Mary-Anne Fahey
Mary-Anne Fahey | |
|---|---|
| Born | Mary-Anne Waterman 19 August 1955 |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Spouse(s) | Ian McFadyen Morris Gleitzman (1994 – 2011) Paul Jennings |
Mary-Anne Fahey (born 19 August 1955 as Mary-Anne Waterman) credited also as Maryanne Fahey, is an Australian actress, comedian, screenwriter and children's author.
Career
Fahey has starred in and written for numerous TV and film comedy programs including The Comedy Company, Kittson Fahey, the first Australian female-only sketch comedy program, Get a Life and One Size Fits All. She had roles in Future Schlock, The Dunera Boys, All the Rivers Run II, Celia, Lucky Break and SeaChange. She has received roles in theatre including Mary Lives!.
Fahey is most famous for her work on Channel Ten's The Comedy Company especially for her school girl character, Kylie Mole, and three-year-old "Jophesine", the Play School Sketches with Glenn Robbins and the "Bedscene" sketches with her then real-life husband Ian McFadyen.
In the 1980s she appeared in an advertisement for David Reid electronics, which was promoting the Commodore Amiga 500.
Kylie Mole
Fahey's Kylie Mole character—a scowling schoolgirl—was so popular she published the best-selling novel My Diary by Kylie Mole. She released a Double A-Side single with tracks "So Excellent"/"I Go, I Go", which hit #8 on the Australian ARIA chart in November 1988.[1] A music video for "So Excellent" was filmed. The Kylie Mole character was one of several iconic characters that appeared in the show. Her characterisation especially resonated with Australian youth. The Australian adoption of the word "bogan" was first popularised in the media by Kylie Mole, and other phrases she used gained a wider currency.
Later career
Fahey lives in Melbourne and is concentrating on writing and children's theatre. In May 2007,[2] she published her first children's novel, I, Nigel Dorking: An Autobiography about a Boy with an Unusual Vocabulary, a Suit of Armour and an Unshakeable Dream, Written by That Very Boy (Nigel Dorking), Grade Six (ISBN 0-143-30247-7 and ISBN 978-0-14-330247-6).[3][4]
Awards
Fahey won a 1989 Logie Award for "Most Popular Light Entertainment/Comedy Personality" for her work on The Comedy Company. She has won an AWGIE Award[5] and an Irish-dancing trophy where she came second in a competition of two.[5]
Personal life
Fahey has two sons. Thomas Fahey, from her first marriage, and James McFadyen, born 12 July 1990. Fahey and Ian McFadyen split up in 1992. From 1994 until 2011 her partner was children's writer Morris Gleitzman.[6] He too has a background in comedy writing as a former writer for The Norman Gunston Show, and a satirical columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
From 2014, Fahey has been in a relationship with Paul Jennings, another children's book writer who had previously collaborated with Morris Gleitzman on two books series, Wicked and Deadly.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Future Schlock | Sarah | Feature film |
| 1989 | Celia | Pat Carmichael | Feature film |
| 1994 | Lucky Break (aka Paperback Romance) | Myra | Feature film |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Cop Shop | Robyn Cain | 2 episodes |
| 1983 | Prisoner | Kelly Fraser | 2 episodes |
| All The Rivers Run | Hilda | Miniseries, 3 episodes | |
| 1984 | The Keepers | 1 episode | |
| Special Squad | 1 episode | ||
| 1985 | The Eleventh Hour | Various characters | TV series |
| The Dunera Boys | Naomi Mendellsohn | Miniseries, 2 episodes | |
| 1986 | The Great Bookie Robbery | Cheryl | Miniseries, 2 episodes |
| Rubbery Figures | Various characters (voice) | TV series | |
| 1987 | Willing and Abel | 1 episode | |
| 1988 | The Flying Doctors | Lisa Morgan | 1 episode |
| The Gerry Connolly Show | Various characters | 5 episodes | |
| 1988–1990 | The Comedy Company | Kylie Mole | Regular role |
| 1991 | All Together Now | Rivka Carpenter | 1 episode |
| 1992–1993 | Kittson Fahey | Various characters | |
| 1993–1996 | Crocadoo | Gina (voice) | Animated series, season 1 |
| 1994 | Blue Heelers | Sandra Lynch | 1 episode |
| 1997 | Get a Life | Jackie Carter (voice) | Animated series |
| 1998 | Crocadoo II | Kelly (voice) | Animated series, 1 episode |
| 1999 | Chuck Finn | Dr. McCorquondale (voice) | Animated series, 1 episode |
| 2000 | SeaChange | Kerry Philby | 1 episode |
| One Size Fits All | Herself / Various characters | 13 episodes |
Stage
| Year | Title | Role | Venue / Company |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Alcestis | University of Melbourne[7] | |
| 1981 | Carnival Knowledge | Melbourne Comedy Cafe | |
| 1986 | Faking It | Presenter | Living Arts Centre, Adelaide for Adelaide Fringe Festival |
| 1986 | Faking It 2 | Presenter | The Last Laugh, Melbourne |
| 1987 | No Trouble | Universal Theatre, Melbourne | |
| 1992 | Mary Lives! | Mary | Malthouse Theatre, Geelong Arts Centre, Monash University with Playbox Theatre Company |
| 1992 | A Night of Infectious Laughter | Melbourne Athenaeum | |
| 1993 | Humorists Read the Humorists | Canberra Theatre with Comedy Summit | |
| 1993 | The Grand Finale Galah | Canberra Theatre with Comedy Summit |
As writer
| Year | Title | Role | Venue / Company |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Duck | Writer | Le Joke, Melbourne with Handspan Theatre |
References
- ^ "ARIA Awards Best Comedy Release". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 17 April 2022.
- ^ Penguin Books (Australia) author bio for Mary-Anne Fahey
- ^ I, Nigel Dorking, book description & details Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Book Review of I, Nigel Dorking: "My Life as a Loser", by Sue Bursztynski, June 2007. Accessed 11 August 2007.
- ^ a b Melbourne Writers' Festival 24Aug-2Sep 2007: Mary-Anne Fahey Information page Archived 1 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Fahey, Mary-Anne (7 May 2007). "Ask an author: Mary-Anne Fahey". The Age. Archived from the original on 31 August 2007. Retrieved 11 August 2007.
- ^ "Alcestis (1980) | Melbourne University Student Theatre Archive".
- ^ "AusStage".
External links
- Mary-Anne Fahey at IMDb
- Kylie Mole – So Excellent on YouTube Number 8 on the ARIA chart, 1988.
- Interview of Mary-Anne Fahey and Mark Mitchell, by George Negus. broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation at 6.30 pm on 26 September 2002.
- Book Review of I, Nigel Dorking by Sue Bursztynski (januarymagazine.com)
- Humorous author's bio for Mary-Anne Fahey Archived 23 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine (Penguin Books (Australia) website)
- Ask an Author: Mary-Anne Fahey (Fahey responds to questions from readers about her new book. The Age newspaper online, 7 May 2007. Accessed 11 August 2007. Includes current picture of Fahey.