Peita Margaret Toppano (born 1951)GRO Birth Index EnglandLawson, Valerie.

, ''Sydney Morning Herald'' (13 December 2003): "They fell in love and married in 1950 in a church at Golders Green, London. Their daughter, Peta, was born a year later." stage name Peta Toppano is an English-born Australian of stage and screen actress, singer and dancer, who is known for her series roles in ''

The Young Doctors ''The Young Doctors'' is an Australian early-evening soap opera originally broadcast on the Nine Network and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation, it aired from Monday, 8 November 1976 until Wednesday, 30 March 1983. The series is prima ...

'', ''

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. ...

,'' as Karen Travers, ''

Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (often abbreviated as ''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a tri ...

'' as

Helen Poulos ''Home and Away'' is an Australian soap opera first broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. The following is a list of characters that first appeared in 2001, by order of first appearance. They were all introduced by the show's then ex ...

, ''

Heartbreak High ''Heartbreak High'' is an Australian television program created by Michael Jenkins and Ben Gannon that ran from 1994 to 1996 on Network Ten and 1997 to 1999 on the ABC, for seven series. It was also partially funded from 1996 by BBC2, with ...

'' and ''

Return to Eden ''Return to Eden'' is an Australian television drama series starring Rebecca Gilling, James Reyne, Wendy Hughes and James Smillie. It began as a three-part, six-hour mini-series shown on Network Ten on September 27–29, 1983. Gilling and Sm ...

'' as Jilly Stewart. Toppano was married to her ''Prisoner'' co-star

Barry Quin Barry Quin (born 1949) credited also as Barry Quinn, is a British-Australian actor and briefly producer who has appeared on stage and television and film, on the small screen he has featured in numerous TV series and mini-series, but he is bes ...

and subsequently to TV executive and business mogul

Kerry Stokes Kerry Matthew Stokes (born John Patrick Alford on 13 September 1940) is an Australian businessman. He holds business interests in a diverse range of industries including electronic and print media, property, mining, and construction equipment. ...

Early life

Toppano was born in

Finsbury Park Finsbury Park is a public park in the London neighbourhood of Harringay. It is in the area formerly covered by the historic parish of Hornsey, succeeded by the Municipal Borough of Hornsey. It was one of the first of the great London parks ...

, London, England and grew up in

Cammeray, New South Wales Cammeray is a residential suburb located five kilometres north of the Sydney Central Business District (CBD) and is part of the North Sydney Council local government area. Cammeray is part of the Lower North Shore region of Northern Sydney. His ...

. The daughter of musicians Enzo Toppano and Peggy Mortimer, she has two younger brothers: Lorenzo and Dean and is of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

descent. At 16 she won a ballet scholarship to study in Cannes, Southern France. She returned to Australia to study drama at the Ensemble Studio with teacher Hayes Gordon.

Career

Television and film

Toppano's television credits include "Lena" in ''Piccolo Mondo'' for SBS, in ''Prisoner'', as original character Karen Travers (a role created for her by producer/writer

Reg Watson Reginald James Watson (27 August 1926 – 8 October 2019) was an Australian television producer and screenwriter. He was executive producer on ''Crossroads (British TV series), Crossroads'' and created Australian media exports serials such as ' ...

); in ''All the Rivers Run'', as Eunice Pyke; and in ''Fields of Fire'', as Gina Agostini. Other appearances include ''

'' as Stella on

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of fiv ...

and in ''Bordertown'' for

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

as Diomira. She also appeared in ''

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 ...

'', ''

G.P. ''G.P.'' is an Australian television series produced by Roadshow, Coote & Carroll for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the series was broadcast for 8 seasons between 1989 and 1996. Synopsis The series, screened on the ABC, is set arou ...

'', ''E Street'' and ''Flying Doctors''. She played Kate in the ABC miniseries '' The Paper Man'' with

Oliver Tobias Oliver Tobias Freitag (born 6 August 1947), known professionally as Oliver Tobias, is a Swiss-born UK-based film, stage, and television actor and director. Biography Born in Zürich, Switzerland, he is the son of the Austrian-Swiss actor Robe ...

John Bach John Bach (born 5 June 1946) is a British-born New Zealand actor who has acted on stage, television and film over a period of more than four decades. Though born in the United Kingdom, he has spent most of his career living and working in New Z ...

and

Rebecca Gilling Rebecca Gilling (born 3 November 1953 in Castlecrag, Sydney, Australia) is an Australian former model and actress, now environmentalist. Gilling is the daughter of World War II Navy personnel Douglas Gilling and prominent feminist campaigner ...

(her co-star from ''Return To Eden''), and starred with

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...

and

Cybill Shepherd Cybill Lynne Shepherd (born February 18, 1950) is an American actress and former model. Her film debut and breakthrough role came as Jacy Farrow in Peter Bogdanovich's coming-of-age drama ''The Last Picture Show'' (1971) alongside Jeff Bridges. ...

in the 1991 miniseries ''

Which Way Home ''Which Way Home'' is a 2009 documentary film directed by Rebecca Cammisa. The film follows several children who are attempting to get from Mexico and Central America to the United States, on top of a freight train that crosses Mexico known as "L ...

''. Toppano played a recast Jilly Stewart in ''

'' and starred in ''

'' as Helen Poulas.Mercado, Andrew. ''Super Aussie Soaps: Behind the Scenes of Australia's Best Loved TV Shows'' (2004): "Peta Toppano, once tagged as the nice girl, found herself typecast as a superbitch after screaming 'No!' so many times as Jilly."Peta Toppano: Biography
", petatoppano.com. Retrieved 2 December 2010. Film credits include ''Seeing Red'', ''Harbour Beat'' and ''Echoes of Paradise'', directed by

Phillip Noyce Phillip Noyce (born 29 April 1950) is an Australian filmmaker. Since 1977, he has directed over 19 feature films in various genres, including historical drama ('' Newsfront'', '' Rabbit-Proof Fence'', '' The Quiet American''); thrillers (''Dead ...

. Toppano was nominated for an AFI Award for her work in ''

Street Hero ''Street Hero'' is a 1984 Australian film directed by Michael Pattinson and starring Vince Colosimo, Sigrid Thornton, Sandy Gore, Bill Hunter and Ray Marshall. The film won an AFI award. Plot Vinnie is a teenage boy who is an outcast at school, ...

'', directed by Michael Pattinson with

Vince Colosimo Vincenzo Colosimo (born 11 November 1966) is an Australian AFI Award winning stage, television and screen actor. He has worked in both Australia and the United States. He is of Italian descent and lives in Melbourne, Australia. He was previousl ...

. Other nominations include The Sydney Theatre Critic's Award for her performance in 'Danny and the Deep Blue Sea'. Toppano received two Logie nominations for her work in 'Fields of Fire' as Gina Agostini, and Uke in' Water Under the Bridge'.

Stage (drama and musicals)

Toppano she played Juanita in Sue Woolf's multi-award-winning novel Leaning Towards Infinity in 1997, adapted for stage at the Ensemble theatre to great acclaim. While living 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 ...

, Toppano played "Coral" and later "Gwen" in Michael Gow's ''Away'', "Ruth" in Louis Nowra's '' Così'' for the

Black Swan Theatre Company Black Swan State Theatre Company (formerly The Black Swan Theatre Company) is Western Australia's state theatre company. It runs an annual subscription season in Perth at the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia, tours its productions reg ...

and ''Blood Moon'' for Theatre West. She starred in a one-woman play written by Heather Nimmo, directed by Leith Taylor called "One Small Step" for which she received great critical acclaim. Toppano played "Countess De Lage" in "The Women" by

Clare Boothe Luce Clare Boothe Luce ( Ann Clare Boothe; March 10, 1903 – October 9, 1987) was an American writer, politician, U.S. ambassador, and public conservative figure. A versatile author, she is best known for her 1936 hit play '' The Women'', which ha ...

with students from Theatre Nepean directed by Mary-Ann Gifford. She played "Beth" in ''Merrily We Roll Along'' for the

Sydney Theatre Company Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in The Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Thea ...

with Gina Riley, Greg Stone, Geniveve Lemon, Tom Burlinson and Tony Sheldon. Toppano played "

Fantine Fantine (French pronunciation: ) is a fictional character in Victor Hugo's 1862 novel ''Les Misérables''. She is a young '' grisette'' in Paris who becomes pregnant by a rich student. After he abandons her, she is forced to look after their chi ...

" in ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...

'' for the

Cameron Mackintosh Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh (born 17 October 1946) is a British theatrical producer and theatre owner notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "th ...

organisation in Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane, "Diana Morales" in ''

A Chorus Line ''A Chorus Line'' is a 1975 musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante. Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theater, the musical is centered on seventeen Broadway dancers ...

'' for two years in Sydney and Melbourne. She played "Sonia" in ''They're Playing Our Song ''in the UK, and celebrated her 21st birthday in ''Godspell''. She played "Claudia" in the musical ''Nine'',

Eliza Doolittle Eliza Doolittle is a fictional character and the protagonist in George Bernard Shaw's play '' Pygmalion'' (1913) and its 1956 musical adaptation, ''My Fair Lady''. Eliza (from Lisson Grove, London) is a Cockney flower woman, who comes to Prof ...

(with

Stuart Wagstaff Stuart Wagstaff (13 February 192510 March 2015) was an English-born Australian entertainer who was active in all genres of the industry including theatre, television and film and music and stage management. Wagstaff was born in Great Durnfor ...

) in ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons ...

'', "Monica" in '' I Love My Wife'', "Roberta" in ''Danny and the Deep Blue Sea'' and "Leonarda" in ''Love and Magic in Mama's Kitchen'' at the

Belvoir St Theatre Belvoir is an Australian theatre company based at the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney, Australia, originally known as Company B. Since 2016 and its artistic director is Eamon Flack. The theatre contains a 330-seat Upstairs Theatre and a 80-sea ...

directed by Teresa Crea in Toppano's most exciting role so far. Toppano speaks French and Italian.

Filmography

Television

Films

Theatre

Footnotes

External links

Peta Toppano Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Toppano, Peta 1951 births Living people Australian film actresses Australian musical theatre actresses Australian soap opera actresses People from Finsbury Park English emigrants to Australia 20th-century Australian actresses 21st-century Australian actresses Australian female dancers Australian people of Italian descent