Lorraine Bayly, the award-winning Australian actor whose career spanned more than six decades across theatre, television and film, has died aged 89.

Best known to national audiences for her commanding performances in long-running television dramas, Bayly was equally at home on stage, where she built a reputation for intelligence, warmth and formidable presence.

Born in rural New South Wales in 1937, Bayly began performing professionally in the 1950s. In her late teens she took free acting classes with American director Hayes Gordon and, with fellow students, helped convert a Kirribilli boatshed into a theatre. She went on to become a founding member of Sydney’s Ensemble Theatre, helping launch the company at just 21. The theatre’s restaurant is named in her honour.

Her early stage highlights included The Man (1958-60), The Drunkard (1959), The Lonely Hearts (1960), The Buffalo Skinner (1961) and Fairytales of New York (1962), the latter earning particular acclaim. She remained closely associated with Ensemble through the 1960s and 1970s, appearing in productions such as The Rehearsal, Invitation to a March, The Rimers of Eldritch and...