Anita Louise Combe is an Australian actress, singer, dancer who has worked extensively in the entertainment industry all around the world. Combe attended the Gwen Mackay School of Dancing and trained in the Cechetti method of ballet with Jennifer Pollard in Adelaide, South Australia before making her first professional appearance on stage in 1985 as Sillabub in the Australian Premiere Production of Cats at the Theatre Royal in Sydney. She is one of the few people in the world to date who has played both roles of Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly in the production of Chicago in the West End. Anita created the role of Stephanie Mangano in the World Premiere Production of Saturday Night Fever opposite fellow Australian, Adam Garcia

Adam Garcia

Adam Garcia is an Australian actor and tap dancer of partial Colombian descent .-Career:...

 and produced by Adelaide born, Robert Stigwood

Robert Stigwood

Robert Stigwood is an impresario and entertainment entrepreneur who relocated to England in 1954...

.

Personal life

Combe was born in Adelaide, South Australia. Her mother Rosemary was a nursing sister and her father John was an architect. She grew up with five brothers, two older and three younger. Her eldest brother, Scott, died in a car accident in 1985 only months after opening in the musical Cats

Cats (musical)

Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...

. Her main ambition was to become a ballet dancer, but after being cast in her first role in Cats she realised she wanted to expand her career into singing and acting also.

After playing roles such as Peron's Mistress in Evita, Sybil in Private Lives

Private Lives

Private Lives is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It focuses on a divorced couple who discover that they are honeymooning with their new spouses in neighbouring rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetually stormy relationship, they realise that they still have feelings for...

 and Cosette in Les Miserables

Les Misérables

Les Misérables , translated variously from the French as The Miserable Ones, The Wretched, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, or The Victims), is an 1862 French novel by author Victor Hugo and is widely considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century...

, all in Australia, Combe then made her West End

West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

 debut in the world premiere production of Sunset Boulevard

Sunset Boulevard

Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades...

.

It was in London that she met the father of her daughter, who was born in the year 2000.

Film and Television

Doctors, Laura Bowles Miller, BBC, Dir: Graham Sherrington

Holby City

Holby City

Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...

, Margarhita, BBC

Salsa Industry pilot, Gail, Luvchild Productions, Dir:Lorrie Sheehy/Kevin Ball

Kevin Ball

Kevin Ball aka 'The Hatchet' is a former professional footballer and now coach. Between 6 March and 8 May 2006 Ball acted as Sunderland caretaker manager for the last ten games of the 2005–06 season following the sacking of Mick McCarthy, taking five points from these games...

Rabbit Fever, Feature film by Stephen Raphael Sheila Tucker, Caught in the headlight prod.,Dir:Ian Denyer

Silent Witness

Silent Witness

Silent Witness is a BBC crime thriller series focusing on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in February 1996, the series is still airing to the present day, with a fifteenth series expected to air in January 2012. The series was...

, Rachel Blake, BBC, Dir:Nick Renton

Belinda, Australian Film by Pamela Gibbons, Vicki, Dir: Pamela Gibbons

A Country Practice Guest Lead, Anna Collins, JNP FILMS

Home and Away

Home and Away

Home and Away is an Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney since July 1987 and is airing on the Seven Network since 17 January 1988. It is the second-longest-running drama and most popular soap opera on Australian television...

Guest Lead, Shirley, Channel 7 network

G.P Guest Lead, Melanie Bloom, ABC Network

Ray Martin Midday Show, Guest appearances singing live, Channel 9 network

Good Morning Australia Guest appearances singing live

Theatre

Starting Here, Starting Now, Victorian State Opera Melbourne, Dir:Andrew Mcbean

Stepping Out

Stepping Out

Stepping Out is the debut album by Canadian jazz pianist and vocalist Diana Krall, released in 1993 .-Track listing:#"This Can't Be Love" – 4:31...

, Mavis Turner, Derby Playhouse, Dir: Stephen Dexter

Taking Steps Alan Ayckbourne, Elizabeth Crabbe, Gatehouse Theatre, London, Dir: Alex Holt

Private Lives

Private Lives

Private Lives is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It focuses on a divorced couple who discover that they are honeymooning with their new spouses in neighbouring rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetually stormy relationship, they realise that they still have feelings for...

Noel Coward, Sybil, Sydney Opera House, Dir: Peter Williams

Honeyspot Aust/aboriginal play by Jack Davis, Peggy, Canada/USA/Aust.[Elizabethan Theatre Trust], Dir: Richard Tulloch

Chicago

Chicago (musical)

Chicago is a musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago. The music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal"...

(with David Hasselhoff

David Hasselhoff

David Michael Hasselhoff is an American actor, singer, producer and businessman. He is best known for his lead roles as Michael Knight in the popular 1980s US series Knight Rider and as L.A. County Lifeguard Mitch Buchannon in the series Baywatch...

), Velma Kelly, Adelphi Theatre, London, Dir: Scott Faris

Chicago

Chicago (musical)

Chicago is a musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago. The music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal"...

(with Alyson Moyet & Marti Pellow

Marti Pellow

Marti Pellow has been the lead singer of the Scottish pop group Wet Wet Wet since their formation in 1982. He has also recorded solo material.-Early life:...

), Roxie Hart, Adelphi Theatre, London, Dir:
Scott Faris

Oscar (which closed after opening night), Constance Lloyd, George Bernard Shaw Theatre, London, Dir: Mike Read

Hello Again London Premiere, The Actress, Bridewell Theatre, London, Dir: Clive Paget

Ssaturday Night Fever, Created role of: Stephanie Mangano, London Palladiam, Dir: Arlene Phillips

Arlene Phillips

Arlene Phillips OBE is an English choreographer, theatre director, talent scout, TV presenter, TV judge and former dancer, who has worked in many fields of entertainment...

La Boheme

La bohème

La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...

World Premiere MTL production, Mimi, Dir: Tony Britten

Sunset Boulevard

Sunset Boulevard

Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades...

World Premiere Production, Understudied Betty Schaefer and took over role nine months later when show re-opened in 1994, Adelphi Theatre, London, Dir: Sir Trevor Nunn

Sunset Boulevard

Sunset Boulevard

Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades...

Canadian Premiere, Betty Schaefer, Toronto & Vancouver, Dir: Sir Trevor Nunn

Les Miserables

Les Misérables

Les Misérables , translated variously from the French as The Miserable Ones, The Wretched, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, or The Victims), is an 1862 French novel by author Victor Hugo and is widely considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century...

, Cosette, Australian Production, Dir: Gayle Edwards

Evita, Peron’s Mistress, State Theatre, Sydney, Dir: Tom Guerra

CATS

Cats (musical)

Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...

Australian Premiere, Sillabub, Theatre Royal, Sydney, Dir: Sir Trevor Nunn

Man of La Mancha

Man of La Mancha

Man of La Mancha is a musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion and music by Mitch Leigh. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay I, Don Quixote, which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes's seventeenth century masterpiece Don Quixote...

, Fermina/Gypsy Dancer, Victorian State Opera, Melbourne, Dir: GraemeMurphy,
George Fairfax

Nominations

Dora Maver Moore Award, Toronto - for Best Supporting Actress in a musical ‘Sunset Boulevard’

Jessie Richardson Award, Vancouver - for Best Actress in a Musical ‘Sunset Boulevard’

What’s Onstage peoples choice award, London – for Best Actress in a musical ‘Hello Again’

Recordings

Saturday Night Fever, World Premiere Cast Recording

Sunset Boulevard, World Premiere Cast Recording

Sunset Boulevard, Canadian Cast Recording

A Chorus Line, BBC, Live Recording

Andrew Lloyd Webber Greatest Hits, Silva Screen Records

Cats, Australian Premiere Cast Recording

Concerts

Rodgers & Hammerstein Concert, Guest singer, Israel Chamber Orchestra, CONDUCTOR: Martin Yates

Martin Yates

Martin Yates is a British conductor.Studied at the Royal College of Music and Trinity College of Music, London where his teachers included Bernard Keeffe , Richard Arnell , Ian Lake, Jakob Kaletsky & Alan Rowlands and Douglas Moore & John Burden .Conducting debut 1983 with Israel National Opera...

Take That

Take That

Take That are a British five-piece vocal pop group comprising Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams. Barlow acts as the lead singer and primary songwriter...

Concert, The Ultimate Tour, SJM Productions, DIR: Kim Gavin

Encore Concert, Guest Singer in Dubai, Creative Concerts Ltd

Rodgers & Hammerstein Concerts, Guest Singer, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is an English orchestra. Originally based in Bournemouth, the BSO moved its offices to the adjacent town of Poole in 1979....

West End at Home Concert in Poole, Guest Singer, Creative Concerts Ltd

Summer Showstoppers Concert on the Isle of Wight, Guest Singer, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is an English orchestra. Originally based in Bournemouth, the BSO moved its offices to the adjacent town of Poole in 1979....

Radio Broadway, Starring role, Various Concert Locations

Concert in Amsterdam with John Barrowman

John Barrowman

John Scot Barrowman is a Scottish-American singer, actor, dancer, musical theatre performer and media personality. Born in Glasgow yet growing up in Illinois after his family emigrated to the United States when he was eight years old, Barrowman was encouraged to further his love for music and...

, CONDUCTOR: Martin Yates

Martin Yates

Martin Yates is a British conductor.Studied at the Royal College of Music and Trinity College of Music, London where his teachers included Bernard Keeffe , Richard Arnell , Ian Lake, Jakob Kaletsky & Alan Rowlands and Douglas Moore & John Burden .Conducting debut 1983 with Israel National Opera...

A Chorus Line Concert, Bebe Benzenhiemer, BBC, BBC Big Band

BBC Big Band

The BBC Big Band, originally known as the BBC Radio Big Band is a British big band run under the auspices of the BBC. Widely regarded as the UK’s leading and most versatile jazz orchestra, the band broadcasts exclusivley on BBC Radio, particularly on BBC Radio 2's long running series Big Band Special...

Over the Threshold, Kate, Gatehouse Theatre, DIR: Nick Afka

White Christmas, Betty Haynes, DIR: Michael Blakemore

Michael Blakemore

Michael Howell Blakemore OBE is an Australian actor, writer and theatre director. In 2000 he became the only individual to win Tony Awards for best Director of a Play and Musical in the same year for Copenhagen and Kiss Me, Kate....

Helen of Troy Music/lyrics: Brian Johnson

Brian Johnson

Brian Johnson is an English singer and lyricist who has been the lead singer for the rock band AC/DC since 1980. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 along with the other members of the band....

/Brendan Healy

Brendan Healy

Brendan Healy is a professional lacrosse player for the Washington Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse.- Professional career :...

Athena/Dido/Cassandra Prince of Wales Theatre, London Gary Griffin

Gary Griffin

Gary Griffin, is an American theater director. Griffin grew up in Rockford, Illinois, where he graduated from East High School in 1978. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire where he performed in several musicals and directed "Hello Dolly" for their Summer Theatre program...

Book/additional lyrics: Dick Clements/Ian La Frenais

Ian La Frenais

Ian La Frenais, OBE, , is an English writer best known for his creative partnership with Dick Clement. They are most famous for television series including, The Likely Lads, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, Porridge, Lovejoy and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.They have also written various other work...