Tara Morice (born 23 June 1964) is an Australian actress.

Background

Born in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/ Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, Morice also lived in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' A ...

and

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

as a child. She is a fifth-generation Australian and is of English, Irish, Scottish, Latvian, French and Jewish ancestry. She appeared in a short film for the

Tasmanian Film Corporation The Tasmanian Film Corporation was a Tasmanian statutory corporation founded 1977 to replace the Tasmanian Government Department of Film Production. Films By far its biggest success was Manganinnie, an AFI Award and AWGIE Award winning feature fil ...

in 1980, ''The ABC of Unions''. She made her stage debut at Australia's oldest theatre, the Theatre Royal in Hobart in ''The Diary of Anne Frank'', aged 16. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Australian History and English from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

and graduated from the

National Institute of Dramatic Art The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian educational institution for the performing arts is based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, many of Australia's leading actors and directors trained at NIDA, including Cat ...

in 1987.

Career

She has worked extensively on stage in Australia, including productions 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 ...

Bell Shakespeare Company Bell Shakespeare is an Australian theatre company specialising in the works of William Shakespeare, his contemporaries and other classics. It is based in Sydney. The Bell Shakespeare vision is to create theatre that allows audiences of all walk ...

Griffin Theatre Company Griffin Theatre Company is an Australian theatre specialising in new works, based in Sydney. Founded in 1979, it is the resident theatre company at the SBW Stables Theatre in Kings Cross. the artistic director is Declan Green. Artistic direc ...

, Belvoir Theatre Company, State Theatre of South Australia, Queensland Theatre Company, Malthouse and the Ensemble. She played Fran in ''Strictly Ballroom'' when it premiered as a stage play in 1988, and she was a member of Baz Luhrmann's ''Six Years Old'' Company. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for her role in ''Fat Swan'' at the 2012 Helpmann Awards and a Victorian Green Room Award for ''

The Venetian Twins ''The Venetian Twins'' ( it, I due gemelli veneziani, links=no, or "The two Venetian twins") is a 1747 play by Carlo Goldoni, based on Plautus's ''Menaechmi''. It was performed by Il Teatro Stabile of Genoa at the 1965 Edinburgh Internationa ...

'' in 1990. Her first film appearance was as Fran in the 1992 film '' Strictly Ballroom'' (directed by

Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962), known professionally as Baz Luhrmann, is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor. With projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music and recording industries, he is re ...

), for which she was nominated for a BAFTA award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and an

Australian Film Institute The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry. It is responsib ...

award. Morice also appeared on the film's soundtrack, singing a duet of '' Time After Time'' with Mark Williams. Morice has also appeared in the feature films ''

Metal Skin ''Metal Skin'' is a 1994 Australian film written and directed by Geoffrey Wright, starring Aden Young, Tara Morice, Nadine Garner and Ben Mendelsohn. The film follows the lives of four adolescents in and around the blue-collar Melbourne suburb ...

'', ''Hotel Sorrento'', ''Hildegarde'', ''

Moulin Rouge! ''Moulin Rouge!'' (, ) is a 2001 jukebox musical romantic drama film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. It follows a young English poet, Christian, who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge, cabaret actress and co ...

'', ''

Candy Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English, New Zealand English), is a confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, called ''sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, i ...

'', '' Razzle Dazzle: A Journey Into Dance'', ''Oranges and Sunshine'', ''Dance Academy: The Movie'' and ''Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway''. Her many short films include the Oscar nominated ''Miracle Fish''. Her television work includes roles in ''

Answered by Fire ''Answered by Fire'' is a two-part television film based on the 1999 conflicts in East Timor that led to its independence in 2002. The film is based on "Dancing with the Devil: A Personal Account of Policing the East Timor Vote for Independence ...

'', ''

After the Deluge ''After the Deluge'' is a 2003 Australian television miniseries starring Ray Barrett, David Wenham, Hugo Weaving and Samuel Johnson. It was first broadcast by Channel Ten in two parts in June 2003. Cast * David Wenham – Alex Kirby * Hugo Wea ...

'', ''

Salem's Lot ''Salem's Lot'' is a 1975 horror novel by American author Stephen King. It was his second published novel. The story involves a writer named Ben Mears who returns to the town of Jerusalem's Lot (or 'Salem's Lot for short) in Maine, where he l ...

'' and ''

McLeod's Daughters ''McLeod's Daughters'' is an Australian drama television series created by Posie Graeme-Evans and Caroline Stanton for the Nine Network, which aired from 8 August 2001, to 31 January 2009, lasting eight seasons. It stars Lisa Chappell and Bri ...

''. Morice had a starring role in the series of three ''

Dogwoman ''Dogwoman'' is a series of Australian television telemovies screened on the Nine Network in 2000. The telemovies were created by and starred Magda Szubanski as Margaret O'Halloran. Margaret, a professional dog trainer, is drawn into a world of m ...

'' telemovies with

Magda Szubanski Magdalene Mary Therese Szubanski ( ; born 12 April 1961) is an Australian comedy actress, author, singer and LGBT rights advocate. She performed in ''Fast Forward'', ''Kath & Kim'' as Sharon Strzelecki and in the films ''Babe'' (1995) and ' ...

in 2000. She also plays ''Miss Raine'' in Series 1, 2 and 3 of ''

Dance Academy ''Dance Academy'' is an Australian teen-oriented television drama produced by Werner Film Productions in association with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and ZDF. Series one premiered on 31 May 2010, and series two began airing on 12 ...

'' for ABC/ ZDF. She wrote and directed the documentary ''My Biggest Fan'', about her correspondence and friendship with an American great-grandmother, Mildred Levine, who wrote to her after seeing '' Strictly Ballroom''. The film premiered at the

Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

, and was broadcast on the SBS network in Australia in 2008. Morice has a daughter, Ondine Morice Pearce, who was the stills photographer (at age 11) on ''My Biggest Fan''. She re-recorded '' Time After Time'' for Baz Luhrmann's album ''

Something for Everybody ''Something for Everybody'' is the sixth studio album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released on RCA Victor in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 2370, in June 17, 1961. Recording sessions took place on November 8, 1960, at Radio Re ...

'' and sang on the ''Strictly Ballroom'', ''Razzle Dazzle : A Journey Into Dance'' and ''My Biggest Fan'' soundtracks.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morice, Tara 1964 births Living people Actresses from Hobart Australian film actresses Australian television actresses Australian National University alumni National Institute of Dramatic Art alumni Australian children's television presenters Australian women television presenters