Debra Lawrence
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Debra Lawrance (born 1 January 1957) is an Australian actress. She is best known for her role on ''
Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (''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 trip to Kangaroo Point, N ...
'', as Pippa Ross, which she played from 1990 to 1998 and in a number of subsequent return appearances, the most recent being in 2009. Lawrance is also known for her role as Rose in ''
Please Like Me ''Please Like Me'' is an Australian comedy-drama television series created by and starring Josh Thomas. Thomas also serves as a writer for every episode. The series premiered on 28 February 2013 on ABC2 in Australia and is on occasion available ...
'', for which she won an AACTA Award for Best Performance in a Television Comedy and a
Logie Award for Most Outstanding Supporting Actress The Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Supporting Actress is an award presented annually at the Australian TV Week Logie Awards The TV Week Logie Awards (known colloquially as The Logies) is an annual ceremony celebrating and honouring the b ...
.


Early life and education

Debra Lawrance was born in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
, Victoria and was the second youngest of six children. In 1975 Lawrance started studying a Bachelor of Dramatic Art at NIDA, alongside such alumni as
Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Mel Gibson, multiple accolades, he is known for directing historical films as well for his act ...
, Steve Bisley,
Judy Davis Judith Davis (born 23 April 1955) is an Australian actress. In a career spanning over four decades of both List of Judy Davis performances, screen and stage, she has been commended for her versatility and regarded as one of the finest actresses ...
,
Sally McKenzie Sally McKenzie (born 8 February 1955) also credited as Sally MacKenzie, is an Australian actress, director, playwright and screenwriter. She graduated from Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1977. She was awarded a Master of Fin ...
and
Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...
. She graduated in 1977.


Career


Television and film

Lawrance has appeared in a number of roles including ''
The Sullivans ''The Sullivans'' is an Australian period drama television series produced by Crawford Productions which ran on the Nine Network from 15 November 1976 until 10 March 1983. The series tells the story of a fictional average middle-clas ...
'' as Prue Waterman (1976), in ''
Skyways Skyways may refer to: *Skyway A skyway, skybridge, skywalk, or sky walkway is an elevated type of pedway connecting two or more buildings in an urban area, or connecting elevated points within mountainous recreational zones. Urban skyways ver ...
'' as Sheila Turner, ''
A Country Practice ''A Country Practice'' is an Australian television soap opera/serial which was broadcast on the Seven Network from 18 November 1981 until 22 November 1993, and subsequently on Network Ten from 13 April 1994 to 5 November 1994. Altogether, 14 ...
'' as Kerry Burgess (1982), '' Bellamy'' (1981) as Lisa and '' Sons and Daughters'' as Lisa Cook (1983–1984). Lawrance had a more permanent role in ''
Prisoner A prisoner, also known as an inmate or detainee, is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement or captivity in a prison or physical restraint. The term usually applies to one serving a Sentence (law), se ...
'' from 1985 to 1986 as Daphne Graham, after having had minor roles including as a Nurse and Trainee Prisoner Officer Sally Dean much earlier in the series. Lawrance featured in miniseries '' The Last Outlaw'', (1980) a series about
Ned Kelly Edward Kelly (December 185411 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader, bank robber and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing armour of the Kelly gang, a suit of bulletproof ...
, and feature films ''
Next of Kin A person's next of kin (NOK) may be that person's spouse A spouse is a significant other in a marriage. A female spouse is called a wife while a male spouse is called a husband. Married The legal status of a spouse, and the specific righ ...
'' and '' Fluteman'' (both 1982) and '' Silver City'' (1984). Lawrance's big break was a lead role in '' The Fast Lane'', a widely successful
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
comedy. Her success led to her appearance in the film '' Evil Angels'' (released as ''A Cry in the Dark'' outside of Australia and New Zealand) starring
Meryl Streep Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Known for her versatility and adept accent work, she has been described as "the best actress of her generation". She has received numerous accolades throughout her career ...
. Lawrance also appeared in '' Two Brothers Running'' with
Tom Conti Tommaso Antonio Conti (born 22 November 1941) is a Scottish actor. Conti has received numerous accolades including a Tony Award and a Laurence Olivier Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and two Golden Globe Awards ...
. In July 1990 Lawrance was cast in ''
Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (''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 trip to Kangaroo Point, N ...
'', taking over the role of Pippa Fletcher (later Ross) from
Vanessa Downing Vanessa Downing (born 5 May 1958) also known as Vanessa Ryan, is an Australian actress and singer, voice artist and lawyer Downing was appearing with singing group ''The Madrigals'', an acapella group who were performing at the Sydney O ...
. Lawrance left the main cast in 1998, but has made returning guest appearances over the years, the last being in 2009. In 2023 Lawrance gave an extensive interview with ''Talking Prisoner'', where she revealed that she was still close friends with many of the cast. Lawrance subsequently starred in ''
Blue Heelers ''Blue Heelers'' is an Australian police drama series that was produced by Southern Star Group and ran for twelve years on the Seven Network, from 1994 to 2006. Although based around the policing of the town, the series generally depicted th ...
'', in the recurring role of Reverend Grace Curtis, Tom Croydon's ill-fated wife from 2001 to 2004. From 2013 to 2016, Lawrance played Rose, the mother of the protagonist Josh Thomas, in the comedy drama ''
Please Like Me ''Please Like Me'' is an Australian comedy-drama television series created by and starring Josh Thomas. Thomas also serves as a writer for every episode. The series premiered on 28 February 2013 on ABC2 in Australia and is on occasion available ...
'', appearing in all four seasons of the show, during which her character dealt with divorce and mental illness. Her performance was met with critical acclaim. She won an AACTA Award for Best Performance in a Television Comedy at the
4th AACTA Awards The 4th Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards (generally known as AACTA Awards) are a series of awards which includes the 4th AACTA Awards Luncheon, the 4th AACTA Awards ceremony and the 4th AACTA International Awards. The forme ...
in 2015 for her part in a
two-hander A two-hander is a term for a play, film, or television programme with only two main characters. The two characters in question often display differences in social standing or experiences, differences that are explored and possibly overcome as t ...
episode (with
Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...
) in the show's second season. In 2018, Lawrance read Charlotte Voake's ''
Ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...
'' in '' Play School Story Time'' on ABC Kids. She briefly joined the cast of ''
Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...
'' in 2018 as
Liz Conway ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Reg Watson and first broadcast on 18 March 1985. The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the soap in 2001, by order of first appearance. All characters ...
, the sister of
Susan Kennedy Susan Kennedy (also Smith and Kinski) is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Jackie Woodburne. The character and her family were created by storyliners in an attempt to bring the show back to its roots ...
. In early 2023, it was revealed Lawrance had joined the cast of a new crime drama on the
Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...
called ''
Human Error Human error is an action that has been done but that was "not intended by the actor; not desired by a set of rules or an external observer; or that led the task or system outside its acceptable limits".Senders, J.W. and Moray, N.P. (1991) Human Er ...
.'' In June 2024, Lawrance was named as part of the cast for the second season of the Stan series ''Scrublands''. The same year, she starred in the feature film '' Ricky Stanicky''.


Reality TV

In 2017, Lawrance appeared as a celebrity contestant on ''
Hell's Kitchen Australia ''Hell's Kitchen Australia'' is an Australian cooking reality competition television series which premiered on the Seven Network on 6 August 2017. The series was hosted by British chef Marco Pierre White, who previously hosted two seasons of the ...
''. Lawrance won the series, winning $50,000 for her nominated charity Ovarian Cancer Australia. From 2 April 2023, Lawrance appeared as a contestant in the ninth season of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''. As on ''
Hell's Kitchen Australia ''Hell's Kitchen Australia'' is an Australian cooking reality competition television series which premiered on the Seven Network on 6 August 2017. The series was hosted by British chef Marco Pierre White, who previously hosted two seasons of the ...
'', Lawrance's nominated charity was Ovarian Cancer Australia. Lawrance was eliminated fifth, on 23 April 2023.


Theatre

Lawrance's theatre credits include the London tour of Jack Davis' '' No Sugar'', the role of Vi in the
Melbourne Theatre Company The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre com ...
production of '' The Memory of Water'', the 2009 tour of ''
Steel Magnolias ''Steel Magnolias'' is a 1989 American comedy drama film directed by Herbert Ross and starring Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis, and Julia Roberts. The screenplay by Robert Harling is based on hi ...
'' in the role of M'lyn, and the title role in the 2010 tour of ''
Driving Miss Daisy '' Driving Miss Daisy'' is a 1989 American comedy drama film directed by Bruce Beresford and written by Alfred Uhry, based on Uhry's 1987 play. The film stars Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman, and Dan Aykroyd. Freeman reprised his role from th ...
''. From 2019 to 2024, she played
Minerva McGonagall Professor Minerva McGonagall is a fictional character in the ''Harry Potter'' series of novels by J. K. Rowling. McGonagall is a professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where she is also the head of Gryffindor House and the d ...
in the stage production of ''
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ''Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'' is a play written by Jack Thorne from an original story by Thorne, J. K. Rowling, and John Tiffany. The plot occurs nineteen years after the events of Rowling's novel ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hall ...
'' both Melbourne and in the UK.


Teaching

In 2005, Lawrance began teaching communication skills for NIDA’s Corporate Performance Program. Since 2007, she has been working with her own business teaching vocal communication skills. Her clients include
Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...
,
Melbourne Business School Melbourne Business School (MBS) is the graduate business school of the University of Melbourne, located in Victoria, Australia. The School offers a range of programs, including an MBA, specialist Masters programs, a doctoral program, and various ...
, NSW RTA and various corporate businesses.


Awards and nominations


Personal life

Lawrance met her husband Dennis Coard when he was cast as Pippa's second husband on ''Home and Away'' as
Michael Ross Michael or Mike Ross may refer to: Politics * Mike Ross (politician) (born 1961), former United States Representative from Arkansas's 4th congressional district * Michael Ross (Washington politician) (1941–2007), member of the Washington House ...
. They married in 1992 and have two children, daughter Grace (born 1992) and son William (born 1999). Lawrance experienced four miscarriages before their son William was born.


Filmography


Film


Television


Theatre


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrance, Debra 1957 births Actresses from Melbourne Australian film actresses Australian soap opera actresses Australian stage actresses Living people Logie Award winners National Institute of Dramatic Art alumni 20th-century Australian actresses 21st-century Australian actresses