Peta Toppano
Encyclopedia
Peta Toppano is an actress who found success in Australian television. She is best known for her roles in popular television series such as The Young Doctors
, Prisoner
, and Home & Away, as well as Return to Eden
in which she played a "superbitch".
, London, England, and grew up in Cammeray, New South Wales
, Australia. The daughter of classical musician Enzo Toppano and actress Peggy Mortimer, she was a middle child, having an older brother Lorenzo, and a younger brother Dean. She trained at the Ensemble Theatre
under the guidance of American stage actor Hayes Gordon
. As a teenager, Toppano won a scholarship to study ballet in the South of France
, but an injury prevented progression in that field.
for two years in both Sydney and Melbourne, during the late 1970s. She was still active on the stage 15 years later, playing Fantine in Les Misérables
for the Cameron Mackintosh
organization.
During 1989 and 1990, she played the part of Kate in the ABC
mini-series Paper Man
starring opposite Oliver Tobias
, John Bach
and Rebecca Gilling
. Paper Man was filmed both in Australia and England.
Later, Toppano starred opposite John Waters
and Cybil Shepherd in the 1990 Turner made-for-television-movie Which Way Home, filmed in Thailand
and New Zealand
.
Other film roles include: Harbour Beat for Palm Beach Pictures, Echoes of Paradise directed by Phillip Noyce and starring opposite Wendy Hughes
and John Lone
, and Seeing Red and Street Hero
directed by Michael Pattinson starring opposite Vince Colossimo.
Her most famous television roles include The Young Doctors
playing Dr. Gail Henderson, Prisoner
(known as Prisoner: Cell Block H outside of Australia) playing Karen Travers, Home & Away playing Helen Poulos, and Return to Eden
playing "superbitch" Jilly Stewart.
In 2005, she took time out from show business to moonlight as a shop assistant, wrapping crystal and swiping credit cards, so as to take her mind off personal tragedies such as the death of her mother: "I am just taking some time out and doing some of my favourite things which are being around beautiful objects and talking to people," she said. Toppano sometimes hosts events for her fans, such as a 2010 event at the Old Joint Stock Theatre
in Birmingham, England.
in the 1980s, and a marriage in the 1990s to billionaire Kerry Stokes
. She survived cancer surgery in 1996.
nomination as Best Actress in a tele-movie or mini-series, for her portrayal of Gina Augostini in Fields of Fire III, produced by David Elfick in 1989.
Other award nominations have included an AFI nomination for Best Supporting Actress for the feature film Street Hero, and for playing Uke in Sumner Locke Elliot's Australian saga Water under the Bridge. Toppano was also nominated for a Sydney Theatre Critics Award for her role as Roberta in John Patrick Shanley
’s Danny and the Deep Blue Sea.
The Young Doctors
The Young Doctors is an Australian early evening soap opera. The series was set in the fictional Albert Memorial hospital and primarily concerned with romances between younger members of the hospital staff, screened on the Nine Network from Monday, 8 November 1976 until Wednesday, 30 March...
, Prisoner
Prisoner (TV series)
Prisoner is an Australian television soap opera which was set in the Wentworth Detention Centre, a fictional women's prison. The series was produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation and ran on Network Ten for 692 episodes from 27 February 1979 to 11 December 1986.The series was inspired by the 1970s...
, and Home & Away, as well as Return to Eden
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 mini-series, shown on Network Ten in 1983. Gilling and Smillie would reprise their roles for a 22-part weekly series screened in 1986.-Mini-series...
in which she played a "superbitch".
Early life
Toppano was born in Finsbury ParkFinsbury Park
Finsbury Park is a 46 hectare public park in the London Borough of Haringey. Officially part of the London area of Harringay, it is also adjacent to Stroud Green, the Finsbury Park district and Manor House. It was one of the first of the great London parks laid out in the Victorian...
, London, England, and grew up in Cammeray, New South Wales
Cammeray, New South Wales
Cammeray is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Cammeray is located 5 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Council.Cammeray is mostly a residential area...
, Australia. The daughter of classical musician Enzo Toppano and actress Peggy Mortimer, she was a middle child, having an older brother Lorenzo, and a younger brother Dean. She trained at the Ensemble Theatre
Ensemble Theatre
The Ensemble Theatre is an Australian theatre company, situated in Kirribilli, New South Wales. It is promoted as Australia's longest continuously running professional theatre group, established in 1958.- References :...
under the guidance of American stage actor Hayes Gordon
Hayes Gordon
Hayes Gordon AO OBE was an American actor, stage director and acting teacher with a considerable career in Australia....
. As a teenager, Toppano won a scholarship to study ballet in the South of France
Southern France
Southern France , colloquially known as le Midi is defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Gironde, Spain, the Mediterranean, and Italy...
, but an injury prevented progression in that field.
Career
Toppano played Diana Morales in A Chorus LineA Chorus Line
A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch....
for two years in both Sydney and Melbourne, during the late 1970s. She was still active on the stage 15 years later, playing Fantine in Les Misérables
Les Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
for the Cameron Mackintosh
Cameron Mackintosh
Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh is a British theatrical producer notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "the most successful, influential and powerful theatrical producer in the world" by the New York...
organization.
During 1989 and 1990, she played the part of Kate in the ABC
ABC Television
ABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcasting broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas....
mini-series Paper Man
Paper Man
Paper Man can refer to:* Paper Man , a 1971 film* Paper Man , a 2009 independent film* The Paper Man , a 1963 Mexican film...
starring opposite Oliver Tobias
Oliver Tobias
Oliver Tobias is a UK-based film, stage, and television actor and directorBorn Oliver Tobias Freitag in Zürich, Switzerland, he is the son of Austrian-Swiss actor Robert Freitag and German actress Maria Becker. He came to the United Kingdom at the age of eight and trained at East 15 Acting School,...
, John Bach
John Bach
John Bach is a Welsh-born actor who has spent most of his career working in New Zealand.His best known role internationally is Madril in the two last movies of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , but he has substantial television credits in New Zealand, including the title role of Detective...
and Rebecca Gilling
Rebecca Gilling
Rebecca Gilling is an Australian actress. Her first acting role was in Stone but who came to prominence as the "bad girl" flight attendant Diana Moore in the feature film version of soap opera Number 96 , in which she had several nude scenes...
. Paper Man was filmed both in Australia and England.
Later, Toppano starred opposite John Waters
John Waters (actor)
John Russell Waters is a film, theatre and television actor and musician best known in Australia, to where he moved in 1968...
and Cybil Shepherd in the 1990 Turner made-for-television-movie Which Way Home, filmed in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
Other film roles include: Harbour Beat for Palm Beach Pictures, Echoes of Paradise directed by Phillip Noyce and starring opposite Wendy Hughes
Wendy Hughes
-Career:Hughes began her career on television in the early 1970s with appearances in Homicide, Number 96, Matlock Police and in 1976, ABC Mini-Series, Power Without Glory...
and John Lone
John Lone
John "Johnny" Lone is a Hong Kong born American actor of Chinese and English descent. Lone has played roles as diverse as a caveman in Iceman , the last Emperor of China in The Last Emperor , and an apparently female opera performer in M. Butterfly .-Personal life:Lone was born as Ng Kwok-leung...
, and Seeing Red and Street Hero
Street Hero
Street Hero is an AFI award winning, Australian film which stars Vince Colosimo, Sigrid Thornton, Sandy Gore, Bill Hunter and Ray Marshall. It is directed by Michael Pattinson.-Plot:...
directed by Michael Pattinson starring opposite Vince Colossimo.
Her most famous television roles include The Young Doctors
The Young Doctors
The Young Doctors is an Australian early evening soap opera. The series was set in the fictional Albert Memorial hospital and primarily concerned with romances between younger members of the hospital staff, screened on the Nine Network from Monday, 8 November 1976 until Wednesday, 30 March...
playing Dr. Gail Henderson, Prisoner
Prisoner (TV series)
Prisoner is an Australian television soap opera which was set in the Wentworth Detention Centre, a fictional women's prison. The series was produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation and ran on Network Ten for 692 episodes from 27 February 1979 to 11 December 1986.The series was inspired by the 1970s...
(known as Prisoner: Cell Block H outside of Australia) playing Karen Travers, Home & Away playing Helen Poulos, and Return to Eden
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 mini-series, shown on Network Ten in 1983. Gilling and Smillie would reprise their roles for a 22-part weekly series screened in 1986.-Mini-series...
playing "superbitch" Jilly Stewart.
In 2005, she took time out from show business to moonlight as a shop assistant, wrapping crystal and swiping credit cards, so as to take her mind off personal tragedies such as the death of her mother: "I am just taking some time out and doing some of my favourite things which are being around beautiful objects and talking to people," she said. Toppano sometimes hosts events for her fans, such as a 2010 event at the Old Joint Stock Theatre
Old Joint Stock Theatre
The Old Joint Stock Theatre is a pub theatre located at 4 Temple Row West in the centre of Birmingham, England.The theatre seats 80 in a flexible arrangement and is located on the first floor of the Old Joint Stock pub - a grade II listed building built as the Birmingham Joint Stock Bank by...
in Birmingham, England.
Personal life
Toppano resides in Sydney, Australia. She has been married three times, including a brief marriage at age 18 to musician Brian O'Toole, a marriage to her Prisoner co-star Barry QuinBarry Quin
Barry Quin is a British-born Australian based stage and television actor, best known for his role in the original cast of Prisoner playing Dr Greg Miller. He was married to his Prisoner co-star Peta Toppano during the early 1980s, but they divorced after ten years.-Biography:A graduate of the...
in the 1980s, and a marriage in the 1990s to billionaire Kerry Stokes
Kerry Stokes
Kerry Matthew Stokes AC is an Australian businessman. He holds business interests in a diverse range of industries including electronic and print media, property, mining, and construction equipment. He is most widely known as the chairman of the Seven Network, one of the largest broadcasting...
. She survived cancer surgery in 1996.
Television
- 1968 – Homicide – Marika Lucas – 7 Network/Crawford Productions
- 1970 – Bobby Limb's Sounds of the Seventies – Various – NLT Productions
- 1975 – Class of '75 – Gina Ferrari – The Grundy Organisation
- 1976 – Rush – Drusilla – Australian Broadcasting Corp./Portman Productions
- 1976 – King's Men – Policewoman – Grundy Television Productions
- 1976/77 – The Young Doctors – Dr. Gail Henderson – Grundy Television Productions
- 1977 – The Outsiders – Sally Gower – Australian Broadcasting Corporation
- 1978 – Skyways – Sister Theresa – Crawford Productions
- 1978/79 – Prisoner (Karen Travers) – Sustaining Role – Grundy Television Productions
- 1979/80 – Water under the Bridge – Uke – Shotton Productions
- 1981 – Sara Dane (Alison Barwell) – Major Role – S.A.F.C.
- 1981 – Bellamy – Meredith – Grundy Television Productions
- 1981/82 – M.P.S.I.B. (Lisa Hesse) – Lead – ABC TV
- 1982 – Parkinson – (Tribute to Cy Coleman) – Channel 10
- 1985 – Return to Eden (Jilly Stewart) – Leading Role – McElroy & McElroy
- 1987 – The Flying Doctors – Carol Brett – Crawford Productions/Nine Network Australia
- 1987 – Fields of Fire II (Gina) – Leading Role – Palm Beach Pictures/Zenith UK
- 1988 – Fields of Fire III (Gina) – Leading Role – Palm Beach Pictures/Zenith UK
- 1988 – E Street – Miki Fallon – Westside Film & Television
- 1989 – G.P. (Anna Carelli) – 10 Episode Mini Series – ABC/RCC
- 1989 – All the Rivers Run II – Eunice Pike – Crawford PDS. Director: John Power
- 1989/90 – Paper Man (Kate Cromwell) – Mini Series – ABC/RCC/GRANADA UK
- 1990 – Which Way Home (Annie) – With Cybil Shepherd – McElroy/Turner TV
- 1990 – Harbour Beat – Mrs. De Santos – AFFC/Palm Beach Pictures/Zenith Entertainment
- 1991 – Piccolo Mondo – Lena – Generation Films
- 1991 – A Country Practice (Colleen Nicholls) – 4 Episodes – JNP Films P/L
- 1994 – Heartbreak High (Stella Ioannou) – 20 Episodes – Gannon Television PTY Ltd
- 1995 – Bordertown (Diomira) – TV Mini Series – 10 Episodes – ABC TV. Director: Ian Gilmour
- 1998 – Never Tell Me Never (M.C.) – TV Movie – Golden Square Pictures/Palm Beach Pictures., Director: David Elfick
- 2000 – Above the Law (Mrs. Giovanelli) – TV Series – Columbia Tri Star TV PTY Ltd/McElroy Television
- 2002 – 3–4 Ever – Unnamed Character – Fandango/Vertigo Productions
- 2000/09 – Home & Away – Helen Poulos – 7 Network
Film
- 1984 – Street Hero – AFI Nomination, Best Supporting Actress – Paul Dainty Production. Director: Michael Pattinson
- 1986 – Echoes of Paradise – Judy – Great Scott Productions. Director: Philip Noyce
- 1991 – Seeing Red – Vivian – Goosey Ltd. Virginia Rouse
- 1993 – The Feds (Brandy) – TV Movie – Director: George Ogilvie
Theatre
- 1972 – GodspellGodspellGodspell is a musical by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak. It opened off Broadway on May 17, 1971, and has played in various touring companies and revivals many times since, including a 2011 revival now playing on Broadway...
– Ken Brodziak Productions - 1976 – Spats at the Speakeasy – Theatre Restaurant – Speakeasy PTY with Bruce Barry
- 1977 – A Chorus Line (14 months) – Diana Morales – Edgley International & JC Williamsons
- 1980 – My Fair LadyMy Fair LadyMy Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
– Eliza Doolittle – Delicado Prods Tour - 1982 – I Love My Wife – Monica – JC Williamsons
- 1983 – They're Playing Our Song (Sonia) – Throughout UK
- 1986 – Are You Lonesome Tonight (Priscilla) – Her Majesty's Sydney
- 1987 – Danny & the Deep Blue Sea (Roberta) – Globe Theatre Co. Sydney – (Nominated Best Actress – Sydney Theatre Critics)
- 1988 – NineNine (musical)Nine is a musical with a book by Arthur Kopit, music and lyrics by Maury Yeston. The story is based on Federico Fellini's semi-autobiographical film 8½...
– 88 Tour (Claudia) – Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney – Nove Productions - 1990/91 – Les Misérables (Fantine) – Cameron Mackintosh – (May 1990 – March 1991)
- 1990 – Love Letters with Andrew McFarlane – Victoria Arts Centre – Directed by George Fairfax
- 1991 – Love Letters with Shane Porteous – TN Complex – Brisbane
- 1991 – Love and Magic in Mamma's Kitchen (Lead) – Belvoir St. Theatre
- 1996 – Merrily We Roll Along (Beth) – Sydney Theatre Company
Awards
In 1990, Toppano earned a LogieLogie
If you searched for Logie you may be looking for:*Logie, Dundee, a residential area in the City of Dundee, Scotland*Logie Coldstone, an Aberdeenshire village north of the River Dee in Scotland*The Logie Award, the Australian television industry awards...
nomination as Best Actress in a tele-movie or mini-series, for her portrayal of Gina Augostini in Fields of Fire III, produced by David Elfick in 1989.
Other award nominations have included an AFI nomination for Best Supporting Actress for the feature film Street Hero, and for playing Uke in Sumner Locke Elliot's Australian saga Water under the Bridge. Toppano was also nominated for a Sydney Theatre Critics Award for her role as Roberta in John Patrick Shanley
John Patrick Shanley
John Patrick Shanley is an American playwright, screenwriter, and director. He also contributed articles on the performing arts to The New York Times among other publications.-Life and career:...
’s Danny and the Deep Blue Sea.