Jane Turner (born 1 December 1960) is an Australian actress, comedian and

Logie Award The TV Week Logie Awards (known colloquially as The Logies) is an annual ceremony celebrating and honouring the best shows and stars in Television in Australia, Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The eve ...

-winning comedy series creator and screenwriter. She is widely known for her role as Kath in the TV sitcom '' Kath and Kim''.

Career

Jane Turner, although best known as a comedy performer, made her acting debut in the internationally renowned TV cult drama series ''

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 ...

'' in a 15-episode guest role. She is notable for numerous comedy roles including the

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...

programs ''

The D-Generation ''The D-Generation'' was a popular and influential Australian TV sketch comedy show produced and broadcast by ABC for two series between 1986 and 1987. A further four specials were broadcast on the Seven Network between 1988 and 1989. The sho ...

'', ''

Fast Forward To fast-forward is to move forwards through a recording at a speed faster than that at which it would usually be played, for example two times or two point five times. The recordings are usually audio, video or computer data. It is colloquiall ...

'', '' Full Frontal'', ''

Big Girl's Blouse ''Big Girl's Blouse'' was an Australian sketch comedy programme that was broadcast in the mid-1990s on the Seven Network, created by Gina Riley, Jane Turner and Magda Szubanski. Early versions of the trio's '' Kath & Kim'' characters, Kath, ...

'' and '' Something Stupid''. On ''Fast Forward'' Turner (Svetta) recorded a song with cast member

Peter Moon (comedian) Peter Moon (born 18 January 1953) is an Australian comedian, best known for writing and performing in the sketch comedy ''Fast Forward (Australian TV series), Fast Forward''. Biography Moon was born in Yarram, Victoria, Yarram, Victoria (Aust ...

(Victor), called "Don't Do Your Soviet Bloc". In the 2000s Turner has received accolades for her performance in ''

Kath & Kim ''Kath & Kim'' (also written as ''Kath and Kim'') is an Australian sitcom originally airing in the prime-time slot on ABC Television from 2002 to 2005 and subsequently on the Seven Network in 2007 and 2022. The show was produced by Riley and T ...

'', an

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

(later

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

) comedy series which she created, wrote, produced, and starred in, with her longtime friend and collaborator,

Gina Riley Gina Riley (born 6 May 1961) is a retired Australian actress, writer, singer and comedian, known for portraying Kim Craig in the television series '' Kath & Kim'', and for her work in musical theatre. Career Television and film Riley became a ...

. ''Kath & Kim'' became the most successful ABC syndicated show in Australian television history. Turner plays Kath Day Knight, one of the leading roles in the show and an occasional recurring character, Prue, a shop keeper at the Fountain Gate Shopping Centre. Turner reprised the role in the 2005 telemovie ''

Da Kath & Kim Code ''Da Kath & Kim Code'' is a 2005 Australian comedy telemovie of the television series '' Kath & Kim''. After three seasons of ''Kath & Kim'' (2002–2004), Gina Riley and Jane Turner initially planned to take 2005 off from television. But in ...

'' and the 2012 feature film ''

Kath & Kimderella ''Kath & Kimderella'' is a 2012 Australian film. It is a spin-off of the television series ''Kath & Kim'', created by Gina Riley and Jane Turner. It was written by and stars Riley, Turner and Magda Szubanski. The film was released theatrically ...

''. Turner made her West End theatrical debut in the Australian hit play

Holding the Man Holding may refer to: Film and television * ''The Holding'' (film), 2011 British film * "Holding", an episode of the American animated television series ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * ''Holding'' (TV series), a 2022 TV series based on the book by ...

at London's

Trafalgar Studios Trafalgar Theatre is a West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London. The Grade II listed building was built in 1930 with interiors in the Art Deco style as the Whitehall Theatre; it regularly staged ...

in April 2010. In 2022, Turner and the cast of ''Kath and Kim'' produced a special that released on channel 7. The special included interviews, new skits and behind the scenes insights to the famous TV show.

Personal life

Turner attended

Sacré Cœur School Sacré Cœur is a Roman Catholic, Independent school, independent, day school for girls, located in Glen Iris, Victoria, Glen Iris, a south eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria, Australia. Establishe ...

Glen Iris, Victoria Glen Iris is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, South-East Melbourne, south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cities of City of Boroondara, Boro ...

, and later studied law at

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 ...

. Turner graduated from Monash with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in 1988. She is married to lawyer John Denton and they have three children including model Anna Denton and actor

Nicholas Denton Nicholas Denton is a writer and Australian stage and screen actor. Career In 2017, Denton appeared with Lucy Moir in the John Kolvenbach play ''Love Song'' at the Melbourne Fringe Festival. He also appeared as Billy Bibbit in a version of ...

Filmography

References

External links

Kath & Kim BBC site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Jane Year of birth missing (living people) Australian film actresses Australian soap opera actresses Australian television producers Australian women television producers Living people Australian women comedians Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia 20th-century Australian actresses 21st-century Australian actresses People educated at Sacré Cœur School People from Newcastle, New South Wales Monash University alumni