The Australian actor Carol Burns, who has died of cancer aged 68, gained a cult following worldwide as the butch biker Franky Doyle in the TV soap opera Prisoner (titled Prisoner: Cell Block H outside Australia). The show featured the female inmates of the fictional Wentworth Detention Centre, where Franky was serving a life sentence for armed robbery and murder.
From the first episode, in 1979, Franky was making advances to fellow prisoners. She also revealed to the tough warder Vera Bennett (played by Fiona Spence) that she was known by the nickname “Vinegar Tits”, and blamed it on another inmate, “Queen” Bea Smith (Val Lehman). Franky briefly took over the mantle as Wentworth’s “top dog” on Bea’s release but was knocked down – with Bea’s fists – on her return.
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