Toni Potter (born ) is a New Zealand actress, best known for her role on the New Zealand medical drama, ''

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 ...

''.

Early life

Potter grew up with her sister, mother and father who was in the army in Papakura,

Waiouru Waiouru is a small town in the Ruapehu District, in New Zealand's Manawatū-Whanganui region. It is located on the south-eastern North Island Volcanic Plateau, north of Palmerston North and 25 kilometres south-east of Mount Ruapehu. The town ...

and

Upper Hutt Upper Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Uta) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. Geography The Upper Hutt city centre lies approximately 26 km north-e ...

. She spent her high school years 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 Rive ...

where she acted with community theatre groups including outdoor Shakespeare productions and Contemporary dance groups. She moved to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

in 1998 to take up a place in the Bachelor of Performing Arts degree at UNITEC, majoring in acting.

''Shortland Street''

Potter played Alice Piper, a senior nurse troubled by alcohol and severe bad luck with men, from 2005 to 2009. She featured in a number of major storylines, including one in 2008 in which she was captured by Joey Henderson, who was revealed as the Ferndale Strangler. He took out her appendix, but she managed to escape him. In 2008 she broke up with her long-term boyfriend Craig Valentine, after he found out that she slept with

Guy Warner Guy Warner is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera '' Shortland Street'' who was portrayed by Craig Parker in a guest role in 1992 before returning as core cast from 1993 to 1996. Guy returned for the shows 15th anniversary in May ...

, a mutual friend after a drunken fit of weakness. She then had to cope with the murder of Craig, and not soon after, give birth to the couple's daughter Kelly Piper, who was born in the back of an ambulance the day Craig was found dead. Kelly died soon after because of complications from being prematurely born. Alice then became involved with Ethan Pierce, a doctor who was discovered as a criminal. She than had to help her friend Maia Jeffries cover up Ethan's murder that Maia had committed. Potter left the show late 2009, when Alice accompanied a close friend and colleague,

Kip Denton The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Street'' in 2007, by order of first appearance. Meg Harris Meg Harris was an old nursing school friend of Alice Piper ( Toni Potter). Alice t ...

to Rarotonga, where they decided they wanted to start a life together and have remained ever since. It is unknown if the characters will return.

Recognition

In 2008, Potter was nominated under the category of best performance by an actress in general television in the Qantas Film and Television Awards. She lost out to

Robyn Malcolm Robyn Jane Malcolm (born 15 March 1965) is a New Zealand actress, who first gained recognition for her role as nurse Ellen Crozier on the New Zealand soap opera '' Shortland Street''. She is best known for six seasons of playing Cheryl West, ma ...

References

External links

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Television New ZealandJohnson Laird Talent Agency Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, Toni 1970s births Year of birth missing (living people) Living people New Zealand television actresses Unitec Institute of Technology alumni New Zealand soap opera actresses 21st-century New Zealand actresses