Kirsty Child

Kirsty Child
Born	Australia
Education	National Institute of Dramatic Art (1963) [1]
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1965–2014
Known for	Roles on Prisoner Neighbours as Carmel Taylor
Spouse	Peter Adams (1968–1999, his death)

Kirsty Child is an Australian character actress most notable for her roles in the television series Prisoner and Neighbours .

Early life

Child studied acting at Sydney's National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), graduating in 1963. ^[1]

Career

Child first appeared on television in several character roles in Crawford Productions' series such as Homicide. Her film roles include Country Town (1971) and the Australian film adaptation of Joan Lindsay's Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975).

In 1979, Child starred in Prisoner as Anne Yates, a prison officer turned drug dealer, for 10 episodes. She returned in 1983 as Glynis Johnson, and then again in 1985 as Willie Beecham, a prominent, 51-episode role.

In 1989, she had a leading role in the drama series Inside Running, along with various guest roles on television series Cop Shop and Blue Heelers .

She played Carmel Tyler in the soap opera Neighbours in 2002 and reprised the role between 2012 and 2013. ^[2]

Personal life

Child is the widow of New Zealand-born Australian actor Peter Adams, who died in December 1999. Their relationship developed after starring together in stage productions of Out of the Crocodile, Arms and The Man and Gaslight, at the Community Theatre in Sydney. ^[3]

Filmography (selected)

Film

Year	Title	Role	Type
1971	Country Town	Julie	Feature film
1975	Picnic at Hanging Rock	Miss Lumley	Feature film
1985	Handle with Care	Shirley	TV movie
1998	Crackers	Charge Nurse	Feature film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref
1965	My Brother Jack		Miniseries, episode 1.2
1966–1972	Homicide	5 character roles
1969-1975	Division 4	4 character roles
1970	Catalyst		TV play
1971–1973	Matlock Police	3 character roles
1977–1984	Cop Shop	Various roles
1980	Young Ramsay	Jocelyn Scott
1981	The Patchwork Hero	Aunt Ivy
1985	The Fast Lane	Eunice
1986	A Fortunate Life	Mrs. Bibby	Miniseries
1979, 1985–1986	Prisoner	Anne Yates / Glynis Johnson / Willie Beecham	65 episodes
1989	Inside Running	Beverly Lamb
1991–1992	Boys from the Bush	Corrie
1992	Mother and Son	Meredith
	Bligh	Nurse
1993–2001	Blue Heelers	2 character roles	2 episodes
2001	Halifax f.p.	Female Doctor
2002; 2012–2013	Neighbours	Carmel Taylor	15 episodes	[4]
2009	City Homicide	Elaine Shepparton	1 episode
2011	Winners and Losers	Judy Mitchell	1 episode
2014	This is Littleton	Annoyed Lady	1 episode

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref
1967	And So to Bed		Playhouse, Perth
	Mary, Mary			[5]
	Julius Caesar
	Pirates at the Barn
	Luv			[5]
	The Owl and the Pussy-Cat		Theatre 62, Adelaide with Hole in the Wall Theatre, Perth	[5] [6]
1968	King Lear		Old Tote Theatre, Sydney	[5]
	You Never Can Tell
	This Old Man Comes Rolling Home
1969	Oh, Killara		Community Theatre, Sydney	[3]
	Out of the Crocodile	Romantic lead
	The Restoration of Arnold Middleton	Joan
	Arms and The Man	Raina
	Fallen Angels
	Gaslight	Nancy
1970	Cat Among the Pigeons		Old Tote Theatre, Sydney
1972	Forget-Me-Not Lane		Russell St Theatre, Melbourne with MTC	[1]
	Jugglers Three
	Father Dear Come Over Here
1980	Upside Down at the Bottom of the World	Victoria	Playbox Theatre, Melbourne	[1] [7]
	Outside Edge	Miriam		[1] [8]
1981	Same Time, Next Year	Doris	Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne with Playbox Theatre Company & VIC/TAS tour	[9] [1]
1983	Woodworm		Playbox Theatre, Melbourne	[10]
1984	The Real Thing	Charlotte	Melbourne Athenaeum with MTC	[1]
	Filumena	Teresina		[11]
1985	Blue Window		St Martins Theatre, Melbourne with Playbox Theatre Company	[12]
	Little Lonsdale		Playbox Theatre, Melbourne	[13]
	The Joss Adams Show		London	[5]
	Don't Let Summer Come		Hole in the Wall Theatre, Perth
1987	The Norman Conquests		Russell St Theatre, Melbourne with MTC
1991	Morning Sacrifice	Miss Dora Pearl		[5]
2005	The Breath of Life	Frances Beale	Australian national tour with HIT Productions	[14]
2007	Under Milk Wood	Mrs Ogmore Pritchard / Narrator / Various roles	Comedy Theatre, Melbourne	[15]
2015	Wicked Widows		Frankston Arts Centre	[16]
	The Savages of Wirramai	Mary Savage	La Mama, Melbourne with Suckerpunch Theatre	[17]

References

1. "The Real Thing". Theatregold. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
2. "Family reunion on Ramsay Street". Channel 5 . Northern & Shell. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
3. "Alexander Archdale and the Community Theatre". Theatre Heritage Australia. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
4. Knox, David (16 September 2012). "Kirsty Child returns to Neighbours | TV Tonight". TV Tonight . Retrieved 25 February 2025.
5. "Morning Sacrifice". Theatregold. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
6. "Out of the Past". The Bulletin via National Library of Australia . 29 April 1967.
7. "Stories of M - Upside Down at the Bottom of the World". Stories of M . Retrieved 30 August 2025.
8. "Stories of M – Outside Edge". Stories of M . Retrieved 30 August 2025.
9. "Stories of M – Same Time Next Year". Stories of M . Retrieved 25 February 2025.
10. "Stories of M - Woodworm". Stories of M . Retrieved 25 February 2025.
11. "Filumena". Theatregold. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
12. "Stories of M - Blue Window". Stories of M . Retrieved 25 February 2025.
13. "Kirsty Child reading for Little Lonsdale". Monash Collections. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
14. "The Breath of Life". www.hitproductions.com.au. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
15. "Under Milk Wood". www.australianstage.com.au. Retrieved 21 February 2007.
16. "Alan Hopgood's Wicked Widows hits Frankston Arts Centre stage". Herald Sun . 13 October 2015.
17. "The Savages of Wirramai". Herald Sun . 14 September 2015.

External links

• Kirsty Child at IMDb