Tina Bursill

Tina Bursill
Born 1951 (age 6364)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation Actress
Years active 1973present
Notable work Skyways (19791981)
Prisoner (19831984)

Tina Bursill (born 1951) is an Australian actress. She is notable for her roles on television series Skyways as Louise Carter (19791981), and Prisoner as Sonia Stevens (19831984).

Life and career

Tina Bursill was born in 1951 in Sydney, New South Wales. Initially, she intended to pursue a career in anthropology, however, she set her sights on becoming an actress. She studied drama at the National Institute of Dramatic Art and graduated in 1971. Bursill started her career in musicals and stand-up comedy, before being cast in more serious roles in theatre.

Bursill made her acting debut in 1973 appearing in the lead role of short-lived comedy series The People Next Door as Meg Penrose. What followed was a number of guest appearances Australian television series, before receiving the role of Louise Carter in the Seven Network drama series Skyways, for which she appeared from 1979 to 1981. During which, she also had a recurring role on police drama series, King's Men between 1976 and 1980. In 1983, Bursill was cast in the role of Sonia Stevens on Network Ten's cult classic prison drama series Prisoner (Prisoner: Cell Block H), in which she was introduced in the fifth season as a devious vice queen imprisoned for heroin trafficking and remained in the series until 1984. Her role as Sonia Stevens is one she is most recognized for. The characters in which she plays are often that of sophisticated and coolly self-reliant women.

When Bursill departed the series, she appeared in several recurring roles; her first in A Country Practice in 1985 and 1986 as Bianca Forbes-Hamilton, Hey Dad..! as Det. Sgt. Anne Burke in 1987, and Heartbreak High in 1997 as Hilary Scheppers. She is perhaps also known for her recurring roles on the Seven Network soap opera Home and Away during the fourth season and fourteenth season in 1991 and 2001 as Lois Crawford and Stella Patterson respectively. Bursill most recently appeared in the recurring role of Kathy Carpenter in Neighbours during the the thirtieth season in 2014.[1]

Bursill made her feature film debut in 1975 when she was cast in The Great Macarthy, a sports comedy with John Jarratt and Barry Humphries. Her second film role came in 1984, when she appeared in Melvin, Son of Alvin, a sequel to the 1973 comedy, Alvin Purple. In 1987, she starred in Jilted, which earned her an Australian Film Institute Awards for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Her further film credits include Afraid to Dance, Spider & Rose, Billy's Holiday, The Goddess of 1967, Son of the Mask, Three Blind Mice, Random 8, and Wish You Were Here.

Filmography

Film
Title Year Role Notes
The Great Macarthy
1975
Miss Deevil
Melvin, Son of Alvin
1984
Dee Tanner
Jilted
1987
Paula
Australian Film Institute Awards for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Afraid to Dance
1989
Driving Woman
Spider & Rose
1994
Sister Abbott
Billy's Holiday
1995
Louise
The Goddess of 1967
2000
Esther
Son of the Mask
2005
Network Executive
Three Blind Mice
2008
Candy
Random 8
2011
Filmmaker and Narrator
Wish You Were Here
2012
Margie McKinney
Television
Title Year Role Notes
The People Next Door
1973
Meg Penrose
20 episodes
A Touch of Reverence
1974
Mini-series
Silent Number
1974
Annette
Season 1, Episode 4 "Cecelia"
Winner Takes All
1975
Mini-series
The Unisexers
1975
Felicity
Lead role; 16 episodes
Matlock Police
1975
Jennifer Craig
Season 5, Episode 37 "Eight Mile Al"
The Dave Allen Show in Australia
1975
Various
Alvin Purple
1976
Bernice
Season 1, Episode 9 "Rhythm Method"
The Emigrants
1977
Nurse Watson
Mini-series; Episode 3 "13,000 Miles Away"
Chopper Squad
1978
Mother
Season 1, Episode 12 "Dangerous Weapon"
King's Men
197680
Policewoman Jaybee Giddings
13 episodes
Skyways
197981
Louise Carter
109 episodes
A Country Practice
1981
Bianca Forbes-Hamilton
Season 1, Episode 13 "Alternatives: Part 1"
Season 1, Episode 14 "Alternatives: Part 2"
Prisoner
198384
Sonia Stevens
Lead role; Season 5 & Season 6 - 54 episodes
A Country Practice
198586
Cecily Day
12 episodes
Hey Dad..!
1987
Det. Sgt. Anne Burke
6 episodes
Willing and Abel
1987
Margaret Hill
This Man... This Woman
1989
Liz Maddocks
Mini-series
The Flying Doctors
1990
Billie Sorensen
Season 7, Episode 15 "Billie and Pete"
Jackaroo
1990
Martha Logan
Mini-series"
G.P.
1991
Adele Meyer
Season 3, Episode 5 "Out of Pasture"
Home and Away
1991
Lois Crawford
Season 4 - 23 episodes
Bony
1992
Peta
Season 1, Episode 6 "Surf, Sun, Sand.... and Murder"
Mother and Son
1994
Carman
Season 6, Episode 1 "The Ride"
The Ferals
1994
White Ant
Season 1, Episode 10 "Exam Fever"
G.P.
1995
Caroline Lalor
Season 7, Episode 33 "One for the Road"
Heartbreak High
1996
Trish Ferra
Season 4, Episode 12
Heartbreak High
1997
Hilary Scheppers
Season 5 - 12 episodes
Murder Call
1998
Lori Magnus
Season 2, Episode 3 "Skin Deep"
All Saints
1999
Margaret Evans
Season 2, Episode 36 "The Ties That Bind
Farscape
2000
Empress Novia
Season 2 - 3 episodes
Corridors of Power
2001
Petra
Season 1, Episode 5
Home and Away
200102
Stella Patterson
Season 14 & Season 15 - 8 episodes
All Saints
2002
Helen Fahey
Season 5, Episode 15 "Overload"
MDA
2002
Dr. Ruth McIntyre
Season 1, Episode 15 "Love You to Death"
BackBerner
2002
Jennie Turk
1 episode
Grass Roots
2003
Ariadne Totos
Season 2, Episode 5 "Dogs"
Always Greener
2003
Lucy Buckingham
2 episodes
White Collar Blue
2003
Carole
Season 2, Episode 20
Out There
2004
Season 2, Episode 10 "To Know Me Is"
Blue Water High
2005
Katrina
Season 1, Episode 8 "Brothers and Sisters"
Dramatically Black
2005
Season 1, Episode 4 "Plains Empty"
All Saints
2008
Robyn Simms
Season 11, Episode 25 "Horses for Courses"
Offspring
2011
Marilyn
Season 2 - 2 episodes
Crownies
2011
Magistrate Ellen Hansby
Season 1, Episode 16
Rake
2012
Miriam
Season 2, Episode 7 "Greene v Hole"
A Moody Christmas
2012
Maree Moody
6 episodes
Equity Award for Most Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
The Moodys
2014
Maree Moody
8 episodes
The Time of Our Lives
201314
Lenore
3 episodes
Neighbours
2014
Kathy Carpenter
Season 30 - 14 episodes
Television film
Title Year Role Notes
A Good Thing Going
1978
Jeanette
Robbery
1985
Suzy
A Single Life
1985
Billie Russell
The Three Musketeers
1986
Animation; voice
The Distant Home
1992
Dr. Rosen
Aftershocks
1998
Kerri Ingram
Never Tell Me Never
1998
Virginia
Heroes' Mountain
2002
Margy Donald
BlackJack: Murder Archive
2003
Carmen
Small Claims
2004
Rhonda
Jack Irish: Dead Point
2014
Pat

Other Appearances

References

  1. Dainty, Sophie (22 November 2013). "'Neighbours': Tina Bursill joins cast as Lauren Turner's mother Kathy". Digital Spy. Retrieved 25 March 2014.

External links