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Mary-Anne Fahey

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Mary-Anne Fahey
Born
Mary-Anne Waterman

(1955-08-19) 19 August 1955 (age 68)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Occupations
  • Actress
  • comedian
  • screenwriter
  • author
Years active1981–present
Spouse(s)Ian McFadyen
Morris Gleitzman (1994 – 2011)
Paul Jennings

Mary-Anne Fahey (born 19 August 1955 as Mary-Anne Waterman) credited also as Maryanne Fahey, is an Australian actress, comedian, screenwriter and children's author.

Career[edit]

Fahey has starred in and written for numerous TV and film comedy programs including The Comedy Company, Kittson Fahey, the first Australian female-only sketch comedy program, Get a Life and One Size Fits All. She had roles in Future Schlock, The Dunera Boys, All the Rivers Run II, Celia, Lucky Break and SeaChange. She has received roles in theatre including Mary Lives.

Fahey is most famous for her work on Channel Ten's The Comedy Company especially for her school girl character, Kylie Mole, and three-year-old "Jophesine", the Play School Sketches with Glenn Robbins and the "Bedscene" sketches with her then real-life husband Ian McFadyen.

In the 1980s she appeared in an advertisement for David Reid electronics, which was promoting the Commodore Amiga 500.

Kylie Mole[edit]

Fahey's Kylie Mole character—a scowling schoolgirl—was so popular she published the best-selling novel My Diary by Kylie Mole. She released a Double A-Side single with tracks "So Excellent"/"I Go, I Go", which hit #8 on the Australian ARIA chart in November 1988.[1] A music video for "So Excellent" was filmed. The Kylie Mole character was one of several iconic characters that appeared in the show. Her characterisation especially resonated with Australian youth. The Australian adoption of the word "bogan" was first popularised in the media by Kylie Mole, and other phrases she used gained a wider currency.

Later career[edit]

Fahey lives in Melbourne and is concentrating on writing and children's theatre. In May 2007,[2] she published her first children's novel, I, Nigel Dorking: An Autobiography about a Boy with an Unusual Vocabulary, a Suit of Armour and an Unshakeable Dream, Written by That Very Boy (Nigel Dorking), Grade Six (ISBN 0-143-30247-7 and ISBN 978-0-14-330247-6).[3][4]

Awards[edit]

Fahey won a 1989 Logie Award for "Most Popular Light Entertainment/Comedy Personality" for her work on The Comedy Company. She has won an AWGIE Award[5] and an Irish-dancing trophy where she came second in a competition of two.[5]

Personal life[edit]

Fahey has two sons. Thomas Fahey, from her first marriage, and James McFadyen, born 12 July 1990. Fahey and Ian McFadyen split up in 1992. From 1994 until 2011 her partner was children's writer Morris Gleitzman.[6] He too has a background in comedy writing as a former writer for The Norman Gunston Show, and a satirical columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

From 2014, Fahey has been in a relationship with Paul Jennings, another children's book writer who had previously collaborated with Morris Gleitzman on two books series, Wicked and Deadly.[citation needed]

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Type
1984 Future Schlock Sarah Feature film
1989 Celia Pat Carmichael Feature film
1994 Lucky Break (aka Paperback Romance) Myra Feature film

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Type
1981 Cop Shop Robyn Cain TV series, 2 episodes
1983 Prisoner Kelly Fraser (as Maryanne Fahey) TV series, 2 episodes
1983 All The Rivers Run Hilda TV miniseries, 3 episodes
1984 The Keepers TV series, 1 episode
1984 Special Squad TV series, 1 episode
1985 The Eleventh Hour Various characters TV series
1985 The Dunera Boys Naomi Mendellsohn TV miniseries, 2 episodes
1986 The Great Bookie Robbery Cheryl (as Maryanne Fahey) TV miniseries, 2 episodes
1986 Rubbery Figures Various characters (voice) TV series
1987 Willing and Abel TV series, 1 episode
1988-1990 The Comedy Company Regular role: Kylie Mole TV series
1988 The Flying Doctors Lisa Morgan (as Maryanne Fahey) TV series, 1 episode
1988 The Gerry Connolly Show Various characters TV series, 5 episodes
1991 All Together Now Rivka Carpenter TV series, 1 episode
1992-1993 Kittson Fahey Various characters TV series
1993-1996 Crocadoo Gina (voice) Animated TV series
1994 Blue Heelers Sandra Lynch TV series, 1 episode
1997 Get a Life Jackie Carter (voice) Animated TV series
1998 Crocadoo II Kelly (voice) (as Maryanne Fahey) Animated TV series, 1 episode
1999 Chuck Finn Dr. McCorquondale (voice) Animated TV series, 1 episode
2000 SeaChange Kerry Philby (as Maryanne Fahey) TV series, 1 episode
2000 One Size Fits All Herself / Various characters TV series, 13 episodes

Television appearances as self[edit]

Year Title Role Type
1988 TV Week Logie Awards Herself (audience member) TV special
1988 The Eleventh Hour Looks at Television Herself TV special
1988 Late Night Oz Herself TV series, 1 episode
1988 Life Education Television Appeal Herself TV telethon special
1990 A Funny Thing Happened to Australian Comedy Herself TV special
1991 Wisecracks Herself Documentary special
1991 Til Ten Guest (with Ian MacFadyen) TV series, 1 episode
1991; 1993 Tonight Live with Steve Vizard Guest TV series, 1 episode
1991 In Sydney Today Guest TV series, 1 episode
1991 The Melbourne Comedy Festival - A Night of a Thousand Laughs Herself TV special
1991 35 Years of Television Herself TV special
1992 The Morning Show Guest TV series, 1 episode
1992 Burke's Backyard Celebrity gardener TV series, 1 episode
1992 Review Herself TV series, 1 episode
1992 Hinch Guest TV series, 1 episode
1992 The World Tonight Guest TV series, 1 episode
1992 Vidiot Guest TV series, 1 episode
1993 Australian Television's Funniest People Herself TV special
1993 The Norman Gunston Show Guest TV series, 1 episode
1993 Live and Sweaty Guest TV series, 1 episode
1993; 1994; 1997 Good Morning Australia Guest TV series, 3 episodes
1993; 1994 Live It Up Guest TV series, 2 episodes
1993; 1997 Ray Martin at Midday Guest TV series, 1 episode
1993 Tonight Live Guest TV series, 1 episode
1994; 1997 What's Cooking Celebrity cook TV series, 2 episodes
1994 Live It Up Guest TV series, 1 episode
1996 Comic Relief Herself TV special
1997 Midday with Kerri-Anne Guest TV series, 1 episode
1997 Today Guest TV series, 1 episode
1997 This Is Your Life Herself TV series, 1 episode
1998 Denise Guest TV series, 1 episode
2002 People Dimensions Herself TV series, 1 episode
2006 Good as Gold! Guest TV series, 1 episode
2007 Saturday Disney Guest TV series, 1 episode
2007 The Sounds of Aus Herself TV series

References[edit]

  1. ^ "ARIA Awards Best Comedy Release". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  2. ^ Penguin Books (Australia) author bio for Mary-Anne Fahey
  3. ^ I, Nigel Dorking, book description & details
  4. ^ Book Review of I, Nigel Dorking: "My Life as a Loser", by Sue Bursztynski, June 2007. Accessed 11 August 2007.
  5. ^ a b Melbourne Writers' Festival 24Aug-2Sep 2007: Mary-Anne Fahey Information page Archived 1 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Fahey, Mary-Anne (7 May 2007). "Ask an author: Mary-Anne Fahey". The Age. Archived from the original on 31 August 2007. Retrieved 11 August 2007.

External links[edit]