Magda Szubanski

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Magda Szubanski
Born 12 April 1961 (1961-04-12) (age 48)
Liverpool, England, UK

Magda Szubanski (born 12 April 1961) is a British-born Australian actress, comedian, television presenter, radio host and writer.

Szubanski's career began while she was studying at university and she progressed to television sketch comedy, as both a writer and performer. She has performed in the comedy programs The D-Generation and Fast Forward; more recently, she stars as Sharon Strzelecki in the highly successful television comedy show Kath & Kim.

Szubanski portrayed Esme Hoggett in the film Babe and its sequel Babe: Pig in the City, and played the recurring character of Furlow on the television series Farscape. She is currently hosting The Spearman Experiment.

Contents

[edit] Life and career

[edit] Early life

Szubanski was born in Liverpool, England; her father came from a well-off Polish family and her mother was Scottish, a native of Dunfermline.[1] She immigrated to Australia in 1966 with her brother, sister, and parents. Her high school was Siena College, Melbourne. In 1976, as a year 10 student, she captained a team on the television quiz It's Academic.

[edit] Career

In 1985, whilst performing in a University of Melbourne revue of Too Cool for Sandals, with Michael Veitch and Tom Gleisner, Szubanski was talent-spotted by producers from the ABC network, who convinced her to join up with some other university friends in creating the television sketch comedy show, The D-Generation.

She was part of the team that created the television sketch comedy Fast Forward for the Seven Network, in which she played various characters, including Pixie-Anne Wheatley, Chenille, Sharon Strzelecki (Kath and Kim), Mary MacGregor, Joan Kirner and Lynne Postlethwaite, and other characters. In 1995, she wrote, produced, and starred in Big Girl's Blouse. In the same year, she starred in the film Babe. She reprised her role in 1998 in Babe: Pig in the City. In 2002, she first appeared in Kath & Kim as Sharon, and she continued in in the series' subsequent seasons, including the special Da Kath and Kim Code.

From 21 February 2006, Szubanski hosted a five-part series on the Nine Network, called Magda's Funny Bits, which showed never-before-seen footage of some of her most famous characters from the comedy show Fast Forward. Branded as 'no frills', it attracted insufficient ratings, and thus did not continue. In 2007, Szubanski played the part of William Barfee in the musical called The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Later in 2007 Magda also played a minor role as the house maid in The Golden Compass (film) to Lyra Belacqua. She also voiced the character Miss Viola from the Academy Award-winning animated feature Happy Feet.

On 5 April 2008, she began her role of Big Jule in the major stage production Guys and Dolls, at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne.

Magda is currently hosting the new Channel Ten show The Spearman Experiment.

In October 2009 was forced to apologise after an appearance on the TV show "Good News Week", where she called for cyclists on the road to be "taken out"[2].

[edit] Other projects

Szubanski is currently a spokesperson for the dieting company Jenny Craig. At 110 kg in November 2008, and with a diagnosis of sleep apnea, Szubanski decided it was time to ask for help with losing weight.[3] She has lost 36 kg and weighing in currently (as of July 2009) at 85 kg so far from the diet campaign.[4]

[edit] Credits

[edit] Television

  • The Spearman Experiment (2009-Current) - Host
  • Magda's Funny Bits (2006) - Mary McGregor, Chenille, Sharon Strzelecki, Lynne Postlethwaite (5 episodes made, but only 4 were shown).
  • Kath & Kim (2002-Current) - Sharon Strzelecki (the character's name is a play on Magda's Polish descent).
  • Dogwoman (2000) - Margaret O'Halloran.
  • Farscape (1999-2001) - Furlow.
  • Something Stupid (1998) - various characters.
  • Big Girl's Blouse (1994) - herself, Sharon Strzelecki, Lynne Postlethwaite.
  • The Making Of Nothing (1993) - Judith Gates/Kim Borrodale.
  • A Royal Commission Into The Australian Economy (1993) - Mr. Cardigan, Mr. Trouser, Bill Kelty.
  • Bligh (1992) - Betsy Bligh.
  • Fast Forward (1989-1992) - Pixie-Anne Wheatley, Chenille, Joan Kirner, Maggie T + Satan's Brides.
  • The D-Generation Goes Commercial (1988) - various characters.
  • The D-Generation (1986-1987) - various characters.

[edit] Film

[edit] Stage

[edit] Awards

  • Won the 'Most Popular Comedy Personality' award at the 1991, 1992 and 1996 Logie awards
  • Won the Australian Film Institute's award 'Best Actress in a Supporting or Guest Role in a Television Drama' award in 2002[5]
  • Nominated for the 'Most Popular Actress' award at the 2005 Logie Awards, for her role in Kath and Kim
  • Nominated for 'Best Actress in a Supporting or Guest Role in a Television Drama or Comedy' award in 2003 at the AFI Awards
  • Nominated for 'Best Actress in a Supporting or Guest Role in a Television Drama or Comedy' award in 2004 at the AFI Awards

[edit] References

  1. ^ There's something about Magda - Arts - Entertainment - theage.com.au
  2. ^ Magda Szubanski in Good News Week attack on cyclists http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,28383,26154018-10229,00.html
  3. ^ "Magda Szubanski gets serious about slimming down". thewest.com.au (The West Australian). 2008-12-23. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainment/703291/magda-szubanski-to-ditch-fat-lady-image. Retrieved 2009-01-16. 
  4. ^ Magda achieves her goal - A Current Affair, 21 July 2009
  5. ^ Australian Film Institute, Past Winners, Television 1986-2006

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magda_Szubanski"
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