Anne Mary Phelan (2 August 1948 – 27 October 2019) was an Australian actress of stage and screen who appeared in many theatre, television and film productions as well as radio and voice-over. Her television soap opera roles included Bellbird as Kate Ashwood, Prisoner (1980–1985) as Myra Desmond, Something in the Air (2000–2002) as Monica Taylor, for which she won the 2000 AFI (AACTA) Award for Best Actress in a Television Drama, having previously won the 1988 AFI Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries for Poor Man's Orange. She received the Equity Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. She was also an activist for humanitarian causes.

Early life

Phelan was raised in Fitzroy, Victoria. She was reported as saying that she had no formal study or qualifications for acting or singing, but instead had trained through 15 years work in amateur theatre. At age 16, she became pregnant and gave her daughter up for adoption, seeing her again for the first time 50 years later.

Career

Phelan began her television career in 1968. She had an ongoing role in the soap opera Bellbird as Kate Ashwood in the early 1970s. In the late 1970s, she played guest roles in Prisoner. She took the role of Officer Manson, appearing in one episode of the series in 1979. This character had the sole purpose of threatening to resign over the favourable treatment afforded to prisoner Barbara Davidson in episode 17. Later in 1979, Phelan reappeared in the series, this time playing the role of dopey prisoner Bernadette in a number of episodes. She first appeared in Prisoner on a recurring basis as Myra Desmond between 1980 and 1983; Myra was then reintroduced to the series in early 1984 as a regular character and Phelan continued in the role for a further 18 months. Phelan's other soap roles included Starting Out (1983), Family and Friends (1990) and Something in the Air (2000–2002). She made guest starring appearances in many drama series, including The Flying Doctors and Blue Heelers. She was also a regular on Marshall Law and appeared in the ABC comedy Mother and Son playing the role of a social worker who befriends Maggie Beare. She also made two guest appearances in Neighbours. The first, in 1997, was as the character of Claudia Harvey and the second, in 2004, was as Doreen "Peace Dove" Cassidy. In 2007, Phelan appeared in episode 6 of The Librarians as a prisoner with the Prisoner theme song. In 2012, Phelan joined the cast of comedy drama Winners & Losers in the ongoing role of Dot Gross. Winners & Losers marked her first regular role in 10 years. Prior to this, she had appeared in several theatre productions and made various television guest appearances.

Community work

Phelan was a public speaker and a recipient of Regional Arts Victoria's Don Mackay Award (2006) for Outstanding Achievement in Regional Touring. From 2000, she was the patron of Positive Women (Victoria), a support and advocacy group run by and for women living with HIV. She received the Oz Showbiz Cares / Equity Fights AIDS 2002 Activist of the Year Award for outstanding contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS. She performed and sang with the Choir of Hard Knocks on Melbourne's streets in 2006, busking to raise money for a performance at the Melbourne Town Hall. She was a member of Actors For Refugees, a group of performers who volunteer their time and talent to tell the stories of Australia's refugees and asylum seekers. She was an ambassador for Alzheimer's Australia Vic, educators, advocates and spokespeople for those living with dementia, their families and friends and those who support them.

Death

Phelan died of natural causes on 27 October 2019. She was 71 at her time of death, although, some sources have stated her age as 75. She was privately cremated.

Filmography

Film

Television

Television variety specials

Stage

Other work

Awards and honours

Honours

Awards and nominations