Celia Ireland | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 16 May 1966 Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Notable work | Television: All Saints Wentworth Film: My Mother Frank Australian Rules |
| Spouse | Tim [1] |
| Children | 2 [1] |
Celia Ireland (born 16 May 1966) is an Australian actress. She is best known for her role as Regina Butcher on the television series All Saints and her Logie award winning role as Liz Birdsworth on the prison drama series Wentworth .
Celia Ireland was born in Newcastle, New South Wales on 16 May 1966. She lived in Haig Street, Belmont, City of Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia with a large cast of older sisters and a brother. Celia attended Saint Mary's Catholic High School, Gateshead, City of Lake Macquarie, New South Wales and later Saint Anne's/Saint Pius X College, Adamstown (Newcastle), New South Wales, Australia. Currently, she often visits Canberra, ACT and enjoys shopping and eating out.
Ireland made her television debut in 1992 when she made a guest appearance on the Australian television series Police Rescue . What followed was a number of guesting roles on television series such as A Country Practice , Water Rats and Murder Call , to name but a few and the feature films Dallas Dolls in 1994, which was her film debut; Dad and Dave: On Our Selection , Floating Life , Idiot Box and Thank God He Met Lizzie , with Cate Blanchett; all of which she appeared in throughout the nineties.
In 1997, Ireland played Rosy's mother Filameena in the Australian children's television series Swinging for ABC TV.
In 1998, Ireland went on to voice Boronia in the Australian children's animated television series Petals for ABC TV and Mrs. Simms in the Australian children's animated television series Seaside Hotel for Seven Network and Yoram Gross EM TV in 2003.
In 1999, Ireland was cast as Regina Butcher on the Seven Network drama series All Saints, [2] first appearing during the series' second season. She left the series in 2005 during season eight after the character of Regina was written out.
While appearing on All Saints, Ireland continued to receive guest roles in several series and films; the Australian feature films After the Rain, My Mother Frank , Angst and Australian Rules , in which she received a Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Supporting Actress and was nominated for an Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role; the popular Nine Network drama series McLeod's Daughters and Don't Blame Me . In 2006, Ireland played a recurring role in the second season of Supernova . Her other television credits include Monster House , Laid , Me and My Monsters , the television comedy-drama series Packed to the Rafters , and a recurring role as Connie Callahan in the Seven Network soap opera Home and Away ; the films Rogue , Cactus , Being Venice and Goddess.
In 2012 it was announced that Ireland had received the regular role of Liz Birdsworth on Australian prison drama series Wentworth , [3] a reimagining of the cult classic series Prisoner (Prisoner: Cell Block H) which aired on Network Ten from 1979 to 1986. Wentworth went to air on SoHo in mid-2013. Ireland had appeared as a regular in all three seasons, as a prisoner who gives peer support to her fellow inmates. Her character name is that of the original Prisoner character Lizzie Birdsworth, although Ireland plays a completely different character role to that of Sheila Florance's character, they do however share a similarity as Liz is a functioning alcoholic, Liz in season six of Wentworth would be diagnosed with Dementia.
Ireland would later exit the series in season 7 [4] alongside costar Tammy Macintosh, [5] Liz would pass away after suffering a stroke after the devastating Siege of Wentworth. Ireland and Milosevic who were filming that scene at the time were not told that a costume sale that was being organized was suddenly cancelled as the show had secured funding for its final 20 episodes. [6]
After leaving Wentworth Celia joined the filming of both the first seasons of Five Bedrooms and Total Control. [7]
In 2022 Ireland joined several members of the Wentworth (TV series) cast at the Wentworth Con fan convention that was held in Melbourne., [8] Celia also appeared at Wentworth Con Florida.
In 2022 it was announced that Ireland would join the Sydney Theatre Companies production of Hubris and Humiliation for its 2023 season. [9]
In 2024 after a multi year absence from television, Ireland was announced as part of the cast for ABC series Return to Paradise. . [10]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Dallas Doll | Policewoman | Feature film |
| 1995 | Dad and Dave: On Our Selection | Sarah | Feature film |
| 1996 | Floating Life | Feature film | |
| Idiot Box | Barmaid | Feature film | |
| 1997 | Thank God He Met Lizzie | Cheryl | Feature film |
| 1999 | Oops! | Woman | Short film |
| 2000 | After the Rain | Stevie Canetti | |
| My Mother Frank | Peggy | Feature film | |
| Angst | Case Worker | Feature film | |
| 2002 | Australian Rules | Liz Black | Feature film |
| 2007 | Rogue | Gwen | Feature film |
| 2008 | Cactus | Vesna | Feature film |
| 2012 | Being Venice | Australian Woman | |
| 2013 | Goddess | Mary | Feature film |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Police Rescue | Lachlan's Mother | Season 2 (Episode: "Sugar") | |
| 1993 | The Comedy Sale | Various | Season 1 (3 episodes) | |
| A Country Practice | Judy Hallem | Season 13 (2 episodes) | ||
| 1996 | Water Rats | Sarah Fleetwood | Season 1 (2 episodes) | |
| 1997 | Swinging | Filameena Turvey | Season 1 (15 episodes) | |
| 1998 | Petals | Boronia (voice) | Seasons 1 & 2 | |
| 1999 | Murder Call | Barb Ferris | Season 3 (Episode: "Hide & Seek") | |
| Dog's Head Bay | Alice Astassio | Season 1 (4 episodes) | ||
| 2002 | Home and Away | Bernadette | Season 15; Unknown episodes | |
| McLeod's Daughters | Melanie Powers | Season 2 (Episode: "The Bore War") | ||
| Don't Blame Me (aka Don't Blame the Koalas) | Schoolteacher | Season 1 (Episode: "Fate Steps In") | ||
| 1999–2005 | All Saints | Regina Butcher | Seasons 2–8 (144 episodes) | |
| 2003 | Seaside Hotel | Mrs. Simms (voice) | Seasons 1 & 2 | |
| 2006 | Supernova | Shirl | Season 2 (5 episodes) | |
| 2008 | Monster House | Karen Webb | Season 1 (2 episodes) | |
| 2011 | Laid | Brendan's Mum | Season 1 (1 episode) | |
| Me and My Monsters | Pauline Travis | Season 2 (Episode: "The Monster-Sitter") | ||
| 2013–14 | Home and Away | Connie Callahan | Seasons 26–27 (9 episodes) | |
| 2013 | Packed to the Rafters | Colleen Bourke | Season 5 (2 episodes) | |
| 2013–2019 | Wentworth | Liz Birdsworth | Seasons 1–7 (80 episodes) | |
| 2013 | Redfern Now | Nurse Edwards | Season 2 (Episode: "Where the Heart Is") | |
| 2014 | Rake | Cop 1 | Season 3 (1 episode) | |
| 2019 | Five Bedrooms | Rhonda Hibbert | Season 1 (2 episodes) | |
| Total Control | Tracy | Season 1 (6 episodes) | ||
| 2024 | Return to Paradise | In production |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Wentworth; Behind the Bars 2 | Self | Narrator TV Special | |
| 2021 | Wentworth Reunion Event | Self | Special | [11] |
| 2019 | Wentworth: Behind The Bars | Self | TV Special | |
| 2017 | Screen: Celia Ireland | Self | 1 episode | [12] |
| Wentworth: Interrogation Room | Self | Q and A Video | [13] | |
| 2016 | Thinkergirls Pod | Self | Podcast 1 episode | [14] |
| An Audience with the Cast of Wentworth (TV series) | Self | TV Special | [15] |
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | AFI Awards | Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Australian Rules | Nominated | [16] [lower-alpha 1] |
| FCCA Awards | Best Actress – Supporting Role | Won | [17] [lower-alpha 2] | ||
| 2015 | ASTRA Awards | Most Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor | Wentworth | Nominated | [18] [lower-alpha 3] |
| 2016 | Logie Awards | Most Outstanding Supporting Actress | Won | [19] [lower-alpha 4] | |
| 2018 | AACTA Awards | Best Guest or Supporting Actress in a Television Drama | Nominated | [20] [lower-alpha 5] | |
| Logie Awards | Most Outstanding Supporting Actress | Nominated | [21] [lower-alpha 6] | ||
| 2019 | Most Outstanding Supporting Actress | Nominated | [22] [lower-alpha 7] |
Prisoner is an Australian television soap opera, which broadcast on Network Ten from February 27 (Melbourne) February 26 (Sydney) 1979 to December 1986 (Melbourne), though the series finale would not screen until September 1987 in Sydney, where it aired as a three-hour film that was split into three one-hour episodes at the much-later time-slot of 10:30 p.m., running eight seasons and 692 episodes.
Leeanna Walsman is an Australian actress. She is best known for her role as Zam Wesell in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002), and for her roles in the 2000 film Looking for Alibrandi and the television series Wentworth. She was nominated for both AACTA and Logie awards for her role in Emmy Award-winning series Safe Harbour.
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Elizabeth Tanner is an Australian stage and television actress best known for her roles as Bronwyn Craig in the television series All Saints and as Bridget Westfall in Wentworth.
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Wentworth is an Australian television drama series. It was first broadcast on SoHo on 1 May 2013, and it concluded on Fox Showcase with its 100th episode on 26 October 2021. The series serves as a contemporary reimagining of Prisoner, which ran on Network Ten from 1979 to 1986. Lara Radulovich and David Hannam developed Wentworth from Reg Watson's original concept. The series is set in the modern day and initially focuses on Bea Smith's early days in prison and her subsequent rise to the top of the prison's hierarchy. From the fifth season onward, the series shifted to emphasize more of an ensemble format.
The first season of the crime drama television series Wentworth originally aired on SoHo in Australia. The season consisted of 10 episodes and aired between 1 May and 3 July 2013. It was executively produced by FremantleMedia's director of drama Jo Porter. The series is a remake of Prisoner, which aired on Network Ten from 1979 to 1986. Lara Radulovich and David Hannam developed Wentworth from Reg Watson's original concept. The season was shot over four months from 10 October 2012.
The second season of the crime drama television series "Wentworth" premiered on May 20, 2014, on the Australian network SoHo. The season, consisting of 12 episodes, was executive produced by Jo Porter, Fremantle Media's director of drama. The storyline continues three months after Bea Smith's actions in the previous season, including the murder of Jacs Holt, and the rise of Franky Doyle as the top dog among the inmates. The introduction of a new governor, Joan Ferguson, brings further complexity to the season's events. The season gained several nominations and awards.
The third season of the television drama series Wentworth premiered on SoHo in Australia on 7 April 2015. It was executively produced by FremantleMedia's Director of Drama, Jo Porter. The season comprises 12 episodes. Season three picks up four months after Bea's return to Wentworth following her escape and revenge murder of Brayden Holt.
The fourth season of the television drama series Wentworth premiered on SoHo in Australia on 10 May 2016. It was executively produced by FremantleMedia's Director of Drama, Jo Porter. The season comprises 12 episodes. Season four picks up four months after the fire at Wentworth.
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The fifth season of the television drama series Wentworth premiered on Showcase in Australia on 4 April 2017, having previously aired on SoHo, and concluded on 20 June 2017. It was executive produced by FremantleMedia's Director of Drama, Jo Porter. The season comprised 12 episodes. The fifth season picks up just days after the death of Bea Smith and is therefore noted as the first season not to feature Danielle Cormack.
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