About this episode

Deborah Kennedy discusses her extensive career in Australian theatre and television.

Deborah Kennedy is one of Australia’s most recognisable and enduring character actresses, with a career spanning stage, screen and some of the nation’s most iconic popular culture moments. She is also known to audiences for her unforgettable delivery of a celebrated catchphrase in a Yellow Pages television commercial—now firmly embedded in the Australian vernacular. Deborah Kennedy began her career in theatre, performing with Marian Street Theatre in Killara in productions of The Trojan Women and Macbeth , before working extensively with companies including SUDS, Repertory 200, New Theatre and the Pegeant Theatre. Her association with the influential Nimrod Theatre from the mid-1970s saw her appear in works such as Much Ado About Nothing and Richard III , alongside other notable productions including Travelling North , Accidental Death of an Anarchist and House of the Deaf Man . Her screen career began in the 1970s with roles in series such as Certain Women , The Restless Years and Bellamy , alongside film appearances in Tim , Dawn! and Temperament Unsuited . Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, she became a familiar face on Australian television, with credits including Prisoner…

People in this episode

Host: Peter Eyers

Guest: Deborah Kennedy

Topics covered

• Australian theatre
• television history
• character acting
• iconic roles
• popular culture

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Marian Street Theatre, SUDS, Repertory 200, New Theatre, Pegeant Theatre, Nimrod Theatre

Books & works: The Trojan Women, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, Richard III, Travelling North, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, House of the Deaf Man, Certain Women, The Restless Years, Bellamy

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