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Deborah Kennedy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an article about the actress. For the American eco artist and author, see Deborah Kennedy (artist).

Deborah Kennedy is an Australian character actress recognised for several television and film roles, especially for her appearance in the famous Australian Yellow Pages advertisement with the line "Not happy, Jan!".

Career

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Kennedy began her acting career on the stage, with the Marian Street Theatre, Killara, appearing in The Trojan Woman and Macbeth. She followed this with work with several other theatrical organisations including SUDS, Repertory 200, the New Theatre, and the Pegeant Theatre. For the Nimrod theatre starting in 1975 she had several roles in plays, acting in Much Ado About Nothing and Richard III. Other theatre work includes Travelling North, House of the Deaf Man, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Desert Flambe.

Starting in the 1970s she also acted in various television roles, with appearances in Certain Women, Silent Number, Waygoose, Doctor Down Under, The Restless Years, Bellamy, and 1915. Film roles of the period include Tim (1979) which starred Mel Gibson and Piper Laurie, Dawn! (1979), and Temperament Unsuited (1978).[1]

In the 1980s she played a brief guest role in soap opera Prisoner, and in 1991 was a regular cast member of serial Chances. She continued in that role several months until her character, nurse Connie Reynolds, was written out of the show as part of a cast revamp. In the 1990s continued television guest appearances included a recurring part in Police Rescue and roles in series Wildside and Good Guys Bad Guys. She continued to play supporting roles in feature films, including I Can't Get Started (1985), The Empty Beach (1985), Death in Brunswick (1991), The Sum of Us (1994), Idiot Box (1996), Thank God He Met Lizzie (1997), My Mother Frank (2000), Matter of Life (2001), and Swimming Upstream (2003). She also appeared in two children's programs, Johnson and Friends and Boffins.

Kennedy also delivered the famous (in Australia) catch-phrase "Not happy, Jan!" in the oft-quoted TV commercial for the Yellow Pages telephone directory. In the 2000s television guest roles have included appearances series MacLeod's Daughters and Welcher & Welcher. Starting 2006, Kennedy appeared in a recurring role in the soap opera Neighbours as Mishka Schneiderova, Lou Carpenter's Russian partner whom he met online. After completing a stint in the series Mishka made her on-air return in Australia in October 2006. Kennedy appeared in the comedy series The Jesters in 2009 and has had guest roles on television series Dance Academy, Rake, and Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. Since 2013 Kennedy has been a regular cast member in the Australian period drama A Place to Call Home playing the role of Inverness local gossip who means well, Doris Collins. Kennedy also had a brief role in the first series of the ABC's Janet King.

Kennedy was announced as part of the extended cast for ABC series Return to Paradise (2024 TV series).[2]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Film Role Type
1979 Temperament Unsuited Christine Film short
1979 Tim Dawnie Melville Feature film
1979 Dawn! Role unknown Feature film
1985 The Empty Beach Newspaper Librarian Feature film
1988 Kadaicha Mrs. Millhouse Feature film
1988 Grievous Bodily Harm Madeleine Kovitch Feature film
1990 Death in Brunswick June Feature film
1994 The Sum of Us Joyce Johnson Feature film
1994 The Roly Poly Man Chantal Feature film
1996 Idiot Box Detective Leanne Feature film
1997 Thank God He Met Lizzie June Feature film
1998 Let's Wait Alex Film short
1999 Federation Louisa Lawson Feature film
2000 My Mother Frank Receptionist Feature film
2001 A Matter of Life Suicidal Sue Film short
2001 Jet Set Herself Film short
2002 Wait 'Til Your Father Gets Home Short Film short
2003 Swimming Upstream Billie Feature film
2004 Thunderstruck Matron of Honour Feature film
2009 Closed for Winter Dorothy Feature film
2009 Charlie & Boots Miles Waitress Feature film
2015 Women He's Undressed Florence Kelly Feature film documentary
2018 Ladies in Black Myra's Mother Feature film
2019 Larry Time Beryl Film short
TBA Jimpa Filming

Television

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Year Film Role Type
1975 McManus MPB Model TV movie
1975 Silent Number TV series, 1 episode
1976 Certain Women TV series
1979 Doctor Down Under Sister Fletcher TV series, 1 episode
1979 The Mike Walsh Show Guest - Herself with Michael Pate TV series, 1 episode
1980 The Restless Years Dr. Helen Ashford TV series
1981 Bellamy TV series, 1 episode
1982 1915 Sharon Kerley TV miniseries, 2 episodes
1983 Prisoner Gerri Doogan TV series, 2 episodes
1985; 1987 A Country Practice Joan Barlow TV series, 2 episodes
1987 A Country Practice Maree Perkins TV series, 1 episode
1987 Willing and Abel TV series, 1 episode
1988 Home and Away Vet TV series, 1 episode
1988 Mike Willesee's Australians June Ferguson TV film series, episode 9: "Betty Cuthbert"
1988 Rafferty's Rules Miss Herron TV series, 1 episode
1988 Fields of Fire II Betty Wilson TV miniseries, 1 episode
1990–95 Johnson and Friends Victoria TV series, 32 episodes
1990 How Wonderful! Exercise Class Teacher TV movie
1991 For the Love of Mike Isabella Rudd TV series, 1 episode
1991 Chances Connie Reynolds TV series, 68 episodes
1991–92 Police Rescue Bronwyn Catteau TV series, 4 episodes
1994 Boffins Madame Curie TV series, 13 episodes
1996 Naked: Stories of Men Romono TV film series, episode 5: "A Fallen Woman"
1998 Good Guys Bad Guys Bridget Costello TV series, 1 episode
1998 Wildside Patricia Wilson TV series, 1 episode
2002 McLeod's Daughters Cathy Cronin TV series, 1 episode
2003 Welcher & Welcher Judge TV series, 1 episode
2004 Stiff Trish TV movie
2004 The Brush-Off Trish TV movie
2005 Small Claims: White Wedding Trudy Duffy TV film series, 1 episode
2006 Telethon Herself TV special
2006 Have a Go TV Presenter TV series, 13 episodes
2006 RAN: Remote Area Nurse Departing RAN TV series, 3 episodes
2006 Neighbours Mishka Schneiderova TV series, 23 episodes
2007 Bastard Boys Gwen Coombs TV miniseries, 2 episodes
2009 Law and Disorder: Allan Kessing - The Reluctant Whistleblower Narrator (voice) Film documentary
2009 :30 Seconds Joceyln Mann TV series, 1 episode
2009–11 The Jesters Di Sunnington TV series, 16 episodes
2009 Sea Princesses Whale Queen (voice) TV series, 52 episodes
2010 A Very Short War Gwen Carpenter TV film documentary
2010; 2012 Rake Meg Makepeace QC TV series, 2 episodes
2010–12 Dance Academy Miss Histead TV series, 3 episodes
2011 Outback Kids Narrator TV series, 3 episodes
2011–12 Laid Jan Beane / Janis Kennedy TV series, 5 episodes
2011 Immigration Nation: The Secret History Of Us Narrator TV series, 3 episodes
2012 Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries Georgina Charlesworth TV series, 1 episode
2013–18 A Place to Call Home Doris Collins TV series, 59 episodes
2014 Janet King Dianne Vaslich TV series, 4 episodes
2015 The Daily Edition Guest TV series, 1 episode
2015 The Principal Val TV miniseries, 4 episodes
2015 No Activity Count Clerk TV series, 1 episode
2016 Deep Water Dr. Pedersen TV miniseries, 2 episodes
2017 The Secret Daughter Magistrate TV series, 1 episode
2017 Sisters Butch TV series, 2 episodes
2018 There Goes Our Neighbourhood Narrator TV documentary
2022 The Strange Chores Yellowbeard (voice) TV series, 1 episode
Fisk Edith TV series, 2 episodes
2023 Totally Completely Fine Beatrice 2 episodes
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart Merle 1 episode
2024 Return to Paradise Maggie TV series

Podcasts

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Year Film Role Type
2020 Origins Unknown Agatha Dunwick Podcast series
2021 Tara Tremendous Fiona Biddlespach Podcast series, 1 episode

Video games

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Year Film Role Type
1999 M.U.G.E.N. Voice Video game
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Notes

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  1. ^ Atterton, Margot. (Ed.) The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Australian Showbiz, Sunshine Books, 1984. ISBN 0-86777-057-0 p 122
  2. ^ Knox, David (12 August 2024). "Airdate: Return to Paradise (Aussie Death in Paradise spin-off) | TV Tonight". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 12 August 2024.