Valerie Kathleen Lehman (née Willis; born 15 March 1943) is an
Australian actress and director, best known locally and internationally for her role as the antagonist "Top Dog" and self-styled
Queen Bea Smith in the Australian TV 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 ...
'' (known internationally as ''Prisoner: Cell Block H'') for the first five series from 1979 until 1983 for 356 episodes.
Honours and awards
In 2021 she was awarded the Order of Australia (AM) "for significant service to the performing arts and wildlife conservation".
She received three
Logie Awards
The TV Week Logie Awards (known colloquially as The Logies) is an annual ceremony celebrating and honouring the best shows and stars in Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The event is telecast live and ...
for her performance; Best Lead Actress in a Series, Most Popular Actress in 1982 and Best Lead Actress in a Series in 1983. Lehman decided to leave the series towards the end of season five after becoming tired with playing the character. She recorded her final scenes on 13 May 1983 and made her final appearance in episode 400.
Career
Lehman has appeared in many other Australian television productions, mostly in guest roles. Prior to ''Prisoner'' she acted in the television series ''
Bellbird'' and ''
Tandarra''. After ''Prisoner'' she appeared in ''
The Flying Doctors'', ''Army Wives'', ''
Something in the Air'', ''
Blue Heelers'', ''
All Saints'' and ''
City Homicide''.
In 2016, Lehman was a contestant on the Australian version of ''
I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''. On 6 March 2016 she was evicted from the jungle.
Lehman had a guest role on ''
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 December 2017 as
Joanne Schwartz, which reunited her with her former ''Prisoner'' co-star
Colette Mann.
In 2018, Lehman joined former Prisoner co-stars
Fiona Spence and
Colette Mann for a cameo appearance in the series seven finale of
Wentworth (TV series), but the cameo scene was scrapped when the series was renewed for a further 20 episodes.
Filmography
Television
Film
Other appearances
Awards and honours
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lehman, Val
1943 births
Living people
Actresses from Perth, Western Australia
Australian film actresses
Australian soap opera actresses
Australian television actresses
Logie Award winners
People from Ballarat
People from Redland City
Actresses from Ipswich
20th-century Australian actresses
21st-century Australian actresses
Members of the Order of Australia