Superstar Australian singer and trailblazing feminist icon Helen Reddy dies aged 78 in Los Angeles… just months after her I Am Woman biopic is released
Australian singer Helen Reddy has died aged 78.
Reddy, best-known for her hit I Am Woman, died in Los Angeles.
The Melbourne-born songstress and activist, whose life was recently crafted into the hit movie I Am Woman on Stan, was known for anthems such as Delta Dawn and Ain’t No Way To Treat A Lady.
Australian singer Helen Reddy (pictured in 2006) has died aged 78
Helen was diagnosed with dementia in 2015, and had since been living in a nursing home in LA for retired Hollywood talent.
She was a pioneer behind the women’s rights movement of the 1970s, and the her passing comes just months after film ‘I Am Woman’ depicted the wondrous changes she made throughout her career.
The film is set in the early days of Helen’s music career, shortly after she moved to America in the 1970s, in the middle of the women’s rights movement.
Her song, I Am Woman, became an anthem for the movement, but it wasn’t without some hardships, with Helen having to convince record executives of its value.
Change: Helen was a pioneer behind the women’s rights movement of the 1970s, and the film I Am Woman depicted the wondrous changes she made throughout her career
She also had to fight for fair pay, after learning her all-male band was earning more money than she was.
The film stars Australian actress Tilda Cobham-Hervey as Helen, and also features Evan Peters and Danielle Macdonald.
The inspiring story is directed by female filmmaker Unjoo Moon, and is from the producers behind The Sapphires, the 2012 movie starring Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy and Chris O’Dowd.
In an interview with Billboard in September, Tilda, 25, said she opted not to meet Helen before working on the movie.
Her battle: Helen was diagnosed with dementia in 2015, and had since been living in a nursing home in LA for retired Hollywood talent
She said she only met the legendary singer ‘right at the end’ of filming, calling it ‘a creative choice’.
‘Helen is at a very different stage in her life now. We’re obviously talking about her from the age of 24 to 48, and it was really important that I stayed present within that part of her life,’ the actress explained at the time.
‘There’s also so much information about her. I read her book, which was really helpful. There’s a million interviews and all her performances, and the director Unjoo had such a close relationship with her and her family that I had all the knowledge and research that I needed.’
She added: ‘We’re still making a film and creating characters, and I fell so in love with her that I think I would’ve found it really hard to meet her.’
More to follow.
Biopic: Helen Reddy got the recognition she deserves in a biopic about her life, titled I Am Woman. Pictured: actress Tilda Cobham-Hervey in I Am Woman