Robyn Nevin
Encyclopedia
Robyn Anne Nevin AM
(25 September 1942), is an Australian stage and screen actress, and is considered by some as a doyenne of Australian theatre.
until the age of 11, when she moved with her family moved to Hobart, Tasmania, and was enrolled at the The Fahan School
, a non-denominational school for girls'. While there, she played the lead in the school's production of Snow White
at the Theatre Royal
. Her parents were conservative and conventional, her father the managing director of Dunlop Australia, her mother a housewife, so to enter the National Institute of Dramatic Art
(NIDA) at the age of 16 in the very first intake in 1959 was a brave step, in which she was fully supported by her parents.
she acted in The Legend of King O'Malley by Bob Ellis
and Michael Boddy in 1970. She gravitated back to theatre, where she has been a constant presence for the last 40 years.
Although theatre has been her home ground she has also been a reliable talent in Australian films and mini-series, landing many credits for strong supporting roles. She made one foray into directing in the little-noticed The More Things Change... (1986).
In 1996 she became Artistic Director of the Queensland Theatre Company
, a position which she held with varying levels of success until 1999, when she took over the position of Artistic Director of the Sydney Theatre Company
, where she was Artistic Director until the end of 2007.
In 1981 she won the TV Logie award
in the 'Best Lead Actress in a Single Drama or Mini Series' Category for her role as Shasta in Water Under The Bridge on the Ten Network
. She had already won Logies
as 'Most Popular Female' in Tasmania in 1965 and 1967 during her stint at the ABC.
On 8 June 1981, she was made a Member of the Order of Australia
for services to the performing arts.
In 1999 she was awarded an honorary
doctorate from the University of Tasmania
.
On 21 January 2004 she gave the Australia Day Address, a rare honour.
. She currently lives with her partner, the US-born actor and screenwriter Nicholas Hammond
. They met when they starred in Alan Ayckbourn
's Woman in Mind
at the STC
in 1987. She has a daughter Emily Russell who is also an actor, also a 16 year old grandson Sam Dawe. Robyn lives in the Sydney inner suburb of Paddington
. sisters, nephews, 3rd cousins
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(25 September 1942), is an Australian stage and screen actress, and is considered by some as a doyenne of Australian theatre.
Early life
Robyn Nevin was born 25 September 1942, in Melbourne, to William George Nevin and Josephine Pauline Casey. She was educated at Genazzano ConventGenazzano FCJ College
Genazzano FCJ College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school for girls, located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
until the age of 11, when she moved with her family moved to Hobart, Tasmania, and was enrolled at the The Fahan School
The Fahan School
This article is about the Tasmanian school. For the Irish district, see Fahan.Fahan School is a small independent, day and boarding school predominantly for girls, located in Sandy Bay, a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia...
, a non-denominational school for girls'. While there, she played the lead in the school's production of Snow White
Snow White
"Snow White" is a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe, the best known version being the German one collected by the Brothers Grimm...
at the Theatre Royal
Theatre Royal, Hobart
The Theatre Royal is situated in central Hobart, Tasmania. It stages many events including international ballet, opera, drama and musicals. It was constructed between 1834-1837 and is the oldest continually operating theatre in Australia....
. Her parents were conservative and conventional, her father the managing director of Dunlop Australia, her mother a housewife, so to enter the National Institute of Dramatic Art
National Institute of Dramatic Art
The National Institute of Dramatic Art is an Australian national training institute for students of theatre, film, and television, based in the Sydney suburb of Kensington. It is supported by the federal Office for the Arts, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. NIDA is located adjacent...
(NIDA) at the age of 16 in the very first intake in 1959 was a brave step, in which she was fully supported by her parents.
Professional life
At the outset of her career, she had a variety of roles in radio and television, working mainly at the Australian Broadcasting Commission, including current affairs, music, chat shows and children's shows throughout the early 1960s. With the Old Tote Theatre CompanyOld Tote Theatre Company
The Old Tote Theatre Company began as the standing acting and theatre company of Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art and was the precursor to the Sydney Theatre Company.. It was one of the leading Australian theatre companies of the period.The Old Tote began in a converted tin shed on...
she acted in The Legend of King O'Malley by Bob Ellis
Bob Ellis
Bob Ellis is an Australian writer, journalist, film-maker and political commentator. He was a student at the University of Sydney at the same time as other notable Australians including Clive James, Germaine Greer, Les Murray, John Bell, Ken Horler, and Mungo McCallum...
and Michael Boddy in 1970. She gravitated back to theatre, where she has been a constant presence for the last 40 years.
Although theatre has been her home ground she has also been a reliable talent in Australian films and mini-series, landing many credits for strong supporting roles. She made one foray into directing in the little-noticed The More Things Change... (1986).
In 1996 she became Artistic Director of the Queensland Theatre Company
Queensland Theatre Company
The Queensland Theatre Company was established in 1970 as the Royal Queensland Theatre Company. The Company is the state's flagship professional theatre company, headed up by multi-award winning playwright and director Wesley Enoch...
, a position which she held with varying levels of success until 1999, when she took over the position of Artistic Director of the Sydney Theatre Company
Sydney Theatre Company
The Sydney Theatre Company is one of Australia's best-known theatre companies operating from The Wharf Theatre near The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Sydney Theatre and the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre....
, where she was Artistic Director until the end of 2007.
Awards and Honours
Nominated for several awards, Nevin has thrice won the Sydney Critics' Circle Award for her theatre work.In 1981 she won the TV Logie award
Logie Award
The TV Week Logie Awards are the Australian television industry awards, which have been presented annually since 1959. Renamed by Graham Kennedy in 1960 after he won the first 'Star Of The Year' award, the name 'Logie' awards honours John Logie Baird, a Scotsman who invented the television as a...
in the 'Best Lead Actress in a Single Drama or Mini Series' Category for her role as Shasta in Water Under The Bridge on the Ten Network
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
. She had already won Logies
Logie Award
The TV Week Logie Awards are the Australian television industry awards, which have been presented annually since 1959. Renamed by Graham Kennedy in 1960 after he won the first 'Star Of The Year' award, the name 'Logie' awards honours John Logie Baird, a Scotsman who invented the television as a...
as 'Most Popular Female' in Tasmania in 1965 and 1967 during her stint at the ABC.
On 8 June 1981, she was made a Member of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
for services to the performing arts.
In 1999 she was awarded an honorary
Honorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
doctorate from the University of Tasmania
University of Tasmania
The University of Tasmania is a medium-sized public Australian university based in Tasmania, Australia. Officially founded on 1 January 1890, it was the fourth university to be established in nineteenth-century Australia...
.
On 21 January 2004 she gave the Australia Day Address, a rare honour.
Personal life
Nevin has been married twice, most notably to 'prison playwright' Jim McNeilJim McNeil
James Thomas "Jim" McNeil was an Australian criminal and an award-winning playwright. While serving a 17 year sentence in Parramatta Correctional Centre for armed robbery and shooting a police officer, McNeill began writing plays. Within a few years he was being hailed as one of Australia's three...
. She currently lives with her partner, the US-born actor and screenwriter Nicholas Hammond
Nicholas Hammond
Nicholas Hammond is an American actor best known for his roles as Friedrich von Trapp in the film The Sound of Music, and as Peter Parker/Spider-Man on the CBS television series The Amazing Spider-Man...
. They met when they starred in Alan Ayckbourn
Alan Ayckbourn
Sir Alan Ayckbourn CBE is a prolific English playwright. He has written and produced seventy-three full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, where all but four of his plays have received their...
's Woman in Mind
Woman In Mind
Woman in Mind is the 32nd play by English playwright, Alan Ayckbourn. It was premiered at the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round, Scarborough, in 1985. Despite pedestrian reviews by many critics, strong audience reaction resulted in a transfer to London's West End...
at the STC
Sydney Theatre Company
The Sydney Theatre Company is one of Australia's best-known theatre companies operating from The Wharf Theatre near The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Sydney Theatre and the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre....
in 1987. She has a daughter Emily Russell who is also an actor, also a 16 year old grandson Sam Dawe. Robyn lives in the Sydney inner suburb of Paddington
Paddington, New South Wales
Paddington is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Paddington is located 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and lies across the local government areas of the City of Sydney and the Municipality of Woollahra...
. sisters, nephews, 3rd cousins
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Tread Softly | ||
| 1962 | Consider Your Verdict Consider Your Verdict Consider Your Verdict is an Australian television series made by Crawford Productions for the Seven Network originally screening from February 1961 through to June 1964. It was based on a radio series with the same name broadcast on 3DB in Melbourne from 1958 to 1960.The television series was... |
Judith Harper | TV series |
| 1967 | Bellbird Bellbird (TV series) Bellbird was an Australian soap opera set in a small Victorian rural township. The series was produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation at its Ripponlea TV studios in Elsternwick, Melbourne, Victoria. The series was produced between 28 August 1967 and December 1977... |
||
| 1973 | Libido Libido (1973 film) Libido is a 1973 Australian drama film comprising 4 segments written and directed as independent stories, but screened together as one piece, exploring a common theme of instinctive desire and contemporary sexuality.John B... |
Sister Caroline | |
| 1973 | One Man in the Company | Miss Healey | 1 episode: 'Let Women Go Free' |
| 1974 | Matlock Police Matlock Police Matlock Police was an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for the 0-10 Network between 1971 and 1975.... |
Sue Palmer | 1 episode: 'Dancing Class' |
| 1974 | Ryan Ryan (TV series) Ryan was an Australian adventure television series screened by the Seven Network from 27 May 1973. The series was produced by Crawford Productions and had a run of 39 one hour episodes.... |
Susan Davis | 1 episode: 'Negative Proof' |
| 1975 | Ben Hall | ||
| 1976 | Connie | ||
| 1976 | Caddie Caddie (film) Caddie is an Australian film, directed by Donald Crombie, released in 1976, and belonging to the Australian film renaissance which occurred during that decade.... |
Black Eye | |
| 1978 | Father, Dear Father in Australia Father, Dear Father Father, Dear Father is a British television sitcom produced by Thames Television for ITV from 1968 to 1973 starring Patrick Cargill. It was subsequently made into a spin-off film of the same title released in 1973.... |
Mrs. Webster | 1 episode: 'Novel Exercise' |
| 1978 | Temperament Unsuited | ||
| 1978 | Jenny Doolan | ||
| 1978 | Mrs. McCready | ||
| 1979 | Letting Go | ||
| 1980 | Water Under the Bridge | Shasta | TV film |
| 1980 | TV film | ||
| 1980–1982 | Spring & Fall | Anne/Mary | 2 episodes |
| 1982 | Fighting Back | Mary | |
| 1983 | Lady Kerr | TV mini-series | |
| 1983 | Goodbye Paradise Goodbye Paradise Goodbye Paradise is a 1983 Australian film directed by Carl Schultz. On Queensland's Gold Coast in the early 1980s, a disgraced former cop, Michael Stacey writes a book exposing police corruption, does an investigation resulting in 2 murders, exposes a religious cult and watches the army begin a... |
Kate | |
| 1983 | Careful, He Might Hear You Careful, He Might Hear You Careful, He Might Hear You is a 1983 Australian drama film. It is based on the novel of the same name by Australian-American author Sumner Locke Elliott.... |
Lila | |
| 1984 | Conferenceville | TV film | |
| 1984 | For Love or Money | TV film | |
| 1984 | Robyn Lukas | ||
| 1985 | Hanlon | TV series | |
| 1986 | Director | ||
| 1988 | Emerald City Emerald City (play) Emerald City is a 1987 play by Australian playwright David Williamson, a satire about two entertainment industries: film and publishing.-Story:... |
Kate Rogers | |
| 1990 | TV film | ||
| 1990 | Shadows of the Heart | Mrs. Hanlon | TV film |
| 1992 | Resistance | Wiley | |
| 1992 | Greenkeeping | Mum | |
| 1993 | Seven Deadly Sins | Sloth | TV mini-series |
| 1994 | Halifax f.p: The Feeding | Angela Halifax | TV film |
| 1994 | Lucky Break | Anne-Marie LePine | |
| 1995 | Angel Baby Angel Baby (1995 film) Angel Baby is a 1995 Australian film written and directed by Michael Rymer, and starring John Lynch, Jacqueline McKenzie and Colin Friels. This film was taped in 1993-94.... |
Dr. Norberg | |
| 1996 | Halifax f.p: Cradle and All | Angela Halifax | TV film |
| 1997 | Federal Court Judge | ||
| 1998 | Halifax f.p: A Murder of Crows | Angela Halifax | TV film |
| 2003 | Councillor Dillard | ||
| 2003 | Enter the Matrix Enter the Matrix Enter the Matrix is the first video game based on The Matrix series of films. It was developed by Shiny Entertainment and published by Atari and WB Interactive for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube game systems, and for the PC. It was published in Japan by Bandai... |
Councillor Dillard (voice) | Video game |
| 2003 | Bad Eggs Bad Eggs Bad Eggs is a 2003 Australian comedy movie, written and directed by Tony Martin. It stars Mick Molloy, Bob Franklin and Judith Lucy, with Alan Brough, Bill Hunter, Marshall Napier, Nicholas Bell, Steven Vidler, Shaun Micallef, Robyn Nevin, Brett Swain, Denis Moore and Pete Smith having supporting... |
Eleanor Poulgrain | |
| 2003 | Councillor Dillard | ||
| 2011 | Lal |