Jad Capelja (1964 – 10 January 2010) was an Australian actress best known for her role in the 1981 teen film ''
Puberty Blues
''Puberty Blues'' is a 1981 Australian coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Bruce Beresford, based on the 1979 novel of the same name (essentially a protofeminist teen novel) by Kathy Lette and Gabrielle Carey.
Plot
The story focuses ...
'', based on the
novel of the same name.
In ''Puberty Blues'' Capelja played Sue, best friend to the lead character Debbie played by Nell Schofield. The film was very successful in Australia, Schofield and Capelja became instant stars and were sent on a huge publicity tour around the country.
[Life After Puberty. ]Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
: 24 September 2012
Accessed: 26 January 2019.
Capelja was later the female lead in
Scott Hicks (director), Scott Hicks' 1982
road film
A road movie is a film genre in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the theme of alienati ...
''
Freedom'' and acted in two episodes of TV drama series ''
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 ...
'' in 1982. These two performances and ''Puberty Blues'' are her only credited roles.
Capelja, born to
Czechoslovakian
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
parents, tried to continue her performing career by auditioning for other acting roles and for 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 C ...
, all without success. She later struggled with addiction and was diagnosed with
paranoid schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withd ...
.
Capelja committed suicide on 10 January 2010. Her ''Puberty Blues'' co-star Nell Schofield later observed that "it was probably very hard for her to accept that she wasn't going to have a career as an actress, that she wasn't going to be as famous or as big a star as she was when she was 16."
She had a son, Miles Muecke, from her marriage to Richard Muecke.
Capelja's family now lives in Serbia.
[Patterson, Monique. Life beyond Puberty Blues. ]The Courier (Ballarat)
The ''Ballarat Courier'' is a newspaper circulating in the Ballarat region of regional Victoria. It is published daily from Monday to Saturday.
In 2021 the editor is Eugene Duffy. The newspaper is owned by Australian Community Media
Austr ...
: 11 October 2012. Accessed 20 January 2019.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Capelja, Jad
Australian film actresses
Actresses from Sydney
1964 births
2010 deaths
Australian people of Czech descent