Diane Mary Craig (born 1949), sometimes credited as Di Craig, is a Northern Irish-born Australian actress best known for her performances in film and television.
She was born in
County Down
County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...
, and since 1971 has been married to award-winning Australian actor and comedian
Garry McDonald
Garry George McDonald AO (born 30 October 1948) is an Australian actor, satirist and comedian. In a career spanning five decades he has had many theatre, television and film roles, and has been listed as a National Living Treasure. He is bes ...
.
Career
Film
She attended the prestigious
National Institute of Dramatic Arts
The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian educational institution for the performing arts is based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, many of Australia's leading actors and directors trained at NIDA, including ...
(NIDA), but left after a year, making her debut in 1970 starring in the British Australian feature film ''
Ned Kelly
Edward Kelly (December 1854 – 11 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout wi ...
'' (1970), alongside
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...
. Her other film appearances included roles in ''
The Mango Tree'' (1977), ''
Double Deal'' (1981), ''
The Highest Honor
''The Highest Honour'' is a 1982 Australian/Japanese co-production about Operation Jaywick and Operation Rimau by Z Special Unit during World War II.
The same story inspired the TV mini-series '' Heroes'' (1988) and '' Heroes II: The Return'' (1 ...
'' (1982), ''
Travelling North
''Travelling North'' is a 1987 Australian film directed by Carl Schultz and starring Leo McKern, Julia Blake, Graham Kennedy, and Henri Szeps. Based on an original 1979 play of the same name by David Williamson, it is one of Williamson's favou ...
'' (1987) and ''
A Sting in the Tail'' (1989).
Television
Craig has also appeared on the small screen in numerous serials, mini-series and telemovies. She is probably best known for the long-running roles in ''The Restless Years'' and ''
E Street'' (replacing actress
Penny Cook
Penelope Cook (13 July 1957 – 26 December 2018) was an Australian actress, stage director, TV presenter and writer. She played roles in the soap opera ''A Country Practice'', as Vicki Dean Bowen from 1981 to 1985, '' E Street'' as lead anchor-c ...
as Dr. Elly Fielding), as well as appearing several times in the cult television series ''
Prisoner
A prisoner (also known as an inmate or detainee) is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement, captivity, or forcible restraint. The term applies particularly to serving a prison sentence in a prison.
...
''. Craig's last long-running role was as Deborah McManus in the 2008 series ''
Out of the Blue''.
Filmography
FILM
TELEVISION
Notes
References
1949 births
Living people
Australian television actresses
Australian film actresses
Northern Ireland emigrants to Australia
People from County Down
Television actresses from Northern Ireland
20th-century Australian actresses
21st-century Australian actresses
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