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After purchasing The
Stables, Seaborn to set up the Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation (SBW), funded mostly by himself but including his cousins Peter Broughton and Leslie Walford and various friends. The Foundation later took ownership of The Stables. As of 2023 Walford is president of SBW.
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The award is given for the development of an approved type of performing arts project, and provides financial assistance for playwrights while they are writing or developing the work. It may also assist with production costs, workshops, and other costs, and may be awarded to a single person or
252:. He published various works about alcoholism and sat on national and international bodies, including vice-president of the International Council on Alcohol and Addictions in 1968. He was a patron of two major Australian alcohol and drug foundations after retirement.
345:. He established SB&W Friends of the Independent, and with the support of this group as well as the local council and wider community, the Independent was fully restored, and reopened in 1998. It was later sold to the Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 2004.
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Rodney
Frederick Marsden Seaborn was born in 1912. His parents were Leslie, a solicitor and amateur actor, and Ethel Seaborn, a singer. His paternal great-grandfather, Hugh Seaborn, had migrated from England to Australia in 1850, becoming the first
439:, administered from 1973 until 2020 by a group of Sydney theatre-lovers known as The Glugs. This group's major award was named The Rodney Seaborn Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award (or Rodney Seaborn Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement).
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For some years before his death he worked on securing the future of the foundation, and was keen to ensure that his bequest continued to benefit the performing arts. To this end, he formed a partnership with NIDA around 2000.
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He was the founding president of the
Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation (SBW), and the Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award was established in 2000 funded by him and continued by a dedicated trust fund.
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The annual Rodney
Seaborn Playwrights Award was established when NIDA entered into a partnership with SBW. The inaugural award went to Antony Waddington in 2000, to develop his adaptation of
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After the Second World War, Seaborn returned to Sydney to look after his mother and sister, Mollie, who was also unwell. He then returned to London with his mother, and studied psychiatry at
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jointly, for example to writers, composers, designers, directors, and producers working on a project. It is funded by the
Seaborn Trust, from Rodney Seaborn's estate, not the Foundation.
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on 26 May 2008. Justice Lloyd Waddy, who had been a founder member of SBW, along with Hon. Tony
Larkins, wrote a long eulogy, relating that the press had described Rodney as a "
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at NIDA, along with the safekeeping of its valuable archives, known as the
Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation Archive, Library and Performing Arts Collection.
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He grew up with a love of theatre. His maternal grandmother, Edith, often took him to the theatre as a child. The first play Rodney recalled seeing was a production of
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Seaborn never married, although he said he had been close a few times. He belonged to several clubs, including
Australasian Pioneers and the
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Before beginning his studies, Seaborn made his first real estate investment, buying a block of land at
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when he was seven years old. He attended
Edgecliff Preparatory School, and then boarding school at
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Wilson, G. C. (George
Charles); Diehm, A. P. (Andrew Peter); Seaborn, R. F. (Rodney F.) (1978),
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In the 1950s, Seaborn returned to Australia and worked extensively with returning servicemen at
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His father was an alcoholic and died when Rodney was 19, which caused his mother to suffer
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In 1956, Seaborn established a private psychiatric hospital, Alanbrook, in a large house
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Suffering from severe stagefright, however, he fell down and was unable to get back up.
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The Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation was a major contributor to the annual
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Seaborn died on 17 May 2008. His funeral was held at All Saints Anglican Church in
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Ken Healey AM (former theatre reviewer, later teacher of playwriting at NIDA)
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He retired in his 70s and devoted the rest of his life to philanthropy.
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In 1956 he bought Alanbrook for use as a psychiatric hospital.
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The Rodney Seaborn Award continues his philanthropic legacy.
571:"The Founder – Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation"
699:"Curtain down on a generous supporter of Sydney theatre"
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791:"Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award: Winners 2000-2022"
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Seaborn supported the development and production of
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Alcohol in Australia : problems and programmes
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84:(1912 − 17 May 2008) was an Australian
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244:In addition, Seaborn consulted at
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456:Officer of the Order of Australia
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620:Taffel, Jacqui (18 March 2006).
385:Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award
73:Rodney Frederick Marsden Seaborn
47:Rodney Frederick Marsden Seaborn
738:Simmonds, Diana (17 May 2008).
838:Healey, Ken (1 October 2006).
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179:in 1939. He was working as an
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220:Concord Repatriation Hospital
66:Patron of the performing arts
622:"Just outside the limelight"
368:. The foundation funded the
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740:"Dr Rodney Seaborn, Ao Obe"
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224:Callan Park Mental Hospital
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627:The Sydney Morning Herald
335:Elizabethan Theatre Trust
191:bombed London during the
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443:Recognition and honours
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503:Rodney Seaborn Library
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185:Charing Cross Hospital
465:Sydney Theatre Awards
395:The Eye of the Storm
259:Property investments
250:University of Sydney
248:and lectured at the
214:Career in psychiatry
177:University of London
173:University of Sydney
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339:Independent Theatre
322:, which he took to
319:The Tale of a Tiger
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333:In 1993, when the
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312:'s one-man show,
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744:Stage Noise
710:24 December
633:24 December
580:24 December
290:Kings Cross
265:Whale Beach
208:shell shock
127:Third Fleet
58:17 May 2008
935:Categories
534:References
292:, home of
230:, Sydney.
166:Queensland
154:depression
489:Woollahra
424:Lee Lewis
393:'s novel
189:Luftwaffe
868:"Awards"
314:Dario Fo
158:car hire
115:Gundagai
411:- Chair
28:AO, OBE
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454:1998:
448:1997:
380:Awards
364:, and
356:, the
324:Berlin
235:Mosman
204:Surrey
181:intern
111:rector
90:Sydney
872:Glugs
794:(PDF)
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55:Died
50:1912
43:Born
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