Julie Moncrieff AnthonyAMOBE (née Lush, born 24 August 1949^[2]) is an Australian former professional singer and entertainer.^[3]

Anthony is well known for her brief stint in place ofJudith Durham, as lead singer ofThe Seekers

A soprano, she has recorded both jazz and pop and is well-known for her live singing performances, variety appearances and roles in cabaret and theatre. Anthony has performed with numerous artists includingSimon Gallagher andAnthony Warlow at theSydney Opera House^[4]

She recorded an album with jazz performerDon Burrows calledTogether at Last.^[2]

She sang theAustralian national anthem at the Opening Ceremony of the2000 Sydney Olympics withHuman Nature.

Anthony was born to Betty and Les Lush, a sheep and wheat farmer and had an older brother. Steven. She is from a family of aunts, uncles, and grandparents who all worked in the farming sector.^[2] Les Lush played professionalAustralian rules football forGlenelg in theSouth Australian National Football League, playing 34 games and kicking 126 goals.^[5]

Anthony worked on the family farm before deciding on a singing career, citing her musical influences asElla Fitzgerald andBurt Bacharach. She was billed originally in her career under her birth name of Julie Lush. She started performing in a local band and won a talent contest and began performing on the TV programThe Country and Western Hour hosted byReg Lindsay. She also appeared in her native Adelaide onThe Ernie Sigley Show before performing regularly onThe Graham Kennedy Show.

Anthony married Eddie Natt in 1976 and has two daughters, Talitha and Tamara.

She sang with the Seekers, first taking the place ofJudith Durham as the lead vocalist in the song "The Carnival Is Over" for the Closing Ceremony ofExpo '88. Later, Anthony became a member of the group withBruce Woodley,Athol Guy andKeith Potger. They released an album,Live On, in March 1989, which peaked at number 26.

In 1991, she recorded the song "Ordinary Miracles" for the 1991 Australian animated fantasy movieThe Magic Riddle. In 1992, she also recorded another song, "Sleep Bush Baby Sleep", for theYoram Gross movieBlinky Bill The Mischievous Koala.

Anthony starred in both the Australian andWest End productions of the musicalIrene in the mid-1970s. She won the Commercial Broadcasting Federation Award in Australia for Best Easy Listening Album 1975. Her first performance in the musical, at the Adelphi Theatre, London, was 15 June 1976.

Her numerous theatre performances includeThe Sound of Music,I Do! I Do! andThe Mikado.^[4]

At midnight between 31 December 1987 and 1 January 1988, in celebration of the start ofAustralia's Bicentennial year, Anthony sang the Australiannational anthem, "Advance Australia Fair", on the national broadcaster, theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation, which continued to show the recording of her performance at the close of broadcasting for many years afterwards, until the broadcaster introduced 24-hour broadcasting.

Anthony was well-known for her appearances for theSt George Bank, in which she featured from 1974 to 1999. In 1993 she released a version of "Puff the Magic Dragon" in conjunction with the bank as part of an advertising campaign.

Anthony is among the most awarded of Australian entertainers. She was made anOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) (1980)^[9] and aMember of the Order of Australia (AM) (1989)^[10]

The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as theMo Awards), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. Julie Anthony won thirteen awards in that time.^[12]

• Julie Anthony atIMDb

• 1949 births
• Living people
• Singers from South Australia
• Australian sopranos
• Australian musical theatre actresses
• Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire
• Members of the Order of Australia
• 20th-century Australian women singers
• Blinky Bill

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