Paula Duncan

Last updated

Paula Duncan
AM
Born
Paula Margaret Duncan

(1952-09-15) 15 September 1952 (age 72)
OccupationActor
Years active1971 – present
Known for
Spouse
(m. 1982;div. 1998)
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]

Contents

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]

Career

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]

Advertising

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.

Personal life

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.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1974Casualty Wardunknown roleTV film
1975Polly Me Loveunknown roleTV film
1978 Cass TV film
1985 Jenny Kissed Me GaynorFeature film
1987 Future Past Miss BernsteenTV film
1996 Academy Jennifer HaywoodTV film
2004Cocktail HourSandraFilm short
2004 Strange Bedfellows Yvonne PhilpotFeature film
2009BrailleMadamFeature film
2011Surprise SurpriseMurielFilm short
2015Natural InjusticeDoreen SmithFeature film
2017TornTess SmithFilm short
2020UnsoundAngelaFeature film

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1955 Lux Video Theatre KittyEpisode: "So Evil My Love"
1973The Pirates of PenzanceTeleplay
1974 This Love Affair JoanAnthology series, episode 8: 'One of My Silly Dreams'
1974 Certain Women 2 episodes
1974–1975; 1977 Number 96 Carol FinlaysonEpisodes: "1.669", "1.689", "1.700"
1975Ain't Got a Barrel of MoneyTV pilot
1977 The Young Doctors Lisa Brooks121 episodes
1977–1984 Cop Shop Det. Danni Francis582 episodes
1984 Matthew and Son Barbara DeanTV pilot
1985 Neighbours Amy Medway4 episodes
1986 Prisoner Lorelei WilkinsonSeason 8, 54 episodes
Studio 86 GlendaEpisode: "An Electric Day"
1988 Richmond Hill Janet Bryant
Henry Lawson's AustraliaPresenterVideo
1990 Home and Away Bridget Jackson Season 3, 8 episodes
Skirts Janine DaviesEpisode: "Wolf Whistles"
1992 Mother And Son Real Estate agentEpisode: "The Clock"
1993–1994 Paradise Beach Joan HaydenEpisode: "2.139"
1999 Breakers Karen Fairbarn
2000 Pizza Lorelei WilkinsonEpisode: "Gambling Pizza"
2002 Always Greener Make-up artist1 episode
2008 East of Everything Pauline3 episodes: "No Way to Nirvana", "Save Me Some Scones", "Aesthetic My Arse"
2011 Neighbours Carolyn Johnstone Season 27, 7 episodes
2015 Hiding Jenny Krilich3 episodes: "1.1", "1.3", "1.8"

Stage

YearTitleRoleType
1972 Dick Whittington and His Cat
1983 Salad Days
1985Half In Earnest
1987Hansel And Gretel's Aussie Adventure
1987Blithe Spirit
1989 Bedroom Farce
1990 The Lady's Not For Burning
1995 Brazilian Blue
1998Social Climbers
2002 The Vagina Monologues
2007Flying Solo
2008Theatresports

References

  1. 1 2 "Vale: Donald MacDonald".
  2. AusStage. "Paula Duncan".?
  3. "As she celebrates 50 years in showbusiness, Paula Duncan reflects on the highs and the lows". 5 February 2023.
  4. Williams, Glen (14 April 1990). "Paul becomes a 'monster' mum". TV Week . p. 91.
  5. Paula Duncan at IMDb
  6. 1 2 "Harold Bishop to find love on Ramsay Street". Herald Sun . The Herald and Weekly Times. 30 March 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
  7. "The Spray N' Wipe commercial". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 15 June 2014.
  8. "Ajax jingle to return with Paula Duncan reprising character of frantic housewife". Mumbrella. 4 March 2010. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  9. "The Australian Film & Television Academy". tafta.com.au. Retrieved 5 July 2020.