Stephanie Deste was born in Liège, Belgium on 22 January 1901, as Stephanie Dietz, and she died in Melbourne, Australia on 14 April 1996, having arrived in Australia in 1926. In March 1931 in London, Stephanie Deste married Remigio Budica, a former opera baritone, whom she had met in Melbourne. They had one child, Toti. For many years she was well known as one of Melbourne's eccentrics.
Actor and dancer
Born into a musical family, she trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London, but she commenced her dramatic career in the United States, where she had some small roles in silent films with Douglas Fairbanks. She also appeared in stage productions with the likes of Tyrone Power Sr and John Barrymore. In Australia, she first gained public attention as an actor and dancer, particularly through the original 1926 Melbourne production of Rose-Marie. She also appeared in many other J C Williamson productions throughout Australia. Stephanie Deste was well known for attending most first nights at all Melbourne live theatres. Barry Humphries claims that Stephanie Deste was one of the inspirations behind his most famous character Dame Edna Everage. This particularly applies to Dame Edna's flamboyant spectacle frames. Robert Helpmann also cites Stephanie Deste as one of the influences over his dancing and acting career.
Just after arriving in Australia in the late 1920s, Stephanie Deste broadcast Bible stories, and appeared in broadcast plays on the Australian Broadcasting Company, predecessor of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Her many quirks were particularly noted in her unusual radio style, which were highlighted when she recommenced broadcasting on 3UZ just after World War II, presenting beauty hints and live advertisements for her beauty salons during the morning women's' programs. In the late 1940s, Stephanie Deste transferred to 3DB where she continued to broadcast until the early 1960s. As well as regular appearances in the morning programs, as from February 1954 she presented a half-hour program, Sunday Night with Stephanie Deste at 10.30 pm on a Sunday night. The program was sponsored by the Stephie Deste Pty Ltd beauty salons. It is believed that this time-slot was the cheapest offered by 3DB at the time. The program mainly consisted of interviews with show business personalities, both locals but, particularly, with artistes visiting from overseas. However, this eccentric program was usually more about Stephanie Deste than about the people she was interviewing. Despite its late time-slot, Sunday Night with Stephanie Deste was popular with show-biz aficionados.
Video
In 2013, Stephanie Deste's grandson Marcus Encel produced a Loloclip video of just under three minutes, which is all about this grandmother.
