Sonia McMahon - former first lady of Australia, actor Julian McMahon's mother - dies aged 77
edonline
A lady who lived life to the full
ANDREW HORNERY, RACHEL BROWNE AND SARAH WHYTE
April 4, 2010
SHE was ravaged by cancer but an optimist to the end.
A fortnight ago Sonia McMahon was planning outings to the autumn
racing at Royal Randwick. But on Friday night, aged 77, the widow of
former prime minister Sir William McMahon died at St Vincent's Private
Hospital. Her only son, actor Julian McMahon, who flew in from Los
Angeles on March 23, was at her side, with his sisters Melinda and
Deborah and model girlfriend Kelly Paniagua.
Yesterday, as the family mourned at Lady McMahon's Bellevue Hill home,
tributes flowed for the woman who grabbed world headlines in 1971,
wearing a revealing white dress to dinner with US president Richard
Nixon at the White House.
Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said the Liberal Party was in
deep mourning over the death of ''the distinguished widow'' of Sir
William. ''She added grace and colour to our national life. We will
all miss her. Our hearts go out to her family on this sad day,'' he
said.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd described her as a ''distinguished
representative of Australia''.
''Understand, at a purely human level, this is a day of great sadness
for any family,'' he said.
Lady Sonia at her home in Bellvue Hill in 2004.
Close friend Di Hammill told The Sun-Herald: ''I feel like I have lost
a part of me.''
Racing identity Fran Ingham, who was at Rosehill Gardens for the
Golden Slipper, said she had suspected her dear friend would ''pull
through and get to the track. She was such an indomitable spirit and a
very special lady. She was a very dear and loyal friend to me. She
never broke a confidence''.
A friend of more than 40 years, public relations consultant Glen-Marie
Frost, said: ''I used to say to her, 'Whatever you're on, I want to
bottle it and make my fortune.' I am going to miss that spirit.''
And Eileen ''Red'' Bond, former wife of businessman Alan Bond, was
''devastated'', saying: ''Sonia was a wonderful friend, a strong woman
and a fun woman. She was really just so wonderful.''
Former Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull and his wife Lucy - who served
with Lady Sonia on the Sydney Children's Hospital Foundation board -
paid tribute to a public-spirited woman and friend who was
''invariably in good spirits, even in the face of adversity''.
Social commentator Barry Everingham said her death spelt the end of an
era of elegance. ''She … was never overdressed - although some might
say she was underdressed for that dinner at the White House in 1971.''
Born into a wealthy Sydney family in 1932, Lady Sonia attended
Ravenswood College before studying occupational therapy. She met
William McMahon, then labour and national service minister, in 1965.
Despite their age difference - she was 33 and he was 57 - they married
eight months later. They had three children - Melinda, in 1966,
Julian, in 1968, and, in 1971 after Sir William became prime minister,
Deborah.
In 1971 the cut of ''that dress'' - slit to the armpit and held
together with rhinestones - prompted her dinner host, president
Richard Nixon, to observe: ''I'll get my picture in the papers all
over America.''
In 1988, after the cancer death of her husband, she threw herself into
charity work and Sydney's social whirl. In July last year, a cancerous
melanoma was removed from her arm. A month later her lymph glands were
removed but the cancer spread to her lungs. Last month she was
admitted to St Vincent's Private Hospital.