Vikki Blanche

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Vikki Blanche
Born1966 or 1967 (age 56–57)[1]
Australia
Occupation(s)Actress, director
Years active1983–present

Vikki Blanche (born 1966 or 1967) is an Australian actress and director. She made her television debut in the children's series

Col'n Carpenter and the 1991 miniseries Rose Against the Odds. Blanche then spent 18 months living and studying acting in New York City. Upon her return to Australia, Blanche was cast as Senior Detective Chris Faithful in the second season of the ABC police drama Phoenix. After an appearance in the 1997 feature film Road to Nhill, Blanche wrote and directed The Other Days of Ruby Rae, which earned her a nomination for Best Screenplay in a Short Film at the 2000 AFI Awards
. Blanche has since gone on to direct television commercials.

Career

Blanche's passion for acting began when she was around eight years old.

David Cameron in the nine-part ABC drama series The Keepers. The show focuses on the lives of Fisheries and Wildlife officers in a small community. Blanche plays Kim, daughter of Catherine Wilkin's Aggie French.[5] She also guested in The Young Doctors.[3] Blanche graduated from the National Theatre in November 1984.[3]

Blanche's breakthrough role was that of

Aberdeen Press and Journal said she made Julie "one of the most popular characters in the Australian soap."[6] Blanche dated her co-star David Clencie during her time in the serial and the couple lived together for six months.[1] After seven months playing Julie, Blanche left Neighbours before the end of her contract. She admitted that she did not want to stay in the same role for a long time and end up typecast.[8]

Following her departure from Neighbours, Blanche worked at the St Martin's Theatre in Melbourne and had a guest role in an episode of The Flying Doctors.[1] In 1988, she re-joined the cast of The Flying Doctors in the bigger role of radiographer Paula Patterson.[9][10] While appearing on The Flying Doctors, Blanche also worked at the Cadillac Bar in Melbourne.[9] Alongside her Flying Doctors co-star Liz Burch and singer Neil Finn, Blanche appeared in Nine Network's A Chance for the Children programme in 1990, which highlighted the need for water, health care and education in third world countries.[11] Following a number of changes to the format of the show, Blanche was written out of The Flying Doctors to make way for new actors.[9] Blanche said that it worked out well for her, since she went onto secure new roles almost immediately. She admitted that while she would have stayed on with the show, her character had very few storylines in the last six months and she questioned whether she was learning anything new.[9]

After leaving The Flying Doctors, Blanche starred as Julia in the

Kim Gyngell and Monica Maughan.[9] She also filmed a role as Jenny Rose in the 1991 miniseries Rose Against the Odds, which tells the story of Aboriginal boxer Lionel Rose. Blanche met with the real Jenny Rose to talk about her life and relationship with Lionel.[13] Blanche later felt that working on both productions simultaneously made her lose respect for her job because of the scheduling, so she decided to go overseas to study acting in order to stay challenged.[13] Blanche spent 18 months living and working in New York City.[14] She studied acting at the HB Studio and the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, and chose not to attend auditions or seek roles. She worked as a waitress in order to pay her rent.[14]

A few weeks after returning to Melbourne, Blanche auditioned for the second season of the ABC police drama Phoenix.[14] Blanche had not watched the series before she was offered the role of Senior Detective Chris Faithful, who is married to Peter Faithful (Simon Westaway) and goes undercover for the drug squad.[14][15] Blanche described her character as having a "gift for the job. She's tough, in that she is mixing with crooks, but I don't think she's tougher than anyone else in that environment."[14] To prepare for the role, Blanche spoke with undercover drug officers and went through research material compiled by the writers.[2] Phoenix was filmed over 13 weeks, which suited Blanche, who preferred not to stay with a show for too long, and aired in early 1993.[14] In 1997, Blanche appeared in the comedy-drama feature film Road to Nhill as Jill Whitton.[16]

In 1999, Blanche began teaching the Meisner technique at The Sydney Actors Playhouse.[17] She also attended the VCA School of Film and Television, where she wrote and directed the short film The Other Days of Ruby Rae.[18] The plot follows a widowed vicar (Norman Kaye) whose faith is renewed when he befriends a 10-year-old.[19] Blanche received a nomination for Best Screenplay in a Short Film at the 2000 AFI Awards.[20] The film won the George Méliès Award at the Taos Talking Pictures Film Festival.[21] Blanche has since gone on to direct television commercials.[22] In 2001, she won the Young Director of the Year Award at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for her work on a commercial for Australian feminine hygiene company Cottons.[23] The following year, she signed with Academy Films and relocated to London.[24]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1996 Turning April Voice Feature film
1997 Road to Nhill Jill Whitton Feature film
1999 The Other Days of Ruby Rae Writer, director Short film

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1983 Home Billie Recurring role
1984 The Keepers Kim French Main cast
1985 Neighbours Julie Robinson Main cast
1986 The Flying Doctors Prue Browning Episode: "Sins of the Father"
1988–1991 The Flying Doctors Paula Patterson Main cast
1990
Col'n Carpenter
Julia Barnes Main cast
1991 Rose Against the Odds Jenny Oakes TV miniseries
1992 The Late Show Dinner Party Guest Episode: "#1.17"
1993 Phoenix II Senior Detective Chris Faithful Main cast

References

  1. ^ a b c Cook, Stephen (9 August 1986). "'Why I quit' Neighbours star tells". TV Week. p. 56.
  2. ^
    Newspapers.com.Free access icon
  3. ^ a b c d e f Koppe, Margaret (16–22 March 1985). "Big role for a beginner". TV Radio Extra. Vol. 5, no. 226. pp. 15, 75.
  4. Newspapers.com.Free access icon
  5. ^
    Aberdeen Press and Journal. 24 November 1986. Retrieved 23 February 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive
    .
  6. .
  7. ^ a b c d e f Devlyn, Darren (14 April 1990). "Why Vikki's not nursing grudges". TV Week. p. 25.
  8. Newspapers.com.Free access icon
  9. ^ Fulton, Matt (16 December 2021). "Watch: Col'n Carpenter". My Geek Culture. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  10. ^
    Newspapers.com.Free access icon
  11. ^ a b c d e f McGowen, Mark (17 October 1992). "Vikki goes from New York to Phoenix". TV Week. pp. 64–65.
  12. Newspapers.com.Free access icon
  13. ^ Stratton, David (18 August 1997). "Road to Nhill". Variety. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  14. Newspapers.com.Free access icon
  15. ^ French, Phillip (24 September 2000). "Mystery in Tehran, torture in Buenos Aires, well-heeled narcissism in London". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 September 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  16. ^ "Winners & Nominees 2000 – Non-Feature Film". Australian Film Institute. Archived from the original on 1 September 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  17. ^ Hernandez, Eugene (9 April 2001). "Daily News: New Fest Sets Bookends; and Moodysson Wins Taos Land". IndieWire. Archived from the original on 1 September 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  18. ^ Duck, Siobhan (15 March 2015). "It's been a mixed bag for the original Neighbours cast since they left the long-running soap". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 12 February 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  19. ^ "Gallery 44: Ones to watch – Vicky Blanche". Haymarket Media Group. 31 October 2002. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  20. ^ "Academy signs Vikki Blanche". Shots.net. 24 April 2002. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.

External links