How Lillian Frank became Melbourne’s first ‘influencer’
Before social media, there was Lillian Frank. As the famed social columnist turns 90, she shares memories from her life on the red carpet among the rich and powerful, from Bill Clinton to Princess Diana, and reveals what she thinks of the modern celebrity scene.
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She was a one-woman social media network for the city of Melbourne for four decades.
Nothing could happen in the city without Lillian Frank being there for the rich and famous to confide in.
“She was an influencer — before they coined the term,” Lillian’s daughter Jackie told the Herald Sun.
“Everyone followed her. The newspaper would turn up to our house before the Melbourne Cup to photograph her in what she was wearing.”
Lillian celebrates her 90th birthday on Friday, with husband Richard and family.
But she took time out to share her memories of life on the red carpet among the rich and powerful. The memories easily skip over celebrities of the past half century, from Bill Clinton to Mother Teresa to Princess Diana.
“The best party I ever went to was the opening of the Mirage resort — by Pixie and Christopher Skase — in Queensland. The dining room was all glassed in and beautiful,” she says of the 1987 party.
Lillian became a shining light of the social set after setting up her Toorak hairdressing salon and then as a society columnist for 40 years — first for the Herald, and then the Herald Sun. But soon her warm personality and love for life would make her as instantly recognisable as the people she wrote about.
Her salon on Toorak Rd is where she would meet the likes of then-prime minister’s wife, Sonia McMahon. She made contacts for life.
As Jackie tells it, the salon had a pull and a power greater than social media.
“The gossip used to happen in the salons … And all the socialites and celebrities, everybody would come through,” Jackie says.
“I remember Kirk Douglas, he and his wife came to the salon when they were in town. Helmut Newton came in. Celebrities were always there.”
For her part, Lillian thinks the modern red carpet scene, with the advent of social media and influencers, lacks the characters of yesteryear.
“I think it is not as good as before. I think the people who were there were clear about what their lives were, and they were giving to society,” she says. “They were not selfish and saying ‘here I am, take my picture’. They were classy and they did some wonderful things. They did good for others.”
Lillian has views on the current Royal scene as well — supporting Harry and Meghan’s shock move from royal duties.
“I love it because they are doing what they want to do. They are very clever, we are underestimating them,” she says.
At the same time, it is said that she can’t wait to reach 100 to get her letter from the Queen. But after a lifetime on the red carpet, who did she warm to the most?
“I loved Fergie, and Jean Shrimpton,” Lillian says. “People were saying this thing and that thing about them — all made up stories.”
Lillian’s legend grew after she was the hair stylist for British model Shrimpton, who made headlines when she wore a white mini skirt to Derby Day at Flemington.
She says Sarah, Duchess of York, despite “so many people talking about her” was one of her favourites: “She was honest,” Lillian says.
She counts her work setting up alcohol and drug rehabilitation centre Odyssey House Victoria as among her best achievements.
She received an OBE in 1977 and was made a Member of the Order of Australia, AM, in 1991 for her fundraising efforts including Odyssey and the Royal Children’s Hospital.
She learnt from her mother how important it is to give back to those in need.
As a little girl during World War II the family was forced to flee their native Burma as the Japanese invaded, they settled in Calcutta in India.
“That is where mum learnt about charity,” Jackie says.
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“Her mother would have all these women come and they would go into a locked room. She asked ‘mummy what is in that room’?
“One day she sneaked into the room it was bed linen and silver — full of things — her mother was collecting dowries for girls who didn’t have them.”
Jackie pays tribute to her mum, saying she just does things by instinct: “She knew how to market without knowing it was marketing. It was innate.” “She never made money out of it.’’