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Colleagues farewell well-loved unit nurse Jacquie Robertson in Melbourne

Robertson fishing in Karumba in 2005.

Script supervisor Pam Willis Burden remembers her friend and colleague, who died at home in New Zealand earlier this month.

Film and television industry colleagues in Melbourne recently gathered to say farewell to Jacquie Robertson, a well-loved unit nurse.

Jacquie came from New Zealand and amused many crew members with her strong accent and funny expressions  like "chilly bin" for eski.

Her film career began with Crocodile Dundee in 1985 and she worked on over 40 feature films as well as television series, travelling all over Australia and overseas.

Some of her prominent films include The Matrix, The Quiet American, Star Wars II, Moulin Rouge, The Thin Red Line, Paradise Road and Dead Calm.

As a main-unit nurse on feature films, she was responsible for crew and cast often numbering in their hundreds, and she co-coordinated the medical department for multiple units.

She had her table and kit on the edge of set and many “patients” visited every day, asking for anything from aspirin or vitamins to advice about serious illnesses and affairs of the heart. 

Essential for any production was her presence in case of an accident, and she was called on many times. The most important was when stuntman Chris Anderson was trapped between two yachts while filming Wind (1992) in Fremantle. Jacquie was on the spot in minutes reassuring him, and saved his life although unfortunately he had to lose his leg.

Jacquie had a great knowledge of tropical ailments and travelled with crews many times to South-East Asia. Her dedication to the well-being of everybody took her into hotel rooms late at night checking on her patients, having already spent 12 hours on set.

She treated everybody alike, from international stars to the lowliest of the crew. She could miraculously produce the most effective medication and had close associations with many local doctors when on location.

Other duties included medical research for directors, especially for war films, looking after cast babies and toddlers and their mothers during shooting, and giving on-set advice for medical procedures like bandaging and the appearance of wounds.

Her car was set up as a mini-ambulance with a stretcher and resus equipment and her well-known eski was always crammed with medical supplies.

When she was not working, her great loves were fishing, especially in New Zealand, and travelling.

With her jangly bracelets and her rich throaty laugh, Jacquie was a loved and respected unsung hero of the industry, and holder of many secrets which will now never be told.

She passed away on March 7 from a terminal illness at her beloved Whitianga in New Zealand. 

As Jacquie would say – "Bon soir" to a wonderful, caring lady.

  1. This is terribly sad.
    I remember Jacqui so well from over 30 years ago. She was our onset nurse on a JNP production called The Last Warhorse. I was 14. She was so kind and loving and funny during those long days and nights on set. When filming was finished she took me and two of the other child actors from the show to see ‘The Gods must be Crazy’ at the cinema in town. She loved the movie and wanted to share it with us. We loved her. I ran into her several times since then and the emotional connection forged back in 1984 was still there, even though so much time had passed.
    Jacqui represented so much of what I thought was ‘magic’ about a film set. Honest conversations about things that mattered, with a hearty laugh at all the craziness that plays out on a film set too!
    Vale beautiful woman.
    Rob.

  2. What a huge loss to all. As mentioned in the article one of the great unsung heroes of the Industry.

  3. Sad to hear but I do remember good times with Jacqui. While working on Matrix Jacqui helped me build a complete first aid kit for Unit which I have used ever since.
    Very helpful and lovely person.
    At the end of Matrix she gave me a little buddha which I still have mounted on my ute.
    Thank you Jacqui, travel well.

  4. Very sad to hear of Jacquie’ passing, she was a fantastic lady and i always looked forward to seeing her at work.

    I owe her my endless gratitude for preserving my sanity whilst working on Rabbit Proof Fence.

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