Anja Coleby (born Anja Taylor, 30 September 1971) is an Australian model, television actress, reporter and producer.

Early life and education

Anja Coleby was born and raised in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. She graduated with a journalism degree at

Charles Sturt University Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus public university located in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria. Established in 1989, it was named in honour of Captain Charles Napier Sturt, a British explorer w ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

before starting an acting career for about a decade. She later graduated with a science degree at

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...

in Sydney and then worked as a researcher for

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...

and

Becker Entertainment Becker Entertainment is an Australian production company. History The company was founded in 1965 as R.A. Becker by Russell Becker, one of the pioneers of commercial television in Australia. Becker was Australia's first independent distributor ...

Acting career

Anja Coleby has appeared in a number of

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

and

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

series, and in Australian film and television. She was a main cast member of the television series '' Flipper'', playing the character Holly Myers for three seasons. She played a small role as Crystal in the Australian soap opera '' Breakers''. She also appeared as a guest role in Australian television series including the crime drama '' Water Rats'' in 1997, and the medical drama '' All Saints'' in 2002. She also appeared in one episode of each science fiction and adventure series ''

The Lost World The lost world is a subgenre of the fantasy or science fiction genres that involves the discovery of an unknown Earth civilization. It began as a subgenre of the late- Victorian adventure romance and remains popular into the 21st century. The g ...

'' (2000) as Hippolita, ''

Farscape ''Farscape'' is an Australian-American science fiction television series, produced originally for the Nine Network. It premiered in the US on Sci-Fi Channel's SciFi Friday, 19 March 1999, at 8:00 pm EST as their anchor series. The series was c ...

'' (2002) as Ponara, and '' BeastMaster'' (2001) as Queen Lyoka. Anja had supporting roles in the television film '' Max Knight: Ultra Spy'' (2000), her only role as a villain, and in the Australian films ''

The Year My Voice Broke ''The Year My Voice Broke'' is a 1987 Australian coming of age drama film written and directed by John Duigan and starring Noah Taylor, Loene Carmen and Ben Mendelsohn. Set in 1962 in the rural Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, it was the f ...

'' (1987), ''

Dating the Enemy ''Dating The Enemy'' is a 1996 Australian comedy about a recently broken up couple who mystically body swap, swap bodies and have to live as each other. Plot One Valentine's evening a group of single, dateless friends get together to play Trivi ...

'' (1996) and '' The Finder'' (2001).

Television career

Anja changed her surname from Coleby to Taylor in 2005 when she began reading the news for

Arena TV FOX Arena (formerly ''Arena'') is an Australian general entertainment cable and satellite channel available on Foxtel, Austar, and Optus Television's subscription platforms. History In the late 1990s, Arena had the slogan "The Art of Televisio ...

. She has continued to work in Australian television, and has been a television producer and reporter for the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

science program ''

Catalyst Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...

'', in which she has been a member of the team since 2006. Since then, Anja has presented and narrated alone a number of small documentaries about different fields such as medicine, nature, technology and education. In addition to being a reporter, Anja has also been a producer and researcher of these episodes among many others. Anja started working in early 2013 with fellow reporters Simon Pampena and

Derek Muller Derek Alexander Muller (born 9 November 1982) is an Australian-Canadian science communicator, filmmaker, and television personality, who is best known for his YouTube channel Veritasium. Muller has also appeared as a correspondent on the Net ...

, presenting many other documentaries and doing an entire trip from

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

to the state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. They started in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

with a ride in an

electric car An electric car, battery electric car, or all-electric car is an automobile that is propelled by one or more electric motors, using only energy stored in batteries. Compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, electric cars are quie ...

, and then went to the gold mine of

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

. They moved to

Lake Lefroy Lake Lefroy is a large ephemeral salt lake in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excludin ...

to discover the giant

salt lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per litre). ...

s and then to

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

to discover Weebubbie Cave, the deepest cave in the

Nullarbor The Nullarbor Plain ( ; Latin: feminine of , 'no', and , 'tree') is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its ...

. They discovered the Eucla sand hills, the different species of the desert in Nullarbor, the beach of

Yalata Yalata is an Aboriginal community located west of Ceduna and south of Ooldea on the edge of the Nullarbor Plain in South Australia. It lies on the traditional lands of the Wirangu people, but the settlement began as Yalata Mission in the ea ...

and its

mulloway ''Argyrosomus japonicus'' is a silvery to bronze-green colored fish, a member of the family Sciaenidae, which may grow up to in length. It is known as Japanese meagre (FAO), mulloway or jewfish on the east coast of Australia, butterfish in South ...

, and went to

Coonawarra wine region The Coonawarra wine region is a wine region centred on the town of Coonawarra in the Limestone Coast zone of South Australia. It is known for the Cabernet Sauvignon wines produced on its " terra rossa" soil. The name has been said to have orig ...

to discover its wine. They followed their trip in

to first discover a place in

Warrnambool Warrnambool ( Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 35,743. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (Al ...

with penguin patrols who have been threatened by predators like foxes. They then visited a national park invaded of

koala The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the womb ...

s, discovered coastal waters of the state of Victoria by mapping underwater, and finally ended in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

flying in a

hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries p ...

. After her long Australian roadtrip, Anja has narrated again other documentaries alone.

Modelling

Anja has also briefly modeled for Australian sport magazine ''

Inside Sport ''Inside Sport'' is an Australian sport magazine published by nextmedia. It began publication in 1991. ''Inside Sport'' largely comprises articles by freelance journalists, covering a wide array of sports. It focuses on sporting content, spor ...

'', in which she appeared in a number of swimming suits.

Personal life

Anja is the daughter of actor

Robert Coleby Robert Coleby (born 1947) is a British actor who has spent most of his career in Australia. Active since the 1970s, he has over 70 film and television credits to his name. Coleby has acted on stage in numerous productions for the Queensland Thea ...

and sister of actor

Conrad Coleby Conrad Julius Coleby (born Conrad Julius Taylor, 20 September 1979) is an Australian actor and photographer, whose roles have included Scott Zinenko on the medical drama '' All Saints'', for which he was nominated for a Logie Award, counsellor A ...

. Her father is English and her mother is Swedish.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Profile of Anja Taylor on ABC site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleby, Anja 1971 births Living people Australian female models Models from Sydney Australian television actresses Australian television producers Australian women television producers Australian people of English descent Australian people of Swedish descent Actresses from Sydney Charles Sturt University alumni Macquarie University alumni