Saskia Post (original) (raw)

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American-born Australian actress (1960–2020)

Saskia Post
Born Saskia Steenkamer(1960-08-01)1 August 1960Martinez, California, US
Died 16 March 2020(2020-03-16) (aged 59)Melbourne, Australia
Nationality Australian
Occupation Actress
Years active 1982–2020

Saskia Post (1 August 1960 – 16 March 2020) was a US-born Australian actress.[1] She is best known for her leading role in the 1986 film Dogs in Space.[1] Post also acted in the 1985 film Bliss and the 1991 film Proof,[2] as well as numerous Australian television series.

Saskia Post was born in Martinez, California, in 1961. Her Dutch parents moved between America and Japan, before settling in Australia in 1975.[2] At high school she studied acting and singing and after completing high school she spent a year attending acting workshops and dance classes in Sydney. She studied writing at RMIT. She then commenced a degree course in drama and arts at the University of New South Wales but gave it up after 12 months to attend a full-time course at The Drama Studio in Sydney in 1981.

Shortly after completing her studies, Post obtained her first television role as Julianna Sleven, a Dutch refugee, in The Sullivans,[3] an Australian drama television series about an average middle-class Melbourne family and the effect World War II had on their lives.[4] Post moved to Melbourne and worked on the series for 12 months before leaving in 1984 to take part in the John Duigan film One Night Stand,[3] in which she played Eva, a Czech-born bank teller.[5]

In 1985, Post appeared in the AFI Award winning film Bliss as Honey Barbara's daughter.[3] This was followed in 1986 with a feature role in the Richard Lowenstein film Dogs in Space,[3] a story about a group of young musicians and music fans sharing a house in the inner Melbourne suburb of Richmond. In the film, Post played the role of Anna, the girlfriend of Sam (Michael Hutchence).[6][7]

Post also appeared in numerous stage productions in Melbourne and Sydney, including Hating Alison Ashley, Salome, Endgrain, Train to Transcience, Could I Have this Dance?, In Angel Gear, Figures in Glass, Skin and Vincent in Brixton.[8]

Personal life and death

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Post lived her final years in Trentham, Victoria, where she worked as a transpersonal art therapist and worked at a local primary school as an integration aide.[9]

Post died following a cardiac arrest from complications stemming from a congenital heart condition, at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne on 16 March 2020. She was 59.[10]

[11]

  1. ^ a b Benedictus, Luke (23 October 2005). "The lost Post". The Age. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  2. ^ a b O'Brien, Kerrie (19 March 2020). "'She really lit up the screen': Dogs In Space actor Saskia Post dies". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d Caputo, Juan (July 2009). "Interview with Richard Lowenstein". Senses of Cinema. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  4. ^ Morris, Jill (18 February 1982). "Sullivans import problem solvers". The Age. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  5. ^ Mitchell, Charles P. (2001). A Guide to Apocalyptic Cinema. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 175. ISBN 9780313315275.
  6. ^ "INXS' Hutchence in Screen Debut". The Canberra Times. 27 November 1986. p. 4 Supplement: The Good Times. Retrieved 29 April 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "The Aussie Film Database Dogs in Space". Australian Cinema Unit at Murdoch University. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  8. ^ Cluff, Caleb (18 March 2020). "'A great actor and a great human: Saskia Post remembered". The Courier. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  9. ^ "Phoenix Prospectus Bachelor Degree and Vocational Education (VET)" (PDF). Phoenix Institute of Australia. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  10. ^ "'Dogs In Space' Star Passes Away". The Music. 18 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  11. ^ https://ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/4611