AWARDS

Within Rowena's career she was continually recognised and acclaimed within the entertainment industry as one of Australia's most talented performers, but it wasn't until Rowena's portrayal in Sons and Daughters that the Australian public started to sit up and take notice.

Sons and Daughters went to air on January 31st, 1982 and quickly became the most watched show on Australian television. By the time the Logie Awards came around in April (with voting closing just 7 weeks after the show went to air), Sons and Daughters had received enough votes from the public to be nominated as one of the most popular drama series in the country and Rowena was quickly becoming the star of the series that the viewers tuned into to watch.

Later in 1982, Rowena's talent was formally recognised when she won the Penguin Award for Best Actress in a series. After only a few months starring as Patricia Hamilton, Rowena was the number one watched actress in Australia and her peers within the industry presented her with this acclaimed award.

Right:Rowena with Sons and Daughters co-star Tom Richards and fellow Penguin Award winner Lorrae Desmond.

By the time the Logie Awards came around in 1983, and after only 12 months on television, Sons and Daughters was the country's leading drama series (winning the Best Drama Series Logie), and Rowena was voted Most Popular Female Personality on Australian television, winning the Silver Logie. One of Rowena's co-stars in Sons and Daughters was Stephen Comey (Kevin Palmer in the series), who also won the Best New Talent Logie.

The Following year in1984, Rowena was nominated again in the Silver Logie catagory as well as the award for the Best Actress in a Series Logie (an award judged by professionals within the industry rather than the public), but even more impressive was Rowena's third nomination for the night in the form of the Gold Logie. Rowena didn't win the Gold Logie on the night but did take out the Silver Logie for the second year in a row and also the Best Actress in a Series Logie.

Rowena in her dressing room after winning one of her Logies and her acceptance speech for the Silver Logie.

Here is an excerpt from the Star Enquirer Magazine after the Loges telecast:

Rowena had been voted Best Actress by "Star Enquirer Magazine" readers only a day before the telecast, and there was an air of expectancy over Rowena's prospects for the Gold Logie. Rowena lost out on the Gold, to television personality Bert Newton, and according to reports, many industry folk were caught off guard by this turn of events. Rowena was the obvious peoples chioce and a popular favourite with the majority of the guests at the telecast and most of the Sydney and Melbourne media. The general consensus, and the Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, sat among the guests, was that Rowena was a certainty for the Gold Logie. The PM was invited specifically to present the Gold Logie and gave Rowena a sizeable wink as she passed his table on the way to the dias to receive the first of her Logies. Observers on the night said it was a "see you later for the Gold" wink. Logie management went to special lengths to ensure Rowena attended. For days leading up to the Logies night and the nationally televised event, Rowena was a firm favaourite with the betting fraternity. Rowena literally sparkeled when she gave her acceptance speach for the Best Actress Award. Friends say she never looked better, and even in the absence of the Gold Logie for herself she continued to smile and show confidence. "You wont get Ro to say anything about the Logies. They put her through the wringers. We know who should have won Gold," says one of her Sons and Daughters co-stars.

When Logie night came around again in 1985, Rowena had left her starring role in Sons and Daughters six months earlier and had not been seen on television for 3 months. Rowena was again nominated in the three catagories that she had been the previous year. She again took out the Best Actress in a Series Logie, but missed out on the Silver Logie that she had taken home on the two previous years. Rowena was nominated against the top male personalities in Australia for the Gold Logie. This year however Rowena didn't lose out in the male dominated award and took home the coveted Gold Logie.She created Logie history by being the first woman to take home the Gold Logie. (In previous years there were two Gold Logies, one for males and one for females, and then this was replaced by the Silver Logie catagory and a new single Gold catagory was created in the form of the Most Popular Personality in Australia.)