Thelma Afford

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Thelma May Afford (née Thomas) was an Australian costume designer, theatre performer, and fashion journalist who worked in Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney. She lived from 1 December 1907 to 21 August 1996.

Early life
- Born Thelma Thomas in Broken Hill, New South Wales.
- Her family moved to Adelaide, where she attended the Presbyterian Girls' College and studied drawing and design.
- She taught art at the South Australian School of Arts and Crafts and acted in stage productions from 1932 to 1934.

Marriage
- Moved to Melbourne in 1934 to study at the Technical College.
- Met her future husband, Max Afford, while designing costumes for his play Colonel Light: The Founder in Adelaide.
- Thelma and Max married on 16 April 1938 in Sydney. They lived near the Balmoral Beach and had no children. A close friend described a deep, tender bond between them.

Professional life

Acting and design beginnings
- In the early 1930s, Thelma acted in Adelaide, including works with the Ab-Intra Studio Theatre.
- She began designing costumes in Adelaide and later worked with the Adelaide Repertory Theatre.

Designer career
- In Melbourne, she designed costumes for the centenary pageant in 1934 and became a resident designer at Minerva Theatre (1940–1950).
- She created costumes for Max Afford’s plays and for other writers, including Bella and Samuel Spewack, through the 1940s and 1950s.
- Thelma also worked with Garrick Theatre and the Tivoli circuit in Melbourne.
- In 1957, she designed costumes for Cinderella, the pantomime, at the Elizabethan Theatre, praised for its period styling.

Cinema and television
- In film, she was a costume designer for Cecil Kellaway in Mr. Chedworth Steps Out (1939) and for Charles Chauvel’s Sons of Matthew and Cobb and Co. (1947); she also collaborated with Cinesound Productions.
- On television, she did costume design for live drama with the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC), including J. M. Barrie’s The Twelve-Pound Look (1956) and other productions such as The Importance of Being Earnest (broadcast 1957), Ending It, Pride and Prejudice, Three-Cornered Moon, and A Phoenix Too Frequent.
- She noted that TV costume design focused on the upper body and used black-and-white tonal ranges.

Writing and teaching
- Thelma wrote articles for drama journals and newspapers.
- She authored a posthumous book, Dreamers and Visionaries, about Adelaide’s little theatres in the early 20th century (published in 2004).
- She taught art earlier in her career and later returned to teaching from 1955 to 1978 at Queenwood School for Girls in Mosman as Senior Art Mistress.

Death and legacy
- Max Afford died suddenly in 1954 at age 48.
- Thelma remained in Sydney until her death in 1996.
- She left funds to establish two awards: the Max Afford Playwrights’ Award (US$10,000 annually) and the Thelma Afford Theatre, Stage, TV or Film Costume Design Award (US$7,500).
- Her costume designs are held in major libraries, including the State Library of South Australia, the State Library of New South Wales, and the Fryer Library at the University of Queensland.

Publications and resources
- Dreamers and Visionaries: Adelaide’s Little Theatres from the 1920s to the early 1940s.
- Articles and papers on Australian theatre and costume design, including works on Ab-Intra Studio Theatre and other early Australian theatrical efforts.

Thelma Afford made lasting contributions as a designer, performer, and writer, helping shape Australian theatre, film, and fashion journalism across several decades.