| Kerry Armstrong | |
|---|---|
| Born | Kerry Michelle Armstrong 12 September 1958 Melbourne, Australia |
| Occupation | actress, author |
| Years active | 1974–present |
| Spouse | Brad Robinson 1981 Alexander Bernstein 1981 Mac Gudgeon c. 1990 Mark Croft c. 1996–2001[1] |
Kerry Michelle Armstrong (born 12 September 1958 in Melbourne) is an Australian actress on film, television, and stage.[2] She is one of only two actresses to win two Australian Film Institute Awards (AFI Awards) in the same year. Armstrong's 2001 awards were for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Lantana, and Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Television Drama Series for SeaChange.[3][4] During 1981–1987, Armstrong was based in the United States, where she acted on stage and on television, including a role on soap opera Dynasty in 1985–1986.[1][5]
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Armstrong was a frequent face on Australian television in the 1970s and early 1980s, in both acting and presenting roles. One of her first acting roles was on TV series Marion released in March 1974.[6] She appeared as a GTV-9 weather girl,[2] and then tackled a dramatic acting role, appearing as a key original character Lynne Warner in Network Ten prison drama Prisoner. Initially planned to last just 16 episodes, the series was continued and Armstrong appeared in the first 44 episodes. She then switched to another on-going role in drama series Skyways for 49 episodes. In 1981 she co-hosted the Network Ten series Together Tonight with Greg Evans.
In 1981 Armstrong married rock band Australian Crawl's rhythm guitarist Brad Robinson.[1][7] Armstrong and Robinson co-wrote "Easy on Your Own"[8] a track on Australian Crawl's #1 album Sirocco and B-side to the single "Errol".[9]
Armstrong emigrated to the United States in 1981. There she studied at the Herbert Berghof acting school in New York City on an acting scholarship.[1][10] In order to obtain residency, Armstrong and Robinson agreed she would have to marry a US citizen, so they separated and she married her friend Alexander Bernstein.[1] Armstrong only had a professional arrangement with Bernstein, but her long-distance from Robinson dissolved their relationship.[1] Whilst in the US, she starred in Tom Stoppard's Dalliance, had an on-going role in daytime serial One Life to Live, and became part of 'The Actors' Gang' along with John Cusack and Tim Robbins.[1][5] After working in the group's plays, Armstrong appeared in seven episodes of Dynasty as Elena, Duchess of Branagh. Robbins and Armstrong became romantically involved; Cusack, Robbins and Armstrong auditioned for Saturday Night Live but only Armstrong was offered a part – she declined.[1] She also guest starred in the 1984 episode "Death Takes a Curtain Call" of Murder, She Wrote.
In 1987, Armstrong returned to Australia upon the death of her grandmother.[1][5] In the early 1990s, she resumed acting in Australian television series, including Police Rescue, Ocean Girl, Come In Spinner, All Together Now and Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left. In 1991 Armstrong was nominated for an AFI award for Best Actress for her role in the film Hunting which was released by Paramount in the U.S.[3]
Armstrong was offered a role in the cast of SeaChange in 1998, as Heather Jelly, the ever-devoted but long-suffering wife of corrupt local mayor Bob (John Howard). The role won her critical acclaim, mainstream attention and several awards.[3] When SeaChange ended in 2000, Armstrong continued on with her theatre work and also led the cast of Lantana, the award winning Ray Lawrence film also starring Anthony LaPaglia, Barbara Hershey, Geoffrey Rush, Glenn Robbins and Vince Colosimo.
Not only did Armstrong win the Inside Film (IF) Award, Film Critics Circle of Australia Award and the AFI Award for her Lantana performance, but – the same year – she won another AFI, for final season of SeaChange, making her the second actress to win two AFI awards in one year.[3] The first had been Sacha Horler for her 1998 Lead Role in Praise and 1999 Supporting Role in Soft Fruit awarded in 1999.[11]
In 2002 Armstrong joined the cast of medico-legal drama MDA on ABC alongside Jason Donovan and Shane Bourne. However, Armstrong left the series at the end of its second season. In the series her character, Dr Ella Davis, left the firm that was the focus of the show. After MDA, Armstrong acted in films One Perfect Day, The Oyster Farmer,[2] Virus, Car Pool and Razzle Dazzle. On 10 May 2008 ABC-TV started screening a six-part series Bed of Roses with Armstrong in the lead role as Louisa Atherton.[12][13] She has completed the film Reservations due for release in 2008.
Armstrong wrote a self-help book, The Circles, released on 1 November 2003.[14] She described the book as being a practical exercise to empower people and map their heart.[15] As of May 2008, the book's US publisher Beyond Words and Armstrong are negotiating book appearances for September 2008, including a mooted spot on The Oprah Winfrey Show.[1]
Her second book Fool on the Hill was released in March 2006;[16] it was about the nature of personality.[5] A travel guide, Newcomer's Handbook for New York City was co-edited with Belden Merims in 1996.[17]
Armstrong works with several charity organizations[5] including Childwise, being a board member of Big hART[10] and as spokesperson for the Cure for Life Foundation which sponsors research into brain tumour treatments.[18] She represented Cure for Life in Season Five of Dancing with the Stars in 2006 with Christopher Ryan.[4] They were the third couple voted off.
Armstrong has publicly opposed the War in Iraq; in one instance, she sat on the steps of the Victorian Parliament in a purple bra to draw attention to her cause.[5]
On 29 August 2004, Armstrong featured an interview in the Sunday Telegraph that appeared critical of singer Kylie Minogue and actress Nicole Kidman and their contemporaries for damaging the Australian and international entertainment industries by lowering standards. Armstrong expressed disdain at the fact that the industry – particularly the Academy Awards – gave praise to beauty rather than talent, expressing scorn at Minogue, Kidman, and others such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Halle Berry; while expressing admiration for actors such as Meryl Streep and Cate Blanchett. However, in a July 2005 interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, Armstrong claimed that she was misrepresented in that article.
In October 2008 Armstrong appeared as the face of a "myth-busting" advertising campaign for Coca-Cola, created by the agency Singleton Ogilvy & Mather.[19] Titled "Kerry Armstrong on Motherhood and Myth Busting", the print advertisement purported to correct "myths and conjecture" about Coca-Cola drink products. Claiming her three boys called her "Mum, the myth buster", Armstrong rejected suggestions that Coca-Cola "rots your teeth", "makes you fat" and is "packed with caffeine".[20]
In April 2009, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commissioner ruled that the advertisements Kerry Armstrong acted in for Coca-Cola were misleading: "Coke's messages were totally unacceptable, creating an impression which is likely to mislead that Coca-Cola cannot contribute to weight gain, obesity and tooth decay," said the ACCC's chairman, Graeme Samuel.[21]
Armstrong has been married to: Brad Robinson (briefly in 1981), Alexander Bernstein (fl. 1981), Mac Gudgeon (married in 1990) and they have a son named Sam, Mark Croft (c. 1996, separated in 2001) and they have twin sons.[1][5] In 2007, Armstrong was living with partner Greg Lucas, and her three sons, on a farm outside of Melbourne.[10] As of 2008, she was described as a single mother with three sons living in the Yarra Valley.[1]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Marion | TV series | |
| 1976 | The Sullivans | TV series | |
| 1978 | The Getting of Wisdom | Kate | |
| 1979 | Skyways | Angela Murray | TV series |
| 1979 | Prisoner | Lynn Warner | 44 episodes |
| 1981 | Cornflakes for Tea | Cheryl | TV series |
| 1984 | Tales from the Darkside | Elaine Hall | Episode: "Slippage" |
| 1984 | Murder, She Wrote | Irina Katsa | Episode: "Death Takes a Curtain Call" |
| 1985 | Key Exchange | The Beauty | |
| 1985–1986 | Dynasty | Elena, Duchess of Branagh | 7 episodes |
| 1988 | Dadah Is Death | Shawn Burton | TV movie |
| 1988 | Grievous Bodily Harm | Annie | |
| 1990 | Come In Spinner | Deb Forrest | TV movie |
| 1991 | Police Rescue | Des McClintock | 3 episodes |
| 1991 | Hunting | Michelle Harris | |
| 1992–1993 | All Together Now | Beth Sumner | 17 episodes |
| 1994 | High Tide | Valerie | Episode: "Beauty's Only Skin Deep" |
| 1994–1995 | Ocean Girl | Dr. Dianne Bates | 26 episodes |
| 1995 | Blue Heelers | Sandy Fielding | Episode: "Shadow Man" |
| 1996 | Halifax f.p: Sweet Dreams | Fiona Holmes | TV movie |
| 1997 | Heart of Fire | Sue Tucker | TV movie |
| 1997 | 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea | Lydia Rawlings | TV movie |
| 1997 | Amy | Sarah Trendle | |
| 1998 | Justice | Annie Martin | |
| 1998 | Denial | Mother | Short film |
| 1998–2000 | SeaChange | Heather Jelly | 35 episodes |
| 1999 | Taken | Short film | |
| 2000 | Eugénie Sandler P.I. | Sylvia | Episode: "1.4" |
| 2001 | Lantana | Sonja Zat | |
| 2002–2003 | MDA | Dr. Louella Davis | 17 episodes |
| 2004 | One Perfect Day | Carolyn Matisse | |
| 2004 | Oyster Farmer | Trish | |
| 2005 | Virus | Lillium Doubleheart | Short film |
| 2005 | Mind the Gap | Olivia Keeley | Short film |
| 2006 | Wobbegong | Paula / Mum | Short film |
| 2006 | Car Pool | Mrs. London | Short film |
| 2007 | Razzle Dazzle: A Journey into Dance | Justine Morgan | |
| 2008 | Reservations | Hellen | |
| 2008–present | Bed of Roses | Louisa Atherton | 14+ episodes |
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