Beth Buchanan

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Beth Buchanan
Born
Beth Christine Buchanan

(1972-03-10) 10 March 1972 (age 52)
Occupation(s)Actress, Social Worker
Years active1980–present
Children3

Beth Christine Buchanan (born 10 March 1972), is an Australian actress and social worker. She is best known for the television roles in sitcom Hey Dad!, Gemma Ramsay in Neighbours, and Susan Croydon in Blue Heelers. She was also a long-standing member of the Ranters Theatre Company.[1]

Early life[edit]

Buchanan was born in Sydney, the daughter of musician Tony Buchanan (formerly of Crossfire) and teacher Jo Buchanan. She is the youngest of three children; her brother Miles and sister Simone are also actors.

Career[edit]

Buchanan's television work includes appearances in Secret Valley, Runaway Island, Island Trader, Pirates Island, A Country Practice, Home and Away, Stingers, Hey Dad (where her older sister Simone starred as Debbie Kelly), and The Brittas Empire. Her longest running part, between 1994 and 2006, was the recurring role of Susan Croydon (the daughter of Tom Croydon), in the popular series Blue Heelers. Major storylines included becoming a school teacher; attempting to take the blame when drugs were planted in her and Tom's home; and losing her baby as a result of a hit-and-run targeted at her father. Buchanan played Rita Heywood in both series of ABC1's journalism-orientated comedy Lowdown.

Film roles have included Newsfront, Fluteman, A Good Thing Going, Fortress (1986) – based on the Faraday School kidnappingThe Rogue Stallion, and The King. Buchanan also played the title character in Peter Long's short A Telephone Call for Genevieve Snow (2000). Adapted from the story by Carmel Bird, it won the Silver Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival in 2000.[2]

Filmography[edit]

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1980 Secret Valley Beth TV series, 9 episodes
1982-88 A Country Practice Emma Stevenson / Fern Bowen / Becky Mason / Mrs Kafoops / Janis Burnett / Amanda Petersen TV series, 10 episodes
1984 Five Mile Creek Bessie TV series, 1 episode
1984 Runaway Island Nancy TV miniseries
1987 The Flying Doctors Julie Cleary TV series, 1 episode
1987 The Haunted School Vanessa TV miniseries, 8 episodes
1988 Home and Away Elyce Davis / Elyce Hart TV series, 8 episodes
1989 Hey Dad..! Elaine TV series, 3 episodes
1990-91 Neighbours Gemma Ramsay TV series
1994 The Brittas Empire Stephanie TV series, season 4, episode 3
1994-2004 Blue Heelers Susan Croydon TV series, 15 episodes
1996 Halifax f.p. Denise Crow TV series, 1 episode
1999 Law of the Land Danni Cairns TV series, 1 episode
Stingers TV series
2010-12 Lowdown Rita Heywood TV series, seasons 1 & 2, 16 episodes
2014 This is Littleton Daisy's Mother TV series, 1 episode
2019, 2022 Neighbours Gemma Ramsay TV series

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1978 Newsfront Feature film
1978 A Good Thing Going Little girl in supermarket (uncredited) TV movie
1982 Fluteman Wendy Feature film
1982 Island Trader Joanne TV movie
1983 Zero Zero Child TV movi
1985 Fortress Leanne Feature film
1986 Body Business C TV movie
1986 The Last Frontier Zoe Hannon TV movie
1988 Touch the Sun: Princess Kate Benedicte TV movie
1990 The Rogue Stallion Anna Peterson TV movie
1990 Pirates Island Sarah TV movie
1992 Mission Top Secret Danielle TV movie
1992 The Phantom Horseman Charlotte Feature film
2000 A Telephone Call for Genevieve Snow Genevieve Snow Short film
2002 The Hard Word Nurse Feature film
2003 The Situation Room Short film
2007 The King Val Wesley TV movie
2006 The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark Ophelia Film
2018 The Couple Enjoy a Bath Short film

Personal life[edit]

Buchanan has three sons (Cinto, born 2004; Cesare, born 2007; and Tancredi, born 2010) with her ex partner, playwright Raimondo Cortese. She is an accredited Social Worker with a Master of Social Work (RMIT), has an Arts Diploma in Professional Writing and Editing (RMIT) and an Honours Degree in Performance Writing (Victoria University).[1][3][4]

References and notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b Usher, Robin (17 July 2008) "Swimming in success" SMH.com.au (Retrieved: 1 March 2010)
  2. ^ "About Carmel Bird" CarmelBird.com (Retrieved: 1 March 2010)
  3. ^ Yeap, Sue (16 April 2010). "Making news for laughs". TheWest.com.au. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  4. ^ Usher, Robin (9 May 2005) "Writing of lives less ordinary" TheAge.com.au (Retrieved: 1 March 2010)

External links[edit]