Ningali Lawford

Ningali Lawford was an Aboriginal Australian actress whose career began in dance and theater before she moved into film and television. She was born in 1967 at Wangkatjungka, near Fitzroy Crossing in Western Australia. She studied dance at the Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre in Sydney, then performed with Bangarra Dance Theatre, where she also served as a cultural consultant and voice artist. Her first acting work came in the musical Bran Nue Dae, staged in Perth in 1990, and she later appeared in its 2009 film version. In 1994 her one-woman show Ningali opened in Perth and toured internationally, winning a Fringe First Award at the 1995 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and a 1996 Green Room Award. She played Maude in Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002) and Polly in Last Cab to Darwin (2015), and was nominated for an AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She provided the voice of Nanna in Little J & Big Cuz, an animated series.