Judith Anne Nunn ( AM) (born 1945 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 i ...

, Western Australia), (also published under the pen name of Judy Bernard-Waite), is an Australian fiction author, former theatre and television actress and radio and television screenwriter. Nunn was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2015 Australia Day Honours for her service to the performing arts as a scriptwriter and actor of stage and screen, and to literature as an author.

Acting career

Early stage and TV career

After many years as a leading stage actress, starting in 1964 her breakout television role was as the scheming bisexual reporter Vicky Stafford in the risque soap opera '' The Box''. Her character became a popular cult figure in the series. Nunn continued in the role for the show's entire 1974–77 run and appeared in the feature film version in 1975. In 1979 she briefly played Joyce Martin in the Australian TV 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. ...

'' and after that had a lengthy spell as Dr. Irene Fisher in television serial '' Sons and Daughters'' from 1984 until 1986.

''Home and Away''

Her role as original character Ailsa Stewart in the soap opera '' Home and Away'', from 1988 until the character was killed off in 2000 after deciding to leave the series to devote more time with novels, is probably Nunn's most famous role. In 2002 she returned in a guest role playing the same character - it transpired this was an hallucination of her former on-screen husband, Alf Stewart, caused by a brain tumour.

Personal life

Nunn attended

Presbyterian Ladies' College, Perth , motto_translation = By Work and With Honour , established = 1915 , type = Independent, day and boarding , gender = Girls , denomination = Uniting Church , slogan ...

. She married her husband, actor and writer and former Tasmanian & Royal Hong Kong police officer Bruce Venables, the same week in which she filmed her character Ailsa's marriage to Alf (

Ray Meagher Raymond Francis Meagher (born 4 July 1944) is an Australian actor, who has appeared in Australian film and television since the mid-1970s. He is notable as the longest continuing performer in an Australian television role, portraying Alf Stewa ...

) in Home and Away in 1988. Formerly long-time residents of

Bondi, New South Wales Bondi () is a suburb of eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, seven kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council. It is often colloquially referred to as "Bon ...

, Nunn and her husband now reside on the

Central Coast, New South Wales The Central Coast is a peri-urban region in New South Wales, Australia, lying on the Tasman Sea coast to the north of Sydney and south of Newcastle. The local government area of the Central Coast Council has an estimated population of ...

Literary career

Nunn is a screenwriter of radio and television and author. She has written scripts for programmes '' Neighbours'' and ''

Possession Possession may refer to: Law * Dependent territory, an area of land over which another country exercises sovereignty, but which does not have the full right of participation in that country's governance * Drug possession, a crime * Ownership * ...

''. In the 1980s she decided to turn her hand to prose. The result was two adventure novels for children, ''Eye in the Storm'' and ''Eye in the City'', which remain popular in Australia and Europe. Embarking on adult fiction in the early 1990s, Judy's three novels, ''The Glitter Game'', ''Centre Stage'' and ''Araluen'', set respectively in the worlds of television, theatre and film, became bestsellers. A specialist in Australian period fiction, other books she has written include ''Kal'', ''Beneath the Southern Cross'', ''Territory'', ''Pacific'', ''Heritage'', ''Floodtide'', ''

Maralinga Maralinga, in the remote western areas of South Australia, was the site, measuring about in area, of British nuclear tests in the mid-1950s. In January 1985 native title was granted to the Maralinga Tjarutja, a southern Pitjantjatjara Aborig ...

'', ''Tiger Men'' in 2011, ''Elianne'' in 2013 and ''Spirits of the Ghan'' in 2015. Film Television

Bibliography

Children’s fiction

*''The Riddle of the Trumpalar'' (1981, as Judy Bernard-Waite) with Patricia Bernard and Fiona Waite *''Challenge of the Trumpalar'' (1986, as Judy Bernard-Waite) with Patricia Bernard and Fiona Waite *''Eye in the Storm'' (1988) *''Eye in the City'' (1991)

Adult fiction

*''The Glitter Game'' (1991) *''Center Stage'' (1994) *''Araluen'' (1994) *''Kal'' (1996) *''Beneath the Southern Cross'' (1999) *''Territory'' (2002) *''Pacific'' (2004) *''Heritage '' (2005) *''Floodtide'' (2008) *''

'' (2009) *''Tiger Men'' (2011) *''Elianne'' (2013) *'' Spirits of the Ghan'' (2015) *''Sanctuary'' (2017) *''Khaki Town'' (2019) *''Show Time'' (2021)

References

Sources

External links

Official website

Judy Nunn at Penguin Random House Australia
*
Judy Nunn at Scholastic Australia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nunn, Judy 1945 births Living people Australian screenwriters People educated at Presbyterian Ladies' College, Perth Australian women novelists Members of the Order of Australia Australian film actresses Australian soap opera actresses Australian stage actresses Australian voice actresses 20th-century Australian actresses 21st-century Australian actresses 20th-century pseudonymous writers Pseudonymous women writers