Late actor Cornelia Frances' Neutral Bay apartment to go under the hammer

The Neutral Bay apartment of the popular actor Cornelia Frances is being sold by her only son, Lawrence, following her death earlier this year.

The longtime Home And Away star, known for her hardened persona in her many television roles, bought the apartment in 1999 for $335,000.

The two-bedroom Aubin Street apartment in the tightly held 1970s L'Hirondelle complex sits in landscaped gardens.

The first-floor unit features an upgraded kitchen and an L-shaped living space which opens out onto a full-width entertainers terrace.

Janet Morrison and Jon Snead at The Agency are marketing the apartment for a September 29 auction.

A recent two-bedroom, one bathroom sale in the complex fetched $1.2 million.

The property has been styled, with a large portrait of Cornelia Frances hanging as a tribute to his mother.

The English-born actor migrated to Australia in the 1960s, and was briefly Australia's first female newsreader on Perth television.

She starred in Nine's The Young Doctors as nurse Sister Grace Scott, before playing Barbara Hamilton on Seven's Sons and Daughters.

From the late 1980s she played sharp-tongued judge Morag Bellingham, sister of Alf Stewart, for nearly three decades on Home And Away.

The six-time Logie nominee hosted the quiz show The Weakest Link in the early 2000s.

She published her autobiography titled And What Have You Done Lately?

"She touched so many people's hearts on and off the screen," Lawrence told mourners at her funeral.

"No matter what role she played from Morag, to mother, or friend she genuinely had the ability to make us both laugh and cry."

This article first appeared in The Sunday Telegraph.