Brown gained local notoriety in Sydney as a cast member of the famous Phillip St Revues and the popular melodrama productions at the Music Hall, a Sydney theatre-restaurant, in the early 1960s. She came to national prominence after joining the cast of the pioneering Australian satirical TV sketch comedy series The Mavis Bramston Show. After a stint in the UK she secured a regular role in the hit TV sitcom My Name's McGooley, What's Yours?, starring alongside Gordon Chater, John Meillon and Judi Farr. Throughout the 1970s, Brown enjoyed great popularity in Australia as a co-star of the satirical television and radio seriesThe Naked Vicar Show and the quiz show Graham Kennedy's Blankety Blanks. She was a regular panelist in the ABCgame showWould You Believe?. In 1978 she won a Logie Award for the most popular NSW female personality. In 2006, she was a competitor in Dancing with the Stars,, and played the role of Leonara Biviano in the Australian film in 2007. Her earlier film career included roles in Walkabout and Emma's War. In 2007, she appeared in Bruce Venables' and Richard Fidler's play Flying Solo, directed by Judy Nunn, starring alongside Barry Quin, Paula Duncan, Enda Markey and Jacinta John. She was portrayed by Jane Allsop in the television movieThe King, about the life of Graham Kennedy. In 2008, she won the Norman Kessell award for best performance for her portrayal of Florence Foster Jenkins in Peter Quilter's play Glorious. She was also appointed Australia's first Ambassador for Ageing by the Rudd government. In 2009, she co-starred with Barry Creyton in Peter Quilter's play Duet at the Ensemble Theatre in Sydney. She is a longtime member of the Australian Labor Party and appeared in It's Time advertisements for the party before the 1972 election. She has twice run for New South Wales Parliament as an endorsed Labor Party candidate. In 2017 she published a memoir, Living the 1960s, about her life in that decade when living in Marrickville in Sydney.
Personal life
In 1976, Brown married one of the writer/producers of The Naked Vicar Show, Tony Sattler. The couple were close friends of the late Graham Kennedy, and Noeline was present when Kennedy died in 2005. She and Sattler have lived in Bowral for many years, and Kennedy moved there to be closer to them. When Kennedy's health began to fail, Sattler and Brown reportedly contacted former Nine Network boss Kerry Packer to appeal for financial support to care for the ailing star ; Packer declined to assist Kennedy financially but, after the story became public, an anonymous benefactor came forward and donated a substantial sum for Kennedy's ongoing support and care.
