Candy Devine

{{Short description|Australian actress and singer (1938 or 1939 – 2024)}}

{{Infobox person

| honorific_suffix = MBE

| name = Candy Devine

| image =

| imagesize =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name = Faye Ann Guivarra

| birth_date = 1938 or 1939

| birth_place = Cairns, Queensland, Australia

| death_date = October 2024 (aged 85)

| death_place = Australia

| occupation = {{nobr|Actress, singer, radio broadcaster}}{{force singular}}

| years_active = 1970–2013

| spouse = {{marriage|Donald McLeod|1970|2012|end=died}}

| children = 4, including Alastair McLeod

| website =

}}

Faye Ann McLeod, MBE (née Guivarra, 1938 or 1939 – October 2024), better known by the stage name of Candy Devine, was an Australian broadcaster, singer, and actress.{{cite press release | title=International Women's Day Breakfast 2014 with guest speaker. Faye McLeod aka 'Candy Devine' | publisher = Lourdes Hill College | date=March 2014}} She was a radio broadcaster and singer in Northern Ireland for over 35 years.{{cite web | url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/health/me-and-my-health-candy-devine-13894006.html | title=Me and my health: Candy Devine | last = McCarry | first = Grainne | accessdate=21 March 2011 | date=12 June 2008 | work = Belfast Telegraph }}{{cite web | url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/features/candy-devine-back-in-australias-sunshine-after-a-short-gig-in-ireland-which-lasted-44-happy-years-29863210.html | title=Candy Devine – back in Australia's sunshine after a short gig in Ireland which lasted 44 happy years | last = Little | first = Ivan | work = Belfast Telegraph | date = 24 Dec 2013}}

Early years

Faye Ann Guivarra was born in Cairns to a sugar-farming family.{{cite web | url=http://www.goodsams.org.au/good-oil/celebrating-generations-of-women-inspiring-women/ | title=Women inspiring women | date=14 March 2014}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71432581 |title=The Children's Corner: Competition Results: Intermediate Division | last = Uncle Toby | newspaper = The Worker | volume = 59 | issue = 3174 | location = Brisbane, Qld | date = 17 May 1948 | accessdate = 18 January 2017 | page = 20 | via = National Library of Australia }} Note: Faye Ann Guivarra is 9 years old in May 1948. She was of Spanish, Sri Lankan, Filipino, English, Danish and Torres Strait Islander heritage.Living Black, re-broadcast 4 June 2023, SBS, Australia{{cite web | url=http://www.offtheeatentrack.tv/show/alastair.asp | title=Alastair McLeod | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020095141/http://offtheeatentrack.tv/show/alastair.asp | archivedate=20 October 2014 | df=dmy-all }} Her parents were co-founders of the Cairns music group, the Tropical Troubadours, and later established the city's Coloured Social Club.

She was educated at St Augustine's School, East Innisfail, a boarding school from 1948 – she provided "incidental music and accompaniments" at their 1952 break-up ceremony.{{cite news | url = http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article212582720 | title = Sacred Heart Convent High School Breaking Up Concert | newspaper = The Evening Advocate | location = Innisfail, Qld | date = 11 December 1952 | page = 2 | via = National Library of Australia }} For secondary education she attended Brisbane's Lourdes Hill College from the early 1950s. She furthered her interest in music while at college. Later she studied piano and cello at Queensland Conservatorium before taking to the stage in Sydney.

Her appearances in Australian television include the series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo (1968){{cite web |url=http://www.classicaustraliantv.com/SkippyEp1.htm |title=Classic Australian Television |work=Episode 23. "Sing me back". |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220119170102/http://www.classicaustraliantv.com/SkippyEp1.htm |archive-date=19 January 2022}} and fronting ABC's In Key.{{cite web | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20041130054407/http://www.abc.net.au/sydney/stories/s666578.htm | url = http://www.abc.net.au/sydney/stories/s666578.htm | url-status = dead | title = Candy Devine – Belfast, Northern Ireland | last = Catterns | first = Angela | publisher = 702 ABC Sydney (Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)) | archivedate = 30 November 2004 | date = 4 September 2002 | accessdate = 18 January 2017 | df = dmy-all }}

Life in Ireland

Devine travelled to Ireland in 1969 on what was intended to be a short visit.{{cite web | url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/features/candy-devine-on-her-exciting-new-life-down-under-31094935.html | title = Candy Devine on her exciting new life Down Under | last = Little | first = Ivan | work = Belfast Telegraph | publisher = Independent News & Media | date = 26 March 2015}} She was hired for a cabaret slot at the Talk of the Town club in Belfast. She married her promoter and booking agent, Donald McLeod, in Dublin in 1970. They lived in the Republic of Ireland for five years and moved to Belfast in Northern Ireland in 1975.

Devine began a long career with Downtown Radio in March 1976. They had four children, including Brisbane-based celebrity chef, Alastair McLeod. Devine was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for "services to Broadcasting and to the Community in Northern Ireland".{{London Gazette|issue=60728|supp=y|page=21|date=31 December 2013}}{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/269031/New-Year-Honours-2014-PM-list.pdf |title=Order of the Companions of Honour |website= www.gov.uk|format=PDF}}

Return to Australia

Devine moved back to Australia in 2013 following the death of her husband the previous year. As of September 2016 she lived in Brisbane, sharing a five-acre property with her son, Alastair and his family.{{cite web | url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/features/how-husbands-death-convinced-downtown-star-candy-to-give-up-life-on-the-radio-to-rediscover-her-australian-roots-35026573.html | title = How husband's death convinced Downtown star Candy to give up life on the radio to rediscover her Australian roots | last = Ireland | first = Karen | work = Belfast Telegraph | date = 7 September 2016 | accessdate = 18 January 2017 }}

Devine died in Australia in October 2024, at the age of 85.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g7x355y8jo |title=Broadcaster Candy Devine dies aged 85 |work=BBC News |date=31 October 2024}}