Linda Hartley

Linda Hartley-Clark (born 28 December 1967) is an Australian actress, known for her role as Kerry Bishop on the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'' from 1989 to 1990. She had early lead roles in '' Cornflakes for Tea'', ''The Bush Gang'', and ''Home'', before appearing in ''The Flying Doctors'' miniseries as Diana Daniels, and ''Prisoner'' as Roach Waters in 1986.

Career

Hartley attended Macleod High School in Melbourne. Hartley began singing and dancing from a young age, before her agent persuaded her to give acting a chance. She was a back-up dancer and singer on the short-lived '' Tonight with Bert Newton'' show. She also had a dancing lead role in a production of ''42nd Street'', which was later postponed. She turned down the narrator role in ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' to accept a role in ''The Young Doctors''.

Hartley secured her first lead acting role when she was 13 years old in the children's miniseries '' Cornflakes for Tea''. A year later, she played the lead in ABC-TV miniseries ''The Bush Gang''. She then appeared in another lead role in the 1983 series ''Home''. Hartley plays Pauline, one of the residents of the "modern" orphanage, and had to learn to weld for the role. This was followed by a starring role in the South Australian Film Corporation film ''The Fire in the Stone''. Hartley played Diana Daniels in ''The Flying Doctors'' miniseries, alongside her future ''Neighbours'' co-star Stefan Dennis.

She played Gloria Slater in the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'', before she was cast as Rachel "Roach" Waters in ''Prisoner'' in 1986. That same year, Hartley appeared in ''While You're Down There'', a sketch and stand-up comedy show. Hartley returned to ''Neighbours'' in 1989 as series regular Kerry Bishop. After contract negotiations with the production company broke down, Hartley left the serial in 1990. She played Angie in the small-budget Melbourne film ''Closer and Closer Apart'', which was made in 1989 and released in 1992.

After leaving ''Neighbours'', Hartley went to the UK and appeared on gameshow ''Go Getters'', children's series ''WYSIWYG'', crime drama ''Anna Lee'' and the film ''Still Life''. She also appeared in both UK and Australian theatre productions. In 2005, Hartley-Clark had a guest stint in ''Neighbours'' playing Kerry's lookalike Gabrielle Walker. She also provided voiceovers for Kerry's diary entries which are read by her daughter Sky Mangel (Stephanie McIntosh) in 2004 and 2006.

In 2023, Hartley-Clark appeared on the ''Talking Prisoner'' podcast.

Personal life

Hartley-Clark lives in Melbourne. She married musician John Clark, a former drummer with Craig McLachlan's band, Check 1–2, in 1989. They have two children. She also works as a relationship counsellor, having qualified with a PhD from Deakin University.

Filmography

References

External links

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1967 births
Living people
Australian film actresses
Australian soap opera actresses
20th-century Australian actresses
21st-century Australian actresses
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