Judy Nunn

Judith Anne Nunn (AM) (born 13 April 1945), (also published under the pen name of Judy Bernard-Waite), is an Australian former actress, and author of both adult and children's fiction titles. She has collaborated with writers Patricia Bernard and Fiona Waite.

Judy Nunn AM
Nunn in 2010
Born	Judith Anne Nunn (1945-04-13) 13 April 1945 Perth, Western Australia
Other names	Judy Bernard-Waite (pen name)
Occupations	Author former actress radio and television screenwriter
Years active	Author 1981- present, Actress 1964-2003
Notable work	The Box - as Vicki Stafford (1974–1977) Sons and Daughters - Dr. Irene Fisher (1984-1987) Prisoner - Joyce Martin (1979) - Home and Away - as Ailsa Hogan/Ailsa Stewart (1988–2000, 2003)
Spouse	Bruce Venables (m. 1988)
Website	https://judynunn.com.au

Nunn is a former theatre and television actress and radio and television screenwriter for nearly 50 years, best known for her 15 year tenure in TV soap opera Home and Away as original character Ailsa Hogan.

Nunn was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2015 Australia Day Honours for her service to the performing arts as a scriptwriter and actor of stage and screen, and to literature as an author.

Acting career

Nunn worked for many years as a leading stage actress, starting in 1964

Her breakout television role was as in the risque soap opera The Box, as scheming bisexual reporter Vicki Stafford. Her character became a popular cult figure in the series and she continued Nunn in the role for the show's entire 1974–77 three year run and reprised in the feature film version in 1975.

In 1979 she briefly played Joyce Martin in the Australian TV series Prisoner and after that as Dr. Irene Fisher in television serial Sons and Daughters from 1984 until 1986.

Best known for her role as original character Ailsa Stewart in the soap opera Home and Away, from 1988 until the character was killed off in 2000 after deciding to leave the series to devote more time with novels, is probably Nunn's most famous role. In 2002 she returned in a guest role playing the same character - it transpired this was an hallucination of her former on-screen husband, Alf Stewart, caused by a brain tumour.

Personal life

Nunn attended Presbyterian Ladies' College, Perth. She married her husband, actor and writer and former Tasmanian & Royal Hong Kong police officer Bruce Venables, the same week in which she filmed her character Ailsa's marriage to Alf (Ray Meagher) in Home and Away in 1988. Formerly long-time residents of Bondi, New South Wales, Nunn and her husband now reside on the Central Coast, New South Wales.

Screenwriting

Nunn is a screenwriter of radio and television and author. She has written scripts for programmes Neighbours and Possession.

Literary career

In the 1980s she decided to turn her hand to prose. The result was two adventure novels for children, Eye in the Storm and Eye in the City, which remain popular in Australia and Europe.

Embarking on adult fiction in the early 1990s, Judy's three novels, The Glitter Game, Centre Stage and Araluen, set respectively in the worlds of television, theatre and film, became bestsellers. A specialist in Australian period fiction, other books she has written include Kal, Beneath the Southern Cross, Territory, Pacific, Heritage, Floodtide, Maralinga, Tiger Men in 2011, Elianne in 2013 and Spirits of the Ghan in 2015.

Filmography

Film

Acting
Year	Title	Role	Type
1975	The Box	Vicki Stafford	Feature film
1978	Bit Part	Jo	TV movie
1978	The Newman Shame	Veronica	TV movie
1983	Hostage: The Christine Meresch Story	Mrs. Lewis	Feature film
1983	David Copperfield	Voice	Animated TV film
1983	Sherlock Holmes and the Valley of Fear	Voice	Animated film
1983	Sherlock Holmes and a Study in Scarlet	Voice	Animated film
1983	Outbreak of Hostilities	Edna Starling	TV movie
1984	Crime of the Decade	Rolly's Mother	TV movie
1985	The Pickwick Papers	Voice	Animated TV film

Television

Acting
Year	Title	Role	Type
	Z-Cars		TV series, 1 episode
1971	The Onedin Line	Woman	TV series, Season 1, Episode 12: "Cry of the Blackbird"
1972	The Befrienders	Mother	TV series, Season 1, Episode 7: "Lots of Friends in the Big City"
1974	Matlock Police	Stella Davis	TV series, Episode: "The Prowler"
1974–1977	The Box	Vicki Stafford	Seasons 1–6, 206 episodes
1979	Prisoner	Joyce Martin	TV series, Season 1, 9 episodes
1980	Skyways	Bessie Langhurst	TV series, 2 episode: "The Return of Bessie Langhurst"
1981	Holiday Island	Ruby Palmer	TV series, 1 episode 42: "The Great Frederico"
1982	A Country Practice	Nancy Brewer	TV series, Season 2, Episodes 23 & 24:"Shootin' Through" (2 episodes)
1984–86	Sons and Daughters	Irene Fisher	Seasons 3–5, 150 episodes
1988–2000, 2002–03	Home and Away	Ailsa Stewart (née Hogan)	Seasons 1–13 (main), Seasons 15–16 (recurring) (1313 episodes)
Self appearances
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	The Mike Walsh Show	Guest - Herself with Lois Ramsay	TV series, 1 episode
1978	The Mike Walsh Show	Guest - Herself	TV series, 1 episode
1995	Good Morning Australia	Guest	TV series, 1 episode
1996	Midday with Kerri-Anne	Guest	TV series, 1 episode
1996	Monday to Friday	Guest	TV series, 1 episode
1996	Burke's Backyard	Guest	TV series, 1 episode
1996	Good Morning Australia	Guest	TV series, 1 episode
1997	Surprise Surprise	Guest	Light entertainment show, 1 episode
1998	E! News	Herself	TV series, 1 episode
1999	Denise	Guest	TV series, 1 episode
2000	The Morning Show	Guest	TV series, 1 episode
2001–02	Beauty and the Beast	Panellist	Panel show
2001	Ground Zero	Herself	TV series, 1 episode
2002	This Is Your Life - Judy Nunn	Herself	TV series, 1 episode
2002	The Best of Aussie Drama	Herself	Documentary
2006	It Takes Two	Contestant	Music competition show, 3 episodes
2006	Where Are They Now?	Herself	TV series, 1 episode
2011	The Morning Show	Herself	TV series, 1 episode
2012	First Tuesday Book Club	Panellist	Panel Show, 1 episode
2014–15	The Daily Edition	Guest	TV series, 1 episode
2015, 2016, 2022	Studio 10	Guest	TV series, 3 episodes
2015–21	A Current Affair	Guest	TV series
2015	The Daily Edition	Guest	TV series, 1 episode
2016	The Daily Edition	Guest	TV series, 1 episode
2018	Endless Summer: 30 Years of Home and Away	Herself	Video Documentary
2018	News Breakfast	Guest	TV series, 1 episode
2018	Weekend Sunrise	Guest	TV series, 1 episode
2020	7.30	Guest	TV series, 1 episode
2021,2023	A Current Affair	Guest	TV series, 1 episode
2021	Today Extra	Guest	TV series, 1 episode
2022	This Is Your Life: Ray Meagher	Herself	TV series, 1 episode
2023	Lest We Forget	Herself	TV special
2023	A Current Affair	Herself	TV series, 1 episode
Additional credits
Year	Title	As	Notes
1985	Possession	Writer
1985	Neighbours	Writer	Season 1 (3 episodes)

Bibliography

Children’s fiction

• The Riddle of the Trumpalar (1981, as Judy Bernard-Waite) with Patricia Bernard and Fiona Waite
• Challenge of the Trumpalar (1986, as Judy Bernard-Waite) with Patricia Bernard and Fiona Waite
• Eye in the Storm (1988)
• Eye in the City (1991)

Adult

Title	Year	ISBN
The Glitter Game	1991
Center Stage	1994
Araluen	1994
Kal	1996
Beneath the Southern Cross	1999
Territory	2002
Pacific	2004
Heritage	2005
Floodtide	2008
Maralinga	2009
Tiger Men	2011
Elianne	2013
Spirits of the Ghan	2015
Sanctuary	2017
Khaki Town	2019	ISBN 9780143795186
Showtime!	2022	ISBN 9781761042546
A Poem for Sally	2022	ISBN 9780143777076
Black Sheep	2023	ISBN 9781761340123
The Long Weekend (short story collection)	2023	ISBN 9781761344619

Sources

• Nunn, Judy (27 November 2004). "Prime time for peeping Toms". The Weekend Australian. p. 21.

External links

• Official website
• Judy Nunn at Penguin Random House Australia
• Judy Nunn at IMDb
• Judy Nunn at Scholastic Australia