Early life

^[5] Phillips was born as Hazel Lovegrove in Battersea (now Wandsworth), County of London (now south London). She has been singing and dancing since the age of three and in 1948 won the beauty pageant Miss South England. At the age of 20, she became engaged to Bill Phillips, a carpenter turned TV director and they emigrated to Australia as "Ten Pound Poms" in 1950–51, marrying shortly afterwards and having two children: Mark (born 1953) and Scott (born 1955). In 1961, at a time there were no seat belts in vehicles, the family was involved in a serious car accident, and Phillips sustained severe injuries to her chin. Her marriage broke up some time afterwards, with Phillips suggesting that the surgeries on her chin, her husband's infidelity and an ectopic pregnancy contributed to the break-up.

Early career

Phillips started her career at radio 2UE, having won a talent contest for Miss Television in Australia. Active in television since its inception in Australia, she became one of the first personalities on Network Seven. in 1963, Phillips made her break into show business with a role on the talk show Beauty and the Beast opposite beast Eric Baume. She also began to appear on the satirical The Mavis Bramston Show, where she became a regular after having to choose between Bramston and Beauty and the Beast.^[9]

Gold Logie, television, film and theatre

After leaving the Seven network she hosted the midday talk show Girl Talk on the fledgling Network Ten, for which she won the Gold Logie Award for the most popular female personality on Australian television in 1967.^[10] This was won jointly with Graham Kennedy who won the male award. She was the second female star to win that honour after entertainer Lorrae Desmond, who won in 1962.^[9] She had guest roles on numerous television shows including Number 96 (as a lesbian sharing a flat with Vera), Matlock Police, A Country Practice, G.P. and Pacific Drive, as well as mini-series Bride of Christ.

Films include The Set (as a nude swimmer), Midnight Dancer, Walking Emily Home. and Monster Problems

Theatre roles starting from 1956 include The Circle, Henry V, Pride and Prejudice and The Merry Wives of Windsor^[4]

She also featured in a Marilyn Monroe Cabaret Show in 2002^[11]

In 2020, Phillips spoke to the Studio 10 program about gender pay gaps in the entertainment industry, stating female television hosts were paid less than their male counterparts, and that in the 1960s she had been paid less than one-tenth of the salaries paid to stars like Graham Kennedy and Don Lane.^[12]

Film and television