Josie Russell (Home and Away)

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Josie Russell
Home and Away character
Josie Russell.jpg
Portrayed by Laurie Foell
Duration2004–2005
First appearance9 August 2004
Last appearance29 June 2005
Classification Former; regular
Introduced byJulie McGuaran
In-universe information
OccupationBrothel owner
Barmaid
Businesswoman
First cousins Angie Russell
Other relatives Tasha Andrews
Dylan Russell

Jacinta "Josie" Russell is a fictional character on the Australian soap opera Home and Away , portrayed by actress Laurie Foell. She first appeared on 9 August 2004 and departed on 29 June 2005. Foell previously starred in the serial as Kelly McCane in 1999 and Josie's cousin Angie Russell in 2002.

Contents

Josie's storylines include meeting and forging a relationship with her cousin's daughter Tasha Andrews (Isabel Lucas), Becoming involved with Jesse McGregor (Ben Unwin), having an affair with ex-boyfriend Marc Edwards (Christopher Hobbs), having the circumstances of a client's death being revealed and almost being murdered by Brett Macklin (Gerry Sont).

Development

Two years after departing the serial as Angie Russell, Foell rejoined the cast in 2004 to play Angie's identical cousin, Josie. [1] Comparing the characters, Foell said "Angie was quite cold, whereas Josie is much warmer. She's a survivor who has been around the block a few times, but she's fair." [1]

Storylines

Josie appears when Irene Roberts (Lynne McGranger) and Dylan Russell (Brett Hicks-Maitland) track her down at her brothel in the city. Due to her profession, Irene wants Josie to keep her distance from Tasha Andrews (Isabel Lucas), the daughter of Josie's cousin, Angie. Josie's uncanny identical appearance to Angie causes a stir when she arrives in Summer Bay to connect with Tasha. Tasha gets along well with Josie but Irene is against her being in Tasha's life.

Josie settles into Summer Bay and donates $2000 to the school and invests in the surf club and suggests naming a new bar "Noah's" - in honour of the recently murdered Noah Lawson (Beau Brady). Tasha's friends Sally Fletcher (Kate Ritchie) and Flynn Saunders (Joel McIlroy) are suspicious and accuse Josie of wanting Tasha's inheritance. Irene enlists the help of Morag Bellingham (Cornelia Frances) for legal advice when Josie applies for guardianship of Tasha. Josie withdraws after Morag discovers a secret from her past. She then assists for Ian Osbourne (Andrew McFarlane), Tasha's biological father and his assistant Stafford McRae (Rohan Nichol) to plant surveillance cameras in the beach house, in order for Ian to keep an eye on Tasha. The cameras are soon exposed and Ian withdraws.

Josie begins a relationship with business partner Jesse McGregor (Ben Unwin) [2] but gets cold feet when he professes his love for her and she breaks up with him as a result. Tasha concocts a scheme to get them back together by pretending to break up with her boyfriend Robbie Hunter (Jason Smith). The plan works and Josie and Jesse reunite. Josie later comforts Tasha when Ian rejects her in an act to prevent her becoming like his other children. Marc Edwards (Christopher Hobbs), Josie's ex-boyfriend arrives in Summer Bay. Although, she is now with Jesse, the two sleep together and Josie regrets it. Marc's continual presence in Summer Bay uneases her and matters escalate when he begins blackmailing her for money over her secret, the suspicious death of one of her clients. Josie reluctantly accepts Jesse's proposal of marriage and they are ready to marry but Marc presents Jesse with the video footage of him and Josie together and Jesse exposes the affair to the congregation and leaves town for several days. Following Marc's arrest as a suspect of being the Summer Bay Stalker, he is bailed and harasses Josie at a murder mystery party, where ironically he is murdered by Eve Jacobsen (Emily Perry), the real stalker. Josie is a suspect but is later cleared. She then leaves town and asks Tasha to leave with her but she declines.

Josie returns a few weeks later, having gone into business with Brett Macklin (Gerry Sont). She soon discovers Brett is responsible for illegally dumping waste and relays the information to Stafford and arranges to meet him to organise a plan to bring Brett down, However, Stafford does not turn up and Brett arrives in his place and tries to kill her by pushing her off a cliff but is foiled and arrested. Josie has a short entanglement with Scott Hunter (Kip Gamblin) but it fizzles out and she decides to leave the bay once more and settles in Boston, Massachusetts. The following year, Josie invites Tasha, Robbie and their daughter Ella to join her over there.

Reception

Roz Laws of the Sunday Mercury observed "Josie, the scarily-lookalike sister of Angie, has been in Home And Away for only five minutes but has certainly made her mark.". [3] A writer from What's On TV described her as "twisted", and stated that Foell caused trouble twice in the show in both her roles as Angie and Josie. [4] An Inside Soap reporter branded Josie's arrival played by Foell a "bonkers - but nonetheless brilliant" storyline. [5]

Related Research Articles

Laurie Foell is an Australian actress. She is best known for her portrayal of both Angela "Angie" Russell and her cousin Josie, in the successful Australian television soap opera Home and Away. Foell also starred as Dr. Justine Jones in the long running New Zealand hospital soap Shortland Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tasha Andrews</span> Fictional character on the Home and Away soap opera

Natasha "Tasha" Hunter is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Isabel Lucas. She made her first screen appearance in the episode broadcast on 31 July 2003. Tasha departed the series on 10 October 2006.

Irene Roberts (<i>Home and Away</i>) Fictional character

Irene Roberts is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera Home and Away. She was originally played by actress Jacqy Phillips from her introduction in Episode 887 shown on 29 October 1991, until 13 May 1992. Following Phillips' departure, the part was recast to Lynne McGranger, who debuted in Episode 1147, broadcast on 12 January 1993. Irene was initially a recurring character, but on 7 October 1993 McGranger was promoted to the regular cast. McGranger is one of the longest-serving cast members on the show. On 8 August 2024, Irene temporarily departed with an expected return date of early 2025.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jesse McGregor</span> Soap opera character

Jesse McGregor is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by actor Ben Unwin. He made his first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 20 May 1996. The actor departed in 2000, but returned in 2002 and departed once again on 26 July 2005.

Robbie Hunter (<i>Home and Away</i>) Soap opera character

Robert George "Robbie" Hunter is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Jason Smith. He made his first on screen appearance on 25 November 2003. Robbie's storylines have included adjusting to a new stepfamily, a HIV scare, his relationship and subsequent marriage to Tasha Andrews, standing trial for the murder of his grandfather and becoming a father. Robbie departed on 10 October 2006.

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Josh West (<i>Home and Away</i>) Soap opera character

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roo Stewart</span> Soap opera character

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Nick Smith (<i>Home and Away</i>) Fictional character in the Australian soap opera Home and Away

Nicholas Smith is a fictional character in the Australian soap opera Home and Away. He first appeared during the episode airing on 18 March 1999, played by Matt Juarez in a guest role and then returned as a regular character on 26 April 2000, now played by Chris Egan, and departed on 12 September 2003. Aaron Puckeridge also played Nick in flashbacks in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelly Watson</span> Soap opera character

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<i>Home and Away: Secrets and the City</i> Season of television series

Home and Away: Secrets and the City is an exclusive-to-video and DVD special of Australia's most popular soap opera Home and Away. In 2002, it was only released on video and a year later it received a DVD release. It is hosted by Home and Away star Tammin Sursok — in character as Dani Sutherland, not as herself — and contains three episodes, two of which were aired on TV: Shattered Hearts and Broken Dreams, from the fifteenth season of Home and Away, while the third episode, Secrets and the City will never be aired on TV; it is only to be seen on the video and DVD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Celia Stewart</span> Soap opera character

Celia Stewart is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away played by Fiona Spence. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 26 January 1988. The character is portrayed as a gossiping busybody and spinster who occupies her time with the Presbyterian church. In her early appearances, she formed an alliance with Donald Fisher and, though she has conservative views, she is not malicious. After one year as Celia, Spence hoped that she would find romance and change her attire. Producers decided to implement change and added smart outfits to the character's wardrobe. Spence decided to leave the series in 1990 and Celia departed the same year. She has since reprised the role on four occasions. After carrying out missionary work in Africa she returned to Summer Bay in 2000, 2002 and 2005. In 2012, it was announced that Spence had agreed to return once again. Originally heralded as the chance for Celia to reconnect with her on-screen brother, Alf Stewart, it was later revealed that she was hiding a shameful secret.

<i>Home and Away: Romances</i> Season of television series

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morag Bellingham</span> Fictional character in Home & Away

Morag Bellingham QC is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Cornelia Frances. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 7 June 1988. She appeared until 1989 and briefly appeared in 1993. She returned yearly from 2001 until 2009, again from 2011 to 2013 and again from 2016 to 2017. Before she died, Frances had expressed her desire to once again become a permanent cast member. Morag has been described as an antagonistic, independent and cold character. Morag is portrayed as a tough lawyer. She has been involved in storylines such as adopting out her illegitimate daughter Bobby Simpson, being widowed, helping her brother Alf Stewart through his many legal battles and a friendship with troubled teen Aden Jefferies. She has been well received by certain critics for her feisty persona, whilst others have criticised her professional skills.

References

  1. 1 2 "Back from the dead!". Inside Soap (33): 8. 14–20 August 2004.
  2. Schembri, Jim (6 January 2005). "Critic's Choice". The Age . p. 28. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  3. Laws, Roz (3 April 2005). "Josie's on the Mark". Sunday Mercury . Trinity Mirror . Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  4. "The 50 most evil soap villains of all time". What's on TV . IPC Media. 12 March 2009. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  5. "Summer craziness!". Inside Soap (14): 47. 12–18 April 2014.