Beth Christine Buchanan (born 10 March 1972) is an Australian actress and Social Worker. She is best known for the television roles in sitcom '' Hey Dad!'', Gemma Ramsay in '' Neighbours'', and Susan Croydon in ''

Blue Heelers ''Blue Heelers'' is an Australian police drama series that was produced by Southern Star Group and ran for 12 years on the Seven Network, from 1994 to 2006. Although based around the policing of the town, the series generally depicted the e ...

''. She was also a long-standing member of the Ranters Theatre company.Usher, Robin (17 July 2008
"Swimming in success"
''

SMH.com.au ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

'' (Retrieved: 1 March 2010)

Early life

Buchanan was born in Sydney, the daughter of musician Tony Buchanan (formerly of

Crossfire A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I. ...

) and teacher Jo Buchanan. She is the youngest of three children; her brother

Miles The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...

and sister

Simone Simone may refer to: * Simone (given name), a feminine (or Italian masculine) given name of Hebrew origin * Simone (surname), an Italian surname Simone may also refer to: * ''Simone'' (1918 film), a French silent drama film * ''Simone'' (1926 fi ...

are also actors.

Career

Buchanan's television work includes appearances in '' Secret Valley'', ''Runaway Island'', ''Island Trader'', '' Pirates Island'', ''

A Country Practice ''A Country Practice'' is an Australian television soap opera which broadcast on the Seven Network from 18 November 1981 until 5 November 1993, airing at 7:30 pm on Monday and Tuesday evenings. Altogether, 14 seasons and 1,058 episodes were p ...

'', ''

Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (often abbreviated as ''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a tr ...

'', '' Stingers'', ''Hey Dad'' (where her older sister Simone starred as Debbie Kelly) and '' The Brittas Empire''. Her longest running part, between 1994 and 2006, was the recurring role of Susan Croydon, the daughter of

Tom Croydon Thomas Arthur "Tom" Croydon is a fictional character in the long-running Australian police drama ''Blue Heelers'', portrayed by John Wood. A long-serving member of the police force, Tom has decades of experience of being a police officer in a sma ...

, in the popular series ''

''. Major storylines included becoming a school teacher; attempting to take the blame when drugs were planted in her and Tom's home; and losing her baby as a result of a hit-and-run targeted at her father. Buchanan played Rita Heywood in both series of

ABC1 ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship ABC Television network. The headquarters of the ABC TV channel a ...

's journalism-orientated comedy '' Lowdown''. Film roles have included ''

Newsfront ''Newsfront'' is a 1978 Australian drama film starring Bill Hunter, Wendy Hughes, Chris Haywood and Bryan Brown, directed by Phillip Noyce. The screenplay is written by David Elfick, Bob Ellis, Philippe Mora, and Phillip Noyce. The original m ...

'', ''Flute Man'', ''A Good Thing Going'', ''

Fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

'' (1986) – based on the

Faraday School kidnapping The Faraday School kidnapping occurred on 6 October 1972 at a one-teacher school in the rural town of Faraday in Victoria, Australia, where two plasterers, Edwin John Eastwood and Robert Clyde Boland, kidnapped six female pupils and their tea ...

– '' The Rogue Stallion'', and ''

The King In the British English-speaking world, The King refers to: * Charles III (born 1948), King of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms since 2022 As a nickname * Michael Jackson (1958–2009), American singer and pop icon, nicknamed "T ...

''. Buchanan also played the title character in Peter Long's short "A Telephone Call for Genevieve Snow" (2000). Adapted from the story by Carmel Bird, it won the Silver Lion Award at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

in 2000.

Personal life

Buchanan has three sons (Cinto, born 2004; Cesare, born 2007; and Tancredi, born 2010) with her ex partner, playwright Raimondo Cortese. She is an accredited Social Worker with a Master of Social Work (RMIT), has an Arts Diploma in Professional Writing and Editing (RMIT) and an Honours Degree in Performance Writing (Victoria University).Usher, Robin (9 May 2005
"Writing of lives less ordinary"
'' TheAge.com.au'' (Retrieved: 1 March 2010)

References and notes

External links

*
Ranters Theatre (official website)
''RantersTheatre.com'' Australian soap opera actresses Living people 1972 births Actresses from Sydney {{Australia-tv-actor-stub