Christine Joy Amphlett (1959 - 2013)

Born 25 Oct 1959 in Geelong, Victoria, Australia

Ancestors

Died 21 Apr 2013 at age 53 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States

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Biography

Christine Amphlett is Notable.

• Chrissy Amphlett was a singer, songwriter, actress, and the lead singer for Australian rock band Divinyls, best known for her brash, overtly sexual persona and subversive humour in lyrics, performances and media interviews. She portrayed Judy Garland in multiple stage productions of The Boy from Oz (a musical based on the life of singer and songwriter Peter Allen).

Life Events

Chrissy Amphlett performing at Expo-88.

Born in Geelong, Victoria to James Amphlett, a World War II Army Veteran, and Mary Banbrook, Chrissy was raised in nearby Belmont with an older sister. Her mother's family provided a strong influence for her musical and acting talents from a very young age.
Chrissy's grandparents held singalongs around the piano in their home. Her mother Mary was an enthusiastic comedian, pianist and performer, and a pillar of the Geelong Musical Comedy Company, which led to Chrissy's involvement with the Company. Her grand uncle, Ernest Sage, was an opera singer and was also a great singer of choral hymns.^[1]

Chrissy performed in bands since the early 1970s, including Daisy Clover, One Ton Gypsy and Steamhammer. She is best known as one of the founding members of the rock band Divinyls, which formed in Sydney in 1980, and she co-wrote most of their hits. Ian McFarlane, author of The Encyclopedia of Australian rock and pop, wrote:

Chrissy Amphlett.

Amphlett strutted her stuff across stages the world over, astounding or bewildering audiences with her displays of school uniform-clad bump 'n' grind burlesque, unrestrained sexuality and animal grace.^[2]

Divinyls' debut single Boys In Town came from the soundtrack to the movie Monkey Grip, in which Chrissy played the small speaking part of Angela.^[3][4] Science Fiction was released in 1982 and reached number 13 in the Australian music chart. In 2001, Science Fiction was selected by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) as one of the Top 30 Australian songs of all time.^[5] Some of their better known songs following were Siren (Never Let You Go), Only Lonely, Good Die Young, In My Life and Pleasure and Pain. The band's biggest-selling single I Touch Myself achieved a number 1 ranking in Australia, number 4 in the United States, number 10 in the United Kingdom and number 13 in Canada. The Divinyls line up changed often over the years but Chrissy remained until the end.^[2]

Chrissy Amphlett performing at Expo-88.

Chrissy and Divinyls co-founder and bandmate Mark McEntee were romantically involved from 1982-1993. Their relationship was turbulent, and when under the influence of alcohol or drugs, they had screaming matches that sometimes degenerated into physical fights.^[6]After a falling out in 1996, they had no contact with each other for ten years, although Divinyls had not officially dissolved. They did not speak again until Divinyls was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2006.^[7]

Chrissy Amphlett.

Away from the band, there was also a stage career. Chrissy had a role in the sexually explicit musical Let My People Come,^[8] she played the role of Mrs Johnstone in the Australian production of Blood Brothers,^[9] and the role of Judy Garland in the Australian production of The Boy From Oz.^[10]

Christine Died From from Breast Cancer

Chrissy died as a result of breast cancer diagnosed four years previously, in the Manhattan apartment that she shared with her husband of 14 years, Charley Drayton, a former Divinyls drummer. She was unable to receive conventional treatment, due to concurrent illness with multiple sclerosis, which was diagnosed in 2005.^[11]

Chrissy’s family and friends and the Cancer Council of New South Wales launched the breast cancer awareness project I Touch Myself in 2014, as a tribute to her. The video features 10 leading female Australian artists singing Amphlett's song.^[12]

Sources

1. ↑ Amphlett, Chrissy. Pleasure and Pain: My Life, edited by Larry Writer. Sydney, NSW: Hachette Australia, 2009., chapter 1.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} McFarlane, Ian. The Encyclopedia of Australian rock and pop. 1999. Allen & Unwin. (Internet Archive, http://www.archive.org : accessed 24 Oct 2020) entry for Divinyls, pages 177-178.
3. ↑ Monkey Grip Soundtrack (Internet Movie Database, http://www.imdb.com : accessed 24 Oct 2020).
4. ↑ Monkey Grip (Internet Movie Database, http://www.imdb.com : accessed 24 Oct 2020).
5. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "APRA Top 30 Australian songs," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=APRA_Top_30_Australian_songs&oldid=1057443709 (accessed February 22, 2022).
6. ↑ Amphlett, Chrissy. Pleasure and Pain: My Life, pp 147-149.
7. ↑ Adams, Cameron (16 November 2007). "Fine line between pleasure and pain for Divinyls". (Herald Sun, Melbourne, Victoria., http://www.news.com.au : accessed 24 Oct 2020).
8. ↑ Amphlett, Chrissy. Pleasure and Pain: My Life, p 61.
9. ↑ Amphlett, Chrissy. Pleasure and Pain: My Life, pp 228-234.
10. ↑ Amphlett, Chrissy. Pleasure and Pain: My Life, p 311.
11. ↑ "Chrissy Amphlett dead at 53". (The Age, Melbourne, Victoria. 22 April 2013. Accessed 24 Oct 2020).
12. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Chrissy Amphlett," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, (accessed February 22, 2022).

See also:

• Wikipedia : Chrissy Amphlett
• Wikidata: Item Q2659332, en:Wikipedia