Emma Harrison is an actress, model and dancer, best known for the role of Joanna Hartman in the Australian soap-opera ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons an ...

''.

Early life

Born in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand, and raised in Australia, Harrison started modelling at the age of 15, when she was spotted in the audience of a beauty contest and was signed by a local

modelling agency A modeling agency is a company that represents fashion models, to work for the fashion industry. These agencies earn their income via commission, usually from the deal they make with the model and/or the head agency. The top agencies work with bi ...

. She started her television career with commercials, including Palmolive, and

KFC KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...

Modeling career

After she was signed, Harrison spent the next two years working with

Impulse Impulse or Impulsive may refer to: Science * Impulse (physics), in mechanics, the change of momentum of an object; the integral of a force with respect to time * Impulse noise (disambiguation) * Specific impulse, the change in momentum per uni ...

and

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

. She also served as a feature model for many hair and beauty lines. Harrison also appeared in many

pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * Pop (Gas al ...

magazines, eventually making appearances for many designers, including

Donna Karan Donna Karan (, born Donna Ivy Faske), also known as "DK", is an American fashion designer and the creator of the Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing labels. Early life Karan was born Donna Ivy Faske to mother Helen "Queenie" Faske (née Rabin ...

. She has appeared on the covers of many magazines such as

FHM ''FHM'' (For Him Magazine) is a British multinational men's lifestyle magazine that was published in several countries. Its master edition contained features such as the ''FHM'' 100 Sexiest Women in the World, which has featured models, actres ...

, Loaded,

Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment * ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim Radio, ''Maxim'' magazine's radio channel on Sir ...

, Ralph and

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 ...

. She was ranked Number 18 of FHM's 100 sexiest women of 1998, named one of the 100 sexiest sports models of 2003 by Inside Sport Magazine, and chosen by Australian Playboy as one of the 10 sexiest women in the world. Harrison co-created and was the sole model for The Yoga Girl 2010 Calendar. The calendar was released in late 2009 by BrownTrout and was named one of the Top 5 Yoga Calendars of the year. She has continued her association with BrownTrout, with the publisher having Harrison's 2011 Yoga Girl Calendar currently on offer and the 2012 edition scheduled for release in the Fall of this year. Harrison is featured in a March 2011 national campaign for Hard Tail Forever, and appeared in full-page ads in ''

Yoga Journal ''Yoga Journal'' is a website and digital journal, formerly a print magazine, on yoga as exercise founded in California in 1975 with the goal of combining the essence of traditional yoga with scientific understanding. It has produced live events ...

'' and other US publications. She was also photographed for Ritz-Carlton Residences in Vail, Colorado and for Gaiam Lifestyle Media & Personal Growth Solutions.

Acting

Harrison auditioned for a role on ''Neighbours'' in 1995. She was initially unaware the character she was reading for would be

Annalise Hartman Annalise Hartman is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Kimberley Davies. She made her debut during the episode broadcast on 15 January 1993 and departed on 31 January 1996. Davies reprised the role in Ju ...

's (

Kimberley Davies Kimberley Davies (born 20 February 1973) is an Australian actress most famous for playing Annalise Hartman on the Australian soap opera '' Neighbours'' from 1993 to 1996. She is sometimes credited as "Kimberly Davies". Life and career Davies w ...

) long lost sister,

Joanna Joanna is a feminine given name deriving from from he, יוֹחָנָה, translit=Yôḥānāh, lit=God is gracious. Variants in English include Joan (given name), Joan, Joann, Joanne (given name), Joanne, and Johanna. Other forms of the name in ...

. The character was Harrison's first major television role. The actress told a writer for the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...

'' that it took ten months for her to feel comfortable in her new role. In February 1997, producers told Harrison they were writing her out of ''Neighbours''. She departed on screen on 15 April 1997. For her role as Joanna, Harrison was nominated for Best New Talent at the

Logie Award The Logie Awards (officially the TV Week Logie Awards; colloquially known as The Logies) is an annual gathering to celebrate Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The first ceremony was held in 1959 as the ...

s. In cinema, Harrison appeared in the

Coen Brothers Joel Daniel Coen (born November 29, 1954) and Ethan Jesse Coen (born September 21, 1957),State of Minnesota. ''Minnesota Birth Index, 1935–2002''. Minnesota Department of Health. collectively known as the Coen brothers (), are American film ...

' ''

Intolerable Cruelty ''Intolerable Cruelty'' is a 2003 American romantic comedy film directed and co-written by Joel and Ethan Coen, and produced by Brian Grazer and the Coens. The script was written by Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone and Ethan and Joel Coen, with the ...

'',

Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was a five-time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director and is considered an enduring figure from the New H ...

's '' The Company'' and in ''

Street Fighter , commonly abbreviated as ''SF'' or スト (''Suto''), is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Capcom. The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by six ...

'' as Nicola.Emma Harrison Official Site – Film
In 2007 she appeared in an episode of ''

McLeod's Daughters ''McLeod's Daughters'' is an Australian drama television series created by Posie Graeme-Evans and Caroline Stanton for the Nine Network, which aired from 8 August 2001, to 31 January 2009, lasting eight seasons. It stars Lisa Chappell and Brid ...

'' as Susan.

Presenting

Harrison travelled to England where she was already known due to ''

''. While in the UK, she hosted two television programmes and was selected as a presenter for the

BAFTA Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...

. Harrison's hosting jobs in the United States included fronting the reality show "Butler Bootcamp" for Wealth TV and appearing as a recurring host on Comcast's Vista TV.

Adverts

She has appeared on commercials for

Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, part of AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. ''Budweiser'' may also refer to an unrelat ...

Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...

, Subway,

ABC Sports 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 ...

and

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

Other appearances

In 2004 Harrison appeared in eight instalments of E!'s

Style Network Esquire Network was an American pay television network that was a 50/50 joint venture between NBCUniversal and the Hearst Corporation. The network carried programs aimed at a metrosexual audience centering on travel, cooking, sports and fashio ...

's "Style Court". In 2006 she appeared in ''

Take Home Chef ''Take Home Chef'' is a half-hour reality cooking show starring Curtis Stone. It originally aired on TLC. Format In each episode, Stone introduces himself to a stranger in a grocery store, typically a woman in her 20s or 30s, and asks if she is ...

'' with

Curtis Stone Curtis Travis Stone (born 4 November 1975) is an Australian celebrity chef, author and television personality. Stone has been the fresh food and recipes ambassador for Coles Supermarkets in Australia since 2010. Early life Stone was born in ...

The Learning Channel TLC is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. First established in 1980 as The Learning Channel, it initially focused on educational and instructional programming. By the late 1990s, after an acquisition by the own ...

Personal life

Emma Harrison currently resides in Los Angeles and

Burleigh Heads, Queensland Burleigh Heads is a suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , Burleigh Heads had a population of 10,077 people. Geography Burleigh Head is a cape () jutting into the Coral Sea at the northern mouth of Tallebudgera Cre ...

, Australia.

References

External links

Emma Harrison official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Emma Australian television actresses Living people Year of birth missing (living people) New Zealand emigrants to Australia