Jump to content

Judy Nunn

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Judy Nunn
Nunn in 2010
Born
Judith Anne Nunn

(1945-04-13) 13 April 1945 (age 79)
Other namesJudy Bernard-Waite (pen name)
Occupations
  • Author
  • former actress
  • radio and television screenwriter
Years activeAuthor 1981- present, Actress 1964-2003
Notable work
SpouseBruce Venables (m. 1988)
Websitehttps://judynunn.com.au

Judith Anne Nunn[1] (AM) (born 13 April 1945), (also published under the pen name of Judy Bernard-Waite), is an Australian former actress, and author of both adult and children's fiction titles. She has collaborated with writers Patricia Bernard and Fiona Waite.[2]

Nunn is a former theatre and television actress and radio and television screenwriter for nearly 50 years,[3] best known for her 15 year tenure in TV soap opera Home and Away as original character Ailsa Hogan.

Nunn was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2015 Australia Day Honours for her service to the performing arts as a scriptwriter and actor of stage and screen, and to literature as an author.[2]

Acting career

[edit]

Nunn worked for many years as a leading stage actress, starting in 1964[3]

Her breakout television role was as in the risque soap opera The Box, as scheming bisexual reporter Vicki Stafford. Her character became a popular cult figure in the series and she continued Nunn in the role for the show's entire 1974–77 three year run and reprised in the feature film version in 1975.

In 1979 she briefly played Joyce Martin in the Australian TV series Prisoner and after that as Dr. Irene Fisher in television serial Sons and Daughters from 1984 until 1986.

Best known for her role as original character Ailsa Stewart in the soap opera Home and Away, from 1988 until the character was killed off in 2000 after deciding to leave the series to devote more time with novels, is probably Nunn's most famous role. In 2002 she returned in a guest role playing the same character - it transpired this was an hallucination of her former on-screen husband, Alf Stewart, caused by a brain tumour.

Personal life

[edit]

Nunn attended Presbyterian Ladies' College, Perth. She married her husband, actor and writer and former Tasmanian & Royal Hong Kong police officer Bruce Venables, the same week in which she filmed her character Ailsa's marriage to Alf (Ray Meagher) in Home and Away in 1988. Formerly long-time residents of Bondi, New South Wales, Nunn and her husband now reside on the Central Coast, New South Wales.

Screenwriting

[edit]

Nunn is a screenwriter of radio and television and author. She has written scripts for programmes Neighbours and Possession.

Literary career

[edit]

In the 1980s she decided to turn her hand to prose. The result was two adventure novels for children, Eye in the Storm and Eye in the City, which remain popular in Australia and Europe.

Embarking on adult fiction in the early 1990s, Judy's three novels, The Glitter Game, Centre Stage and Araluen, set respectively in the worlds of television, theatre and film, became bestsellers. A specialist in Australian period fiction, other books she has written include Kal, Beneath the Southern Cross, Territory, Pacific, Heritage, Floodtide, Maralinga, Tiger Men in 2011, Elianne in 2013 and Spirits of the Ghan in 2015.

Filmography

[edit]

Film

Acting
Year Title Role Type
1975 The Box Vicki Stafford Feature film
1978
Bit Part Jo TV movie
1978
The Newman Shame Veronica TV movie
1983 Hostage: The Christine Meresch Story Mrs. Lewis Feature film
1983
David Copperfield Voice Animated TV film
1983
Sherlock Holmes and the Valley of Fear Voice Animated film
1983
Sherlock Holmes and a Study in Scarlet Voice Animated film
1983
Outbreak of Hostilities Edna Starling TV movie
1984
Crime of the Decade Rolly's Mother TV movie
1985
The Pickwick Papers Voice Animated TV film

Television

Acting
Year Title Role Type
Z-Cars TV series, 1 episode
1971
The Onedin Line Woman TV series, Season 1, Episode 12: "Cry of the Blackbird"
1972
The Befrienders Mother TV series, Season 1, Episode 7: "Lots of Friends in the Big City"
1974
Matlock Police Stella Davis TV series, Episode: "The Prowler"
1974–1977
The Box Vicki Stafford Seasons 1–6, 206 episodes
1979
Prisoner Joyce Martin TV series, Season 1, 9 episodes
1980
Skyways Bessie Langhurst TV series, 2 episode: "The Return of Bessie Langhurst"
1981
Holiday Island Ruby Palmer TV series, 1 episode 42: "The Great Frederico"
1982
A Country Practice Nancy Brewer TV series, Season 2, Episodes 23 & 24:"Shootin' Through" (2 episodes)
1984–86
Sons and Daughters Irene Fisher Seasons 3–5, 150 episodes
1988–2000, 2002–03
Home and Away Ailsa Stewart (née Hogan) Seasons 1–13 (main), Seasons 15–16 (recurring) (1313 episodes)
Self appearances
Year Title Role Notes
1978
The Mike Walsh Show Guest - Herself with Lois Ramsay TV series, 1 episode
1978
The Mike Walsh Show Guest - Herself TV series, 1 episode
1995
Good Morning Australia Guest TV series, 1 episode
1996
Midday with Kerri-Anne Guest TV series, 1 episode
1996
Monday to Friday Guest TV series, 1 episode
1996
Burke's Backyard Guest TV series, 1 episode
1996
Good Morning Australia Guest TV series, 1 episode
1997
Surprise Surprise Guest Light entertainment show, 1 episode
1998
E! News Herself TV series, 1 episode
1999
Denise Guest TV series, 1 episode
2000
The Morning Show Guest TV series, 1 episode
2001–02
Beauty and the Beast Panellist Panel show
2001
Ground Zero Herself TV series, 1 episode
2002
This Is Your Life - Judy Nunn Herself TV series, 1 episode
2002
The Best of Aussie Drama Herself Documentary
2006
It Takes Two Contestant Music competition show, 3 episodes
2006
Where Are They Now? Herself TV series, 1 episode
2011
The Morning Show Herself TV series, 1 episode
2012
First Tuesday Book Club Panellist Panel Show, 1 episode
2014–15
The Daily Edition Guest TV series, 1 episode
2015, 2016, 2022
Studio 10 Guest TV series, 3 episodes
2015–21
A Current Affair Guest TV series
2015
The Daily Edition Guest TV series, 1 episode
2016
The Daily Edition Guest TV series, 1 episode
2018
Endless Summer: 30 Years of Home and Away Herself Video Documentary
2018
News Breakfast Guest TV series, 1 episode
2018
Weekend Sunrise Guest TV series, 1 episode
2020
7.30 Guest TV series, 1 episode
2021,2023
A Current Affair Guest TV series, 1 episode
2021
Today Extra Guest TV series, 1 episode
2022
This Is Your Life: Ray Meagher Herself TV series, 1 episode
2023
Lest We Forget Herself TV special
2023
A Current Affair Herself TV series, 1 episode
Additional credits
Year Title As Notes
1985
Possession Writer
1985
Neighbours Writer Season 1 (3 episodes)

Bibliography

[edit]

Children’s fiction

[edit]
  • The Riddle of the Trumpalar (1981, as Judy Bernard-Waite) with Patricia Bernard and Fiona Waite
  • Challenge of the Trumpalar (1986, as Judy Bernard-Waite) with Patricia Bernard and Fiona Waite
  • Eye in the Storm (1988)
  • Eye in the City (1991)

Adult

[edit]
Title Year ISBN
The Glitter Game 1991
Center Stage 1994
Araluen 1994
Kal 1996
Beneath the Southern Cross 1999
Territory 2002
Pacific 2004
Heritage 2005
Floodtide 2008
Maralinga 2009
Tiger Men 2011
Elianne 2013
Spirits of the Ghan 2015
Sanctuary 2017
Khaki Town 2019 ISBN 9780143795186
Showtime! 2022 ISBN 9781761042546
A Poem for Sally 2022 ISBN 9780143777076
Black Sheep 2023 ISBN 9781761340123
The Long Weekend (short story collection) 2023 ISBN 9781761344619

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Home". itsanhonour.gov.au. Archived from the original on 15 May 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b Northover, Kylie (23 January 2015). "Australia Day honours: Judy Nunn, actress and author, awarded AM". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  3. ^ a b "Judy Nunn theatre credits". The Australian Live Performance Database. AusStage.

Sources

[edit]
  • Nunn, Judy (27 November 2004). "Prime time for peeping Toms". The Weekend Australian. p. 21.
[edit]