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Australian actress (born 1942) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robyn Anne Nevin AO (25 September 1942) is an Australian actress, director, and stage producer, recognised with the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards and the JC Williamson Award at the Helpmann Awards for her outstanding contributions to Australian theatre performance art. Former head of both the Queensland Theatre Company and the Sydney Theatre Company, she has directed more than 30 productions and acted in more than 80 plays, collaborating with internationally renowned artists, including Richard Wherrett, Simon Phillips, Geoffrey Rush, Julie Andrews, Aubrey Mellor, Jennifer Flowers, Cate Blanchett and Lee Lewis.[1][2]
Robyn Nevin | |
|---|---|
Nevin in 2013 | |
| Born | 25 September 1942 |
| Education | National Institute of Dramatic Art (BFA) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1962–present |
| Spouse | |
| Partner | Nicholas Hammond (1987–present) |
| Children | 1 |
Nevin is also known for her roles in films and televisions series, including Water Under the Bridge (1980) as Shasta, role that earned her a Logie Awards and a Penguin Award, Upper Middle Bogan (2014) and Top of the Lake (2014), and international film acting as Councillor Dillard in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions (both 2003), and as Edna in the horror film Relic (2020).
Robyn Nevin was born in Melbourne, to Josephine Pauline Casey and William George Nevin. She was educated at Genazzano Convent until the age of 11, when she moved with her family to Hobart, Tasmania, and was enrolled at the Fahan School, a non-denominational school for girls.[3] While there, she played the lead in the school's production of Snow White at the Theatre Royal. Her parents were conservative and conventional, her father the managing director of Dunlop Australia, her mother a housewife, so to enter the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) at the age of 16 in the very first intake in 1959 was a brave step, in which she was fully supported by her parents.[1]
At the outset of her career, she had a variety of roles in radio and television, working mainly at the Australian Broadcasting Commission, including current affairs, music, chat shows and children's shows throughout the early 1960s. With the Old Tote Theatre Company she acted in The Legend of King O'Malley by Bob Ellis and Michael Boddy in 1970. She gravitated back to theatre, where she has been a constant presence for the last 40 years.
Although theatre has been her home ground she has also starred in numerous Australian films and mini-series, landing many credits for strong supporting roles. She made one foray into directing in The More Things Change... (1986).[4]
In 1996 she became artistic director of the Queensland Theatre Company, a position which she held with great success, rescuing the company from bankruptcy and leaving it flourishing in 1999, when she took over the position of artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company, where she was artistic director until the end of 2007, having created such memorable additions as The Actor's Company, the only professional repertory company in the nation, and the hugely successful Wharf Revue.[5]
In 2006 she established The STC Actors Company and directed its debut production of Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children. Her other extensive directing credits for Sydney Theatre Company include: Boy Gets Girl (2005), Summer Rain (2005), Scenes from a Separation (2004), Hedda Gabler (2004), Harbour (2004), The Real Thing (2003), A Doll's House (2002) and Hanging Man (2002).
Other directing credits include After the Ball, Honour, Summer Rain and A Month in the Country (Queensland Theatre Company); Kid Stakes, Scenes from a Separation, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll and On Top of the World (Melbourne Theatre Company); The Removalists (State Theatre of South Australia) and The Marriage of Figaro (State Opera of South Australia).
Nevin has performed in a range of roles at the Sydney Theatre Company, beginning in 1979 as Miss Docker in A Cheery Soul by Patrick White (reprised in 2001); and also including as Roxane in Cyrano de Bergerac in 1981; as Ranyevskaya in The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov in 2005; and as Mrs Venable in Suddenly Last Summer by Tennessee Williams in 2015.[6]
| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Libido | Sister Caroline (segment ‘The Priest’) | Feature film |
| Reflections | Film short | ||
| 1975 | Something Other | Film short | |
| 1976 | Caddie | Black Eye | Feature film |
| Dr. K | Film short | ||
| The Fourth Wish | Connie | Feature film | |
| 1978 | The Irishman | Jenny Doolan | Feature film |
| Marx | Film short | ||
| The Clown and the Mind Reader | Film short | ||
| 1979 | Temperament Unsuited | Anne | Film short |
| 1980 | Tread Softly | Claire | Film short |
| 1981 | Letting Go | Film short | |
| 1982 | Fighting Back | Mary | Feature film |
| 1983 | Goodbye Paradise | Kate | Feature film |
| Careful, He Might Hear You | Lila | Feature film | |
| 1984 | The Coolangatta Gold | Robyn Lukas | Feature film |
| 1988 | Emerald City | Kate Rogers | Feature film |
| 1992 | Resistance | Wiley | Feature film |
| Greenkeeping | Mum | Feature film | |
| 1994 | Lucky Break | Anne-Marie LePine | Feature film |
| 1995 | Angel Baby | Dr. Norberg | Feature film |
| 1997 | The Castle | Supreme Court Judge | Feature film |
| 2003 | The Matrix Reloaded | Councillor Dillard | Feature film |
| Bad Eggs | Eleanor Poulgrain | Feature film | |
| The Matrix Revolutions | Councillor Dillard | Feature film | |
| 2011 | The Eye of the Storm | Lal | Feature film |
| 2013 | The Turning | Carol Lang | Feature film (segment ‘Reunion’) |
| 2015 | Ruben Guthrie | Susan Guthrie | Feature film |
| 2016 | Gods of Egypt | Sharifa | Feature film |
| 2018 | Death in Bloom | Mrs. Patterson | Film short |
| 2020 | Groundhog Night | Rose | Film short |
| 2020 | Relic | Edna | Feature film |
| 2022 | Lacerate | Jeanne | Film short |
| 2023 | The Appleton Ladies' Potato Race | Joan Bunyan | Feature film |
| 2024 | Sting | Gunter |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | The Outcasts | TV series | |
| 1962 | Consider Your Verdict | Judith Harper | TV series, 1 episode: "Queen Versus Glandon" |
| 1967 | Bellbird | TV series | |
| 1971 | The Comedy Game | Kate Sullivan | TV series, 1 episode: "Our Man in Canberra" |
| 1973 | Our Man in the Company | Miss Healey | TV series, 1 episode: "Let Women Go Free" |
| The Taming of the Shrew | Barmaid | TV film | |
| How Could You Believe Me When I Said I'd Be Your Valet When You Know I've Been a Liar All My Life? | Teleplay | ||
| President Wilson in Paris | Mrs. Wilson | Teleplay | |
| 1974 | Matlock Police | Sue Palmer | TV series, 1 episode: "Dancing Class" |
| Ryan | Susan Davis | TV series, 1 episode: "Negative Proof" | |
| 1974; 1975 | Behind the Legend | Guest roles | TV series, 1 episode: "William Bligh" (1974) |
| 1975 | Ben Hall | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 1975 | Behind the Legend | Guest role | TV series, 1 episode: "ST Gill" |
| 1976 | God Knows Why, But It Works | Nurse | Film documentary |
| 1977 | Say You Want Me | Interviewing Officer | TV film |
| 1978 | Father, Dear Father | Mrs. Webster | TV series, episode 4: "Novel Exercise" |
| 1979 | The Oracle | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 1980 | Notes on a Landscape | Herself | Film documentary |
| The Mike Walsh Show | Guest - Hereself sings "The Song Of The Unfashionable Anklets" from 'Sideshow Alley' with Robyn Archer | TV series, 1 episode | |
| Water Under the Bridge | Shasta | TV miniseries, 8 episodes | |
| The Sullivans | Rachael Dawson | TV series, 2 episodes | |
| A Toast to Melba | Nellie Melba | TV film | |
| Spring & Fall | Mary | TV series, Series 1, episode 2: "The Last Card" | |
| 1981 | Oz '81 | Various characters | TV series |
| The 24th Annual TV Week Logie Awards | Herself - Best Actress in a TV Miniseries 'Water Under the Bridge' Winner | TV special | |
| Degrees of Change | Teleplay | ||
| 1981 | The 1981 Australian Film Awards | Presenter (with Michael Pate) | TV special |
| 1982 | The Naked Breast | Narrator | Film documentary |
| Spring & Fall | Anne | TV series, Season 2, episode 2:"Perfect Company" | |
| 1983 | The Dismissal | Lady Kerr | TV miniseries, 3 episodes |
| The Mike Walsh Show | Guest - Herself | TV series, 1 episode | |
| For Love or Money | Herself | Film documentary | |
| The Mike Walsh Show | Guest - Herself with John Hargreaves | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 1984 | Conferenceville | Dr Cindy Broughton | TV film |
| Making 'The Coolangatta Gold' | Herself (uncredited) | Film special | |
| 1985 | Hanlon | Minnie Dean | TV series, episode: "In Defence of Minnie Dean" |
| 1990 | The Ham Funeral | Mrs. Goosgog | Teleplay |
| Shadows of the Heart | Mrs. Hanlon | TV miniseries, 2 episodes | |
| 1993 | Seven Deadly Sins | Margot | TV series, episode 3: 'Sloth' |
| The Burning Piano: A Portrait of Patrick White | Herself | TV film | |
| 1994 | Rites of Passage | Narrator | TV documentary |
| 1994; 1995 | Good Morning Australia | Guest | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1994 | Ernie and Denise | Guest | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1995–99 | Halifax f.p. | Angela Halifax | TV film series, 3 episodes: "The Feeding", "Cradle and All", "A Murder of Crows" |
| 1995 | Good Morning Australia | Guest | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1998 | The Edge of the Possible | Narrator (voice) | TV documentary |
| Witness | Herself | TV series, 1 episode | |
| Australian Story | Herself | TV series, 1 episode | |
| Denise | Guest | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 2001 | Burke's Backyard | Guest Celebrity Gardener | TV series, 1 episode |
| Australian Story | Herself | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 2003 | Enter the Matrix | Councillor Dillard (voice) | Video game |
| Over Easy: On Location With 'Bad Eggs' | Herself | Video | |
| 2007 | In the Company of Actors | Herself | TV special |
| 2012 | Raising The Curtain | Interviewee | TV series |
| 2013-16 | Upper Middle Bogan | Margaret Denyar | TV series, 24 episodes |
| Top of the Lake | Jude Griffin | TV series, 4 episodes: "1.1", "1.3", "1.4", "1.5" | |
| The Broken Shore | Cecily Addison | TV film "3.5", "3.7" | |
| 2014 | Rake | Banking Counsel Assisting | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 2015 | Stories I Wanted to Tell You in Person | Anna | TV film |
| The Making Of 'Ruben Guthrie' | Herself / Susan Guthrie | Video | |
| 2016 | Cleverman | Jane O'Grady | TV series, episode: "Containment" |
| 2018 | Back in Very Small Business | Celeste Di Nonno | TV series, 8 episodes |
| 2019 | Doctor Doctor | Dinah | TV series, Season 4, 3 episodes |
| 2020 | In Creative Company | Herself | Podcast series, 1 episode |
| The End | Dawn | TV series, 8 episodes | |
| 2021 | The Moth Effect | Voice of M | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2022 | Wolf Like Me | Gwen | TV series, 1 episode |
| God's Favorite Idiot | TV series, 1 episode | ||
| 2023 | Today Extra | Guest | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2023 | Studio 10 | Guest | TV series, 1 episode |
Sydney Theatre Company is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales, which performs at The Wharf Theatre, the Roslyn Packer Theatre and the Sydney Opera House. Nevin was associate artistic director from 1984 to 1987, and first artistic director from 1999 to 2007, producing twenty plays. She has also acted in twenty-seven productions of the company.
Melbourne Theatre Company is an Australian theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, which performs at the Southbank Theatre, the Arts Centre Melbourne and the Malthouse. Nevin directed four plays in the 90s and she was the artistic director of the company with Pamela Rabe, Aidan Fennessy in 2012.[31] She has also acted in fourteen productions of the company.
Nevin has won multiple Helpmann, Green Room and Sydney Theatre Awards for her theatre work. Her Helpmann Awards include Best Female Actor in a Play for Women of Troy, Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play for Summer of the Seventeenth Doll and Angels in America, and Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical for My Fair Lady.
In 1981, she won the TV Logie award in the 'Best Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Telemovie' category for her role as Shasta in Water Under The Bridge on the Ten Network. She had already won Logies as 'Most Popular Female'[46][47] in Tasmania in 1965 and 1967 during her stint at the ABC.
On 8 June 1981, she was made a Member of the Order of Australia for services to the performing arts.[48] She was promoted to Officer in the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours for " distinguished service to the performing arts as an acclaimed actor and artistic director, and as a mentor and role model ".[49]
In 1999 she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Tasmania.[50]
On 21 January 2004 she gave the Australia Day Address.[51]
| Association | Year | Work | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AACTA Awards | 1977 | The Fourth Wish | Best Actress in a Lead Role | Nominated | |
| 1983 | Careful, He Might Hear You | Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Nominated | ||
| 2014 | Upper Middle Bogan | Best Performance in a Television Comedy | Nominated | ||
| Top of the Lake | Best Guest or Supporting Actress in a Television Drama | Nominated | |||
| 2018 | Back in Very Small Business | Best Performance in a Television Comedy | Nominated | ||
| Fangoria Chainsaw Awards | 2021 | Relic | Best Supporting Performance | Nominated | |
| Equity Ensemble Awards | 2014 | Upper Middle Bogan | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Won | |
| Top of the Lake | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Telemovie/Mini-Serie | Won | |||
| Film Critics Circle of Australia | 1987 | The More Things Change | Best Director | Won | |
| Fright Meter Awards | 2020 | Relic | Best Supporting Actress | Nominated | |
| Logie Awards | 1965 | Herself | Tasmania: Most Popular Female | Won | |
| 1967 | Won | ||||
| 1981 | Water Under the Bridge | Best Lead Actress in a Single Drama or Mini Series | Won | ||
| Penguin Award | 1981 | Water Under the Bridge | Best Actress | Won | |
| Sammy Awards | 1981 | Water Under the Bridge | Best Actress in a Television Movie | Won | |
| Water Under the Bridge | Best Actress in a Television Series/Miniseries | Won |
| Association | Year | Work | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian National Theatre Award | 1976 | Herself | Best Actress New South Wales | Won | |
| Green Room Award | 1995 | Scenes from A Separation | Best Director | Nominated | |
| 1996 | Julius Caesar | Best Actress in a Leading Role | Nominated | ||
| 1999 | Long Day's Journey into Night | Nominated | |||
| 2008 | The Women of Troy | Best Female Performer | Nominated | ||
| 2009 | August: Osage Country | Won | |||
| Helpmann Award | 2005 | Hedda Gabler | Best Direction of a Play | Nominated | |
| 2009 | The Women of Troy | Best Female Actor in a Play | Won | ||
| 2010 | August: Osage Country | Nominated | |||
| 2012 | Summer of the Seventeenth Doll | Won | |||
| 2014 | Angels in America | Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play | Won | ||
| 2015 | Suddenly Last Summer | Best Female Actor in a Play | Nominated | ||
| 2017 | My Fair Lady | Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical | Won | ||
| Herself | JC Williamson Lifetime Achievement | Won | |||
| Queensland Matilda Award | 1997 | Herself | Outstanding Contribution to Queensland Theatre | Won | |
| Sydney Critics Circle Award | 1987 | Herself | Outstanding Achievement in Theatre | Won | |
| 1991 | Diving for Pearls | Best Actress in a Leading Role | Won | ||
| 1992 | Aristophanes Frog | Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Won | ||
| Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards | 1998 | Herself | Outstanding Individual Award | Won | |
| Sydney Theatre Awards | 2006 | Summer Rain | Best Direction in a Musical | Won | |
| 2011 | Neighbourhood watch | Best Leading Actress of a Mainstage Production | Nominated | ||
| Variety Club Heart Award | 1998 | Herself | Stage Award | Won | |
Nevin has been married twice, most notably in her second marriage to "prison playwright" Jim McNeil (1975–1977).[52] She currently lives with her partner, US-born actor and screenwriter Nicholas Hammond. They met when they starred in Alan Ayckbourn's Woman in Mind at the STC in 1987. From her first marriage to Barry Crook, she has a daughter Emily Russell (born 1968) who is also an actor.[53]
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