Briony Behets

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Briony Behets (born in 1952, United Kingdom) is a British-born actress who found fame acting in Australian soap operas of the 1970s.

Her father's work as a civil engineer took him around the world and as a result much of Behets' childhood was spent in Germany, Africa and Sierra Leone before returning to England. At age 17 she was accepted into the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, studying there for two years. After completing the course she travelled to the United States as part of a student exchange project, working there as a nightclub dancer. At age 19 she travelled to Australia to take a regular role in comedy series Birds in the Bush (1972), and decided to stay in the country when production ceased on the series after 13 episodes.

Behets subsequently enjoyed several high-profile television roles in Australia. She was an original cast member of adult soap opera Number 96 in 1972 but her character was written out of the serial after only a few months. She was subsequently a member of the original cast of another adult soap The Box starting 1974, and her role in that series lasted 14 months. After leaving The Box she appeared for a short stint in Bellbird before taking an on-going role in school-based teen soap Class of '75. In women's prison soap opera Prisoner in 1979 she portrayed Susan Rice, the unbalanced wife of a popular celebrity. Later soap roles included appearances in Possession as the mother of a spoiled child actor, in Neighbours as the mother of regular character Jane Harris, and in E Street as the mother of Lisa Bennett.

She has also acted in television guest starring roles in Australian and US drama series, including Homicide, Matlock Police, Bluey, and Chopper Squad in the 1970s and A Country Practice, The Flying Doctors and Murder She Wrote in the 1980s. Film roles included the co-lead with Judy Morris in The Tresspassers (1976) for which she was nominated for a Best Actress Award, Raw Deal (1977), Outside Looking In (1977), Long Weekend (1978), and Cassandra (1986).

Behets was also a longtime weather presenter on ATV-10 Melbourne's news bulletins during the 1970s.

In 1990 she was cast as the lead in the Granada Television soap Families. Into the 2000s she continued acting in Australian television series and minseries. In the 2000s she also guest starred in some US drama series such as JAG. She is now retired from acting and lives in the US.

[edit] External links

• Briony Behets at the Internet Movie Database

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