Paula Duncan | |
|---|---|
| Born | Paula Margaret Duncan 15 September 1952 Cooma, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1971 – present |
| Known for | |
| Spouse | |
| Family | Carmen Duncan (sister) Donald MacDonald (Actor, presenter, screenwriter, novelist) (uncle) [1] |
Paula Margaret Duncan AM (born 15 September 1952) is an Australian actor. [2]
Her numerous television roles include playing in Number 96 as Carol Finlayson (1974-1975), The Young Doctors (1976–77), as Nurse Lisa Brooks, Cop Shop as Detective Danni Francis (1977–83), for which she twice won the Logie Award for Most Popular Actress, Prisoner as Lorelei Wilkinson (1986), Richmond Hill as Janet Bryant (1988), Home and Away as Bridget Jackson (1990) and Neighbours (2011). Other notable roles include Paradise Beach and Breakers .
Duncan's older sister was stage and screen actor and activist Carmen Duncan.
Her uncle was actor, presenter, screenwriter and novellist and administrator Donald MacDonald (1938-2025), best known as an original presenter on Play School [1]
Duncan was born in Cooma, New South Wales, to publicans Rita and Robert on 15 September 1952. [3] has played several leading roles in various TV series. Early roles were Carol Finlayson in Number 96 (her sister Carmen Duncan had previously acted in this serial), followed by Lisa Brooks in The Young Doctors. She left The Young Doctors to take the role of Danni Francis in Cop Shop , and stayed in the role for the series' entire 1977–1984 run. After Cop Shop ended she played Lorelei Wilkinson in Prisoner in 1986, then was Janet Bryant in Richmond Hill (1988) for its entire run, Bridget Jackson in Home and Away, [4] and Joan Hayden in Paradise Beach . [5]
In 2011 Duncan joined the cast of Neighbours as Carolyn Johnstone, a love interest for Harold Bishop (Ian Smith). [6] Duncan previously appeared in the show as Amy Medway in 1985. [6]
Duncan is well known to Australian audiences through her work on television commercials, especially humorous commercials for the Ajax household cleaner Spray N' Wipe, from 1988 to 2010. [7] [8]
She has also made guest appearances on the NRL Footy Show on Network Nine.
Duncan married actor John Orcsik in June 1982 after they met acting together in Cop Shop . They opened acting school, The Australian Film & Television Academy (TAFTA) [9] together on the Gold Coast in 1994. They divorced in 1998. They have since worked together in the show Paradise Beach and elsewhere.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Casualty Ward | unknown role | TV film |
| 1975 | Polly Me Love | unknown role | TV film |
| 1978 | Cass | TV film | |
| 1985 | Jenny Kissed Me | Gaynor | Feature film |
| 1987 | Future Past | Miss Bernsteen | TV film |
| 1996 | Academy | Jennifer Haywood | TV film |
| 2004 | Cocktail Hour | Sandra | Film short |
| 2004 | Strange Bedfellows | Yvonne Philpot | Feature film |
| 2009 | Braille | Madam | Feature film |
| 2011 | Surprise Surprise | Muriel | Film short |
| 2015 | Natural Injustice | Doreen Smith | Feature film |
| 2017 | Torn | Tess Smith | Film short |
| 2020 | Unsound | Angela | Feature film |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Lux Video Theatre | Kitty | Episode: "So Evil My Love" |
| 1973 | The Pirates of Penzance | Teleplay | |
| 1974 | This Love Affair | Joan | Anthology series, episode 8: 'One of My Silly Dreams' |
| 1974 | Certain Women | 2 episodes | |
| 1974–1975; 1977 | Number 96 | Carol Finlayson | Episodes: "1.669", "1.689", "1.700" |
| 1975 | Ain't Got a Barrel of Money | TV pilot | |
| 1977 | The Young Doctors | Lisa Brooks | 121 episodes |
| 1977–1984 | Cop Shop | Det. Danni Francis | 582 episodes |
| 1984 | Matthew and Son | Barbara Dean | TV pilot |
| 1985 | Neighbours | Amy Medway | 4 episodes |
| 1986 | Prisoner | Lorelei Wilkinson | Season 8, 54 episodes |
| Studio 86 | Glenda | Episode: "An Electric Day" | |
| 1988 | Richmond Hill | Janet Bryant | |
| Henry Lawson's Australia | Presenter | Video | |
| 1990 | Home and Away | Bridget Jackson | Season 3, 8 episodes |
| Skirts | Janine Davies | Episode: "Wolf Whistles" | |
| 1992 | Mother And Son | Real Estate agent | Episode: "The Clock" |
| 1993–1994 | Paradise Beach | Joan Hayden | Episode: "2.139" |
| 1999 | Breakers | Karen Fairbarn | |
| 2000 | Pizza | Lorelei Wilkinson | Episode: "Gambling Pizza" |
| 2002 | Always Greener | Make-up artist | 1 episode |
| 2008 | East of Everything | Pauline | 3 episodes: "No Way to Nirvana", "Save Me Some Scones", "Aesthetic My Arse" |
| 2011 | Neighbours | Carolyn Johnstone | Season 27, 7 episodes |
| 2015 | Hiding | Jenny Krilich | 3 episodes: "1.1", "1.3", "1.8" |
| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Dick Whittington and His Cat | ||
| 1983 | Salad Days | ||
| 1985 | Half In Earnest | ||
| 1987 | Hansel And Gretel's Aussie Adventure | ||
| 1987 | Blithe Spirit | ||
| 1989 | Bedroom Farce | ||
| 1990 | The Lady's Not For Burning | ||
| 1995 | Brazilian Blue | ||
| 1998 | Social Climbers | ||
| 2002 | The Vagina Monologues | ||
| 2007 | Flying Solo | ||
| 2008 | Theatresports |