Robertson fishing in Karumba in 2005.
Script supervisor Pam Willis Burden remembers her friend and colleague, who died at home in New Zealand earlier this month.
Film and television industry colleagues in Melbourne recently gathered to say farewell to Jacquie Robertson, a well-loved unit nurse.
Jacquie came from New Zealand and amused many crew members with her strong accent and funny expressions – like "chilly bin" for eski.
Her film career began with Crocodile Dundee in 1985 and she worked on over 40 feature films as well as television series, travelling all over Australia and overseas.
Some of her prominent films include The Matrix, The Quiet American, Star Wars II, Moulin Rouge, The Thin Red Line, Paradise Road and Dead Calm.
As a main-unit nurse on feature films, she was responsible for crew and cast often numbering in their hundreds, and she co-coordinated the medical department for multiple units.
She had her table and kit on the edge of set and many “patients” visited every day, asking for anything from aspirin or vitamins to advice about serious illnesses and affairs of the heart.
Essential for any production was her presence in case of an accident, and she was called on many times. The most important was when stuntman Chris Anderson was trapped between two yachts while filming Wind (1992) in Fremantle. Jacquie was on the spot in minutes reassuring him, and saved his life although unfortunately he had to lose his leg.
Jacquie had a great knowledge of tropical ailments and travelled with crews many times to South-East Asia. Her dedication to the well-being of everybody took her into hotel rooms late at night checking on her patients, having already spent 12 hours on set.
She treated everybody alike, from international stars to the lowliest of the crew. She could miraculously produce the most effective medication and had close associations with many local doctors when on location.
Other duties included medical research for directors, especially for war films, looking after cast babies and toddlers and their mothers during shooting, and giving on-set advice for medical procedures like bandaging and the appearance of wounds.
Her car was set up as a mini-ambulance with a stretcher and resus equipment and her well-known eski was always crammed with medical supplies.
When she was not working, her great loves were fishing, especially in New Zealand, and travelling.
With her jangly bracelets and her rich throaty laugh, Jacquie was a loved and respected unsung hero of the industry, and holder of many secrets which will now never be told.
She passed away on March 7 from a terminal illness at her beloved Whitianga in New Zealand.
As Jacquie would say – "Bon soir" to a wonderful, caring lady.