Carlton Movie House

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Carlton Movie House 235 Faraday Street, Melbourne, VIC – In 1981 Jessica Harcourt appeared at the premiere of the restoration of “For the Term of His Natural Life” at the Carlton Movie House. She is pictured out the front of the theatre.

Photo: Paul Coulter

Jessica Harcourt (1906–1988) was an Australian model, author and actor, best known for playing a leading role in the 1927 Australian Film “For the Term of His Natural Life”.

As a young woman her beauty attracted the attention of a representative of J.C. Williamson Ltd and she became a chorus girl. She later worked as a fashion model and after making her cinema debut as Sara Purfoy in For the Term of His Natural Life, appeared in The Adorable Outcast (1928) and The Russell Affair (1929). Sir John Longstaff painted several portraits of her, one of which hung in the National Gallery.

During the 1930s, Harcourt also wrote newspaper articles, had her own cosmetics line and produced a number of fashion shows. In 1938 she married the famous Australian author F. J. Thwaites and retired from acting. She and Thwaites had two children and remained married until his death in 1979. In 1981 she appeared at the premiere of the restoration of For the Term of His Natural Life – Contributed by Greg Lynch –