Australia in 2 rugby union tests and 7 rugby league tests, after becoming a rugby league player his rugby union games were struck from NSW Rugby Union record books and not restored until 2008 (100 years later), Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame 2003 |
| 12 April 1952 | Mike Munro Michael Munro | Australian journalist and TV presenter (60 Minutes, A Current Affair, This Is Your Life, Missing Persons Unit, What A Year, Nine News, Ten Eyewitness News) | |
| 12 April 1961 | Magda Szubanski Magdalene Mary Szubanski | British-Australian comedian, TV presenter, radio host, actress (Babe, Babe Pig in the City, Farscape, Kath & Kim, Happy Feet 1 & 2, Crocodile Hunter Collision Course, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), Logie Award 1996, 1992, 1991 | |
| 13 April 1891 | -1921 | Maurice Vincent Buckley Gerald Sexton | Australian soldier who served under the pseudonym Gerald Sexton, awarded the Victoria Cross in WWI, his real identity was disclosed by the time King George V presented the VC to him at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace (1919), the VC citation for his actions 18 Sept 1918 was “dealing with enemy machine-guns, rushing enemy posts, and performing great feats of bravery and endurance without faltering or for a moment taking cover”, 10 Victoria Cross recipients were pallbearers at his funeral following his death 3 years later from a riding accident in Gippsland |
| 13 April 1895 | -1973 | Arthur William Fadden | 13th Prime Minister of Australia (1941-41), Australian Country Party, was Prime Minister 40 days before resigning to Governor-General Lord Gowrie |
| 13 April 1945 | Judy Nunn | Australian actress (The Box, Prisoner, Sons and Daughters, Home and Away), author (Eye in the Storm, Eye in the City, Challenge of the Trumpalar, The Glitter Game, Beneath the Southern Cross), scripts (Neighbours, Possession) | |
| 13 April 1941 | Alan Jones | Australian radio broadcaster, former coach of Australian National Rugby Union Team and of Rugby League, speech writer for Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser (1979–81), ran 3 times for political office but lost, host of popular Sydney breakfast radio program on 2GB, Sport Australia Hall of Fame 1989 | |
| 14 April 1860 | -1933 | George Robertson | Scottish-Australian bookseller, publisher, with D. M. Angus in 1886 co-founded Angus & Robertson booksellers, around 1895 began publishing, authors included Henry Lawson, Banjo Paterson, Victor Daley |
| 14 April 1978 | Paul O’Brien | South African-Australian actor (Home and Away, Tell Them Lucifer Was Here, John Doe), Logie 2003 | |
| 15 April 1883 | -1967 | Stanley Melbourne Bruce | 8th Prime Minister of Australia (1923-29), Australian Nationalist Party, portrait on 1972 postage stamp, Canberra suburb Bruce named after him |
| 15 April 1952 | Kym Gyngell | Australian comedian (The Comedy Company, Full Frontal), actor (Lowdown, Underbelly, Wills & Burke, Heaven Tonight, The Wog Boy, The Hard Word) |
APRIL 16 TO 30
| Birth | Death | Born in April | A little bit about them . . . |
| 16 April 1865 | -1945 | Harry Chauvel Henry George Chauvel | Australian general, fought at Gallipoli, first Australian to attain rank of lieutenant general, later major general, comander of Desert Mounted Corps, commander of Anzac Mounted Division, commanded the mounted infantry bayonet charge by the 4th Light Horse Brigade in the Battle of Beersheba 1917, after helping to win the Battle of Megiddo his mounted divisions followed up with 167 km in only 3 days to help capture Damascus with the Australian Mounted Division losing 21 killed and 71 wounded, capturing 31,335 Turkish prisoners, awarded French Croix de Guerre avec Palme by the President of France, Order of the Nile by the Sultan of Egypt, Order of St Michael and St George by King George V |
| 16 April 1940 | Paul Cox Paulus Henriqus Benedictus Cox | Dutch-Australian film director (My First Wife, Human Touch, Man of Flowers, Secret Life of Trees), 1984 AFI Award, Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Award 1991 | |
| 16 April 1954 | John Bowe | Australian race car driver, first place in Touring Car Masters 2011, 12, 16, Australian Touring Car Championship 1995, Australian Sports Car Championship 1086, Australian Drivers Championship 1984, 85, winner Bathurst 1000 in 1989, 94 | |
| 16 April 1978 | Matthew James Lloyd | Australian rules footballer, Coleman Medal 2001, 02, 03, Jim Stynes Medal 2001, Australian football Hall of Fame | |
| 17 April 1910 | -1999 | Ivan Goff | Australian screenwriter (Man of a Thousand Faces, King of the Khyber Rifles, pilot for Charles Angels, Legend of the Lone Ranger, Logan’s Run, Ironside, Burke’s Law, Mannix ) |
| 17 April 1977 | Phil Jamieson | Australian musician, singer, founding member of alternative rock band Grinspoon | |
| 18 April 1839 | -1882 | Henry Kendall Thomas Henry Kendall | Australian bush poet (Bell Birds, Last of His Tribe, How The Melbourne Cup Was Won, Faith In God) |
| 18 April 1951 | Ricardo Fortaleza | Filipino-Australian bantamweight division boxer, gold medal Tokyo 1969 Asian youth championships, gold medal Bangkok Asian Games, silver medal Asian Boxing Championship 1971 Tehran, Manila Golden Gloves Champion 1965-71 | |
| 18 April 1985 | Karl Reindler | Australian race car driver, 1st place Australian Forumla 3 championship 2004, Australian F3 Rookie of the Year 2003 | |
| 20 April 1919 | -1943 | Richard Hillary | Australian Spitfire pilot and author (The Last Enemy), Flight Lieutenant No. 603 Squadron RAF, shot down 3 September 1940 by a Messerschmitt BF 109, bailed out into North Sea but suffered extensive burns to his face and hands, endured painful surgery, returned to duty, died 8 Jan 1943 with radio operator when they crashed during a night training flight |
| 20 April 1938 | Betty Cuthbert Elizabeth Cuthbert | Australian athlete, world records for 60 metres, 100 yards, 200 metres, 220 yards and 440 yards, four-time Olympic champion: 3 gold medals 1956 Melbourne (100 & 200 metres, 4×100 m relay), gold medal 1964 Toyoko (400 metres), three-time Commonwealth Games gold medal 1962 Perth (4×110 yards relay), 2 silver medals 1958 Cardiff (220 yards & 4×110 yards relay), one of Olympic Torch bearers sitting in her wheelchair pushed by Raelene Boyle in the stadium at Opening Ceremony 2000 Summer Olympics Sydney, National Living Treasure | |
| 20 April 1963 | Bret Garsed Brett Edward Garsed | Australian musician songwriter, guitarist with John Farnham (Whispering Jack, Age of Reason , Chain Reaction), with American band Nelson (After the Rain, Because They Can, Imaginator, Perfect Storm) | |
| 20 April 1966 | David Chalmers David John Chalmers | Australian philosopher, cognitive scientist, author (The Conscious Mind), Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Centre for Consciousness at the Australian National University, Professor of Philosophy at New York University, elected in 2013 Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences | |
| 20 April 1983 | Miranda Kerr Miranda May Kerr | Australian supermodel, began modeling at 13, first Australian Victoria’s Secret Angels, first pregnant model for Vogue Australia for 2011, earned $6.5 million she placed # 6 in Forbes 2015 list of world’s highest paid models | |
| 21 April 1944 | Russell Boyd | Australian cinematographer, 2003 Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Master & Commander Far Side of the World), Australian Film Institute for Best Achivement in Cinematography 1981 (Gallipoli), 1978 (The Last Wave), 1977 (Break of Day) | |
| 22 April 1917 | -1992 | Sidney Nolan Sidney Robert Nolan | Australian artist, painted wide range of historical and legendary figures (Ned Kelly, Burke & Wills, Eliza Fraser), his paintings of Ned Kelly in his armour is the iconic Australian image and shown on a giant screen during 2000 Summer Olympics Sydney opening ceremony, he also illustrated over 70 publications, in 1965 completed large mural (20 x 3.6 metre) rendered in enamelled jewellery on 1.5 tonnes heavy guage copper to depict 1854 Eureka Stockage, this mural is located at entrance to Reserve Bank of Australia in Melbourne, painting First-Class Marksman sold in 2010 for $5.4 million by the Art Gallery of NSW |
| 23 April 1962 | Elaine Smith | Scottish-Australian actress (Neighbours, Sons and Daughters, Flying Doctors, All Saints, Home & Away) | |
| 23 April 1955 | Judy Davis | Australian actress (Husbands & Wives, My Brilliant Career, A Passage to India, Serving in Silence, The Starter Wife), AACTA Award, two BAFTA Awards, three Emmy Awards, Golden Globe Award | |
| 23 April 1969 | Richard Wolstencroft Richard Masters | Australian filmmaker (Marauders, Bloodlust, Pearls Before Swine, The Beautiful and Damned), founder and director Melbourne Underground Film Festival (MUFF) | |
| 24 April 1877 | -1964 | Irene Longman Irene Maud Bayley | Australian politician and teacher, elected in 1929 to represent Country and Progressive National Party in seat of Bulimba in Queensland Legislative Assembly, as a woman never allowed to use parliamentary dining room but required to eat meals on the verandah, also during that time there were no women’s toilets in the parliamentary building, president of the National Council of Women of Queensland |
| 24 April 1941 | John Williams John Christopher Williams | Australian classical guitarist, Grammy Award 1973, visiting professor & honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music in London | |
| 24 April 1959 | Malcolm Oastler | Australian engineer, responsible for many designs at Reynard in racing categories: Formula Ford, Formula Ford 2000, Formula 3000 and IndyCar | |
| 25 April 1892 | -1964 | Ola Cohn Carola Cohn | Australian artist, best known for sculpture the Fairies Tree in Fitzroy Gardens Melbourne donated to children of Melboune, author (The Fairies Tree, Castles in the Air, Mostly Cats) |
| 25 April 1960 | Bruce Redman | Australian academic, filmmaker, Big Brother ( 2001–02 producer,director, writer), taught at Bond University, QUT and Griffith University, University of Queensland | |
| 25 April 1975 | Chris Lilley Christopher Daniel Lilley | Australian actor, comedian, writer (Big Bite, We Can Be Heroes, Summer Heights High, Angry Boys, Ja’mie: Private School Girl, Jonah from Tonga), two Logies 2006, two Logie Awards 2008, Logie Award 2014 | |
| 26 April 1916 | -1999 | Morris West Morris Langlo West | Australian playwright, novelist (The Devil’s Advocate (1959), Shoes of the Fisherman (1963), The Clowns of God(1981)), books published in 27 languages sold over 60 million copies worldwide, helped found Australian Society of Authors in 1960s, never won the acceptance of Australia’s literary clique, 1997 Oxford Literary History of Australia did not mention him at all |
| 26 April 1922 | Margaret Scott Catherine Margaret Mary Scott | South African-Australian ballet dancer, teacher, choreographer, helped found Australian Ballet School 1964 | |
| 26 April 1943 | Prue Acton Prudence Leigh Acton | Australian fashion designer, designed Australian Olympic uniforms (Lake Placid 1978, Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988), in 1967 became first Australian female designer to show her range of garments in New York, 1982 estimated world-wide sales of her designs were $11 million from sales in Australia and overseas, 2005 honoured on a commemorative Australian postage stamp with other Australian fashion designers | |
| 27 April 1967 | Erik Thomson | Scottish-Australian actor (Packed to the Rafters, The Alice, Pacific Drive, Always Greener, All Saints), 2003 Silver Logie | |
| 27 April 1969 | Spike Cheney Grahame Francis Cheney | Australian boxer, silver medal 1988 Summer Olympics Seoul (light welterweight), bronze medal 1990 Commonwealth Games Auckland (welterweight) | |
| 28 April 1795 | -1869 | Charles Sturt Charles Napier Sturt | British explorer of Australia, his explorations led to city of Adelaide being established, charted the Murray river from the Murrumbidgee River, rowed and sailed almost 2,900 kilometres of the river system, his party almost died of starvation, ordeal left him almost blind, developed scurvy while on later expeditions to reach the centre of Australia, appointed Colonia Secretary in Adelaide, unsuccessfully applied for position of Governor of Victoria and Governor of Queensland, he is commorated by Sturt’s Desert Pea, Sturt’s Desert Rose, Sturt Stony Desert, Sturt Highway, Charles Sturt University, buried in Cheltenham Cemetary, England |
| 28 April 1956 | Jimmy Barnes James Dixon Swan | Scottish-Australian singer, lead vocalist with rock band Cold Chisel, Barnes is his step-father’s surname, ARIA Hall of Fame 2005, ARIA Hall of Fame (with Cold Chisel) 2006, ARIA 1992, ARIA 1989 | |
| 29 April 1929 | -2014 | Peter Sculthorpe Peter Joshua Sculthorpe | Australian composer (Kakadu, Earth Cry, Irkanda, Rites of Passage), Emeritus Professor University of Sydney, 1982 a painting of Sculthorpe by artist Eric Smith won the Archibald Prize, an Australian Living Treasure |
| 29 April 1950 | Phillip Noyce | Australian film director (Patriot Games, Bone Collector, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Salt, Americana, Mary and Martha, Dead Calm, Revenge, The Giver, Catch a Fire) | |
| 29 April 1984 | Firass Dirani | Lebanese-Australian actor (Underbelly Golden Mile, Hacksaw Ridge, House Husbands, HOme & Away, All Saints, Potato Factory, Black Balloon, and Killer Elite), two Logie Awards 2011 | |
| 30 April 1943 | Paul Jennings | British-Australian children’s book writer (Rascal series, Cabbage Patch series, Gizmo series, Singenpoo series and others), winner of over 60 literary awards | |
| 30 April 1987 | Nikki Webster | Australian pop singer (Strawberry Kisses, Something More Beautiful), best known for starring in 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics opening ceremony |
