Maureen Elizabeth Edwards (born 17 April 1944) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

-born actress, notable for her TV roles both locally and in Australia. Her best known soap opera roles include ''

A Country Practice ''A Country Practice'' is an Australian television soap opera which broadcast on the Seven Network from 18 November 1981 until 5 November 1993, airing at 7:30 pm on Monday and Tuesday evenings. Altogether, 14 seasons and 1,058 episodes were p ...

'', ''

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 ...

'' (in 3 regular roles) and ''

Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital, first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992. It is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously ...

'' She is probably best known internationally for her several cameo roles in cult 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. ...

Biography

Theatre

Edwards, born in New Zealand in April 1944, initially she trained to become a teacher, before becoming interested in theatre, in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, South Island she was featured actress at the

Globe theatre The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and gra ...

in the 1960s and became an administrator for the gateway players theatre company. She emigrated to Australia with her husband Peter Tulloch in 1977

TV roles

As a character actress she became best known locally and internationally for her roles in the cult drama television series ''

'', having portrayed 4 different characters in the series in cameos, although best known as Officer Sue Bailey, She remains best known for her roles in Australian television soap operas, particularly in the series ''

'' as Matron Rosemary Prior from 1991 until 1993 (after two cameo roles in 1985 and 1990). She replaced hospital DN Ann Brennan (played by Mary Regan) and arrives from Africa to take over running the local hospital. In the series' final episode, Rosemary marries Dr. Terence Elliot (played by

Shane Porteous John Shane Porteous (born 17 August 1942) (known as Shane Porteous) is an Australian actor, screenwriter, animation layout artist and animation voice artist. As a screenwriter, he is sometimes credited as "John Hanlon". He remains best known fo ...

). In ''

'', Edwards played Ruby Dwyer in 2002 and 2003. She had appeared previously in Neighbours as Marcia Taylor in 1985 and later had 2 more roles in the series as Hilda Jones and Jill Smith in 2008 and 2009 respectively. She appeared in the New Zealand soap opera ''

'' in 2001–2002 as CEO Dr. Patricia Hewitt.

Others - telemovies, miniseries and serials

She has featured in many Australia miniseries and telemovies such as ''

All the Rivers Run ''All the Rivers Run'' is an Australian historical novel by Nancy Cato, first published in 1958. It was adapted as a 1983 Australian television mini-series starring Sigrid Thornton and John Waters. The mini-series is marketed with the tagline ...

'' and '' Evil Angels'' Other television roles included the series ''

Cop Shop ''Cop Shop'' is a long-running Australian police drama television series produced by Crawford Productions that ran for seven seasons between 28 November 1977 and 23 July 1984. It comprised 582 one-hour episodes. The show The show revolved ar ...

'', ''

Skyways Skyways may refer to: *Skyway A skyway, skybridge, skywalk, or sky walkway is an elevated type of pedway connecting two or more buildings in an urban area, or connecting elevated points within mountainous recreational zones. Urban skyways very ...

'', ''

I Can Jump Puddles ''I Can Jump Puddles'' is a 1981 Australian television mini-series based on the 1955 autobiographical series of the same name by author Alan Marshall. Adapted for television by screenwriters Cliff Green and Roger Simpson, the series starred Le ...

'', ''

The Flying Doctors ''The Flying Doctors'' is an Australian drama TV series produced by Crawford Productions that revolves around the everyday lifesaving efforts of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, starring Andrew McFarlane as the newly arrived Dr. T ...

'', '' G.P.'', ''

Blue Heelers ''Blue Heelers'' is an Australian police drama series that was produced by Southern Star Group and ran for 12 years on the Seven Network, from 1994 to 2006. Although based around the policing of the town, the series generally depicted the ever ...

'' and ''

The Secret Life of Us ''The Secret Life of Us'' is an Australian television drama series set in the beachside neighbourhood of St Kilda, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is primarily a drama with some comedic moments. The series was produced by Souther ...

''.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Maureen Australian film actresses Australian soap opera actresses New Zealand emigrants to Australia 20th-century Australian actresses 21st-century Australian actresses 1944 births Living people