# Danielle Spencer (Australian actress)

Danielle Spencer (born 16 May 1969) is an Australian actress, singer, and songwriter.

## Early life

Spencer is the daughter of Australian songwriter, singer and television entertainer Don Spencer and wife Julie (née Horsfall), a caterer from Yorkshire. She has an older brother, Dean. At age four, she began piano lessons. During her teens she began acting and composing her own tunes. Until the age of twelve, she spent her childhood and youth alternately in Australia and in Yorkshire and Cambridgeshire, England, as her father worked in both countries for the BBC Play School.

## Career

Spencer grew up in close contact with the world of showbusiness. Occasionally she accompanied her father on his performances on stage. She took singing and acting lessons and dance classes in classical ballet and modern dance and jazz. In 1987 Danielle Spencer starred in Rasputin as one of the Tsar's daughters and dated Terry Serio who also starred in the same musical as Prince Felix.
From 1989 to 2000 she worked as an actress, especially for Australian television, primarily as an actress in TV series. Subsequently, the focus of her artistic activity shifted to the area of singer / songwriter.
In 2001 she released her debut musical album, White Monkey. After a family break, in February 2010 she released her second album, Calling All Magicians. Under the direction of her husband, the music videos were made to the title songs and "Tickle Me" and "Wish I'd Been Here".
In August 2011 Spencer for the first time gave two live concerts alongside her husband. The pair joined the musicians and actors Alan Doyle, Kevin Durand, Scott Grimes and the group Size2Shoes to present the Crowe / Doyle Songbook Vol III at St John's, Newfoundland, Canada. Songs from this album relate, among others, to the novel Dirt Music by the Australian novelist Tim Winton. Spencer gives live concerts on a regular basis. For her live concert tour in October 2011, titled "Alone and Together", she joined Australian bass player Steve Balbi.
In March 2012, Spencer was announced as a contestant for season 12 of Dancing with the Stars on the Seven Network in which she placed second. Her professional partner was Damian Whitewood.
In 2015, Danielle Spencer was a member of Australia's judging panel in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest.
Spencer is a supporter of her father Don Spencer's charity, the Australian Children's Music Foundation (ACMF), an educational program for underprivileged and Indigenous children in Australia. She's supporter of women's cancer programs as the Pink Ribbon Breakfast for breast cancer and The Girls Night.
On 10 July 2020, Spencer released an album with close friend, producer/songwriter Vince Pizzinga, under duo-name 'Lost Luggage'. Their self-titled LP consisted of alternative covers of various '80s classics. She promoted the release on various platforms, including on Channel 7, and The Kyle and Jackie O Show on KIIS 106.5.
In November 2024, Spencer released her first new original song in 14 years, titled Regenerate. She performed the song for the first time on Channel 7 Australia on 3 December as part of the OzHarvest Charity concert, featuring Conrad Sewell, Daryl Braithwaite, Human Nature and many other Australian artists, with a special appearance by Bob Geldof. The media responses to Regenerate were very positive with The Daily Telegraph saying "the reclusive alternative singer-songwriter is back in the pop game” calling the song "epic" and Women In Pop saying "Spencer never conforms to the expected structures of pop music and everything she releases is simply special". Spencer announced on social media there will be a new album in 2025.

## Personal life

Spencer began an on-again, off-again relationship with actor Russell Crowe in 1989 when they co-starred in the film The Crossing which appeared in Australian cinemas in 1990. Crowe and Spencer married on 7 April 2003 at Crowe's farm in Nana Glen, New South Wales. They have two sons: Charles, born in 2003 and Tennyson, born in 2006. In October 2012, it was reported that Crowe and Spencer had separated. The divorce was finalised in April 2018.
Since 2016, she has been in a relationship with author and artist Adam Long.

## Discography
### Albums

* White Monkey (EMI, 1 May 2002)
* Calling All Magicians (15 February 2010)

### Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
| Title | Year | AUS | Album |
| "Jonathon White" | 2001 | — | White Monkey |
| "Blast Off" | 2001 | 95 | White Monkey |
| "Forgive Me" | 2001 | — | White Monkey |
| "White Monkey" | 2002 | — | White Monkey |
| "Tickle Me" | 2002 | — | White Monkey |
| "On Your Side" | 2010 | — | Calling All Magicians |
| "Wish I'd Been Here" | 2010 | — | Calling All Magicians |
| "Be My Baby" | 2016 | — | Non-album single |

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role |
| 1990 | The Crossing | Meg |
| 1990 | What the Moon Saw | Emma |
| 1999 | Game Room | Alena |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1989 | Rafferty's Rules | Toni Moller | Episode: "On the Barricades" |
| 1989 | Mission: Impossible | Diane Martin | Episode: "Bayou" |
| 1989–1990 | The Flying Doctors | Fiona Jacobs / Sally McCarthy | 3 episodes |
| 1991 | Hampton Court | Lisa Barrett | 13 episodes |
| 1992 | Mission Top Secret | Pamela | Television film |
| 1993 | Minder | Robyn | Episode: "For a Few Dollars More" |
| 1994 | Law of the Land | Barb Brewer | Episode: "Games People Play" |
| 1995 | Home and Away | Quinn Jackson | 11 episodes |
| 1996 | Pacific Drive | Callie Macrae | |
| 1999 | Murder Call | Ingrid Nergun | Episode: "Dying Day" |
| 2000 | All Saints | Kate Taylor | Episode: "Food for Thought" |
| 2000 | Beastmaster | Destine | Episode: "White Tiger" |
| 2012 | Dancing With The Stars (Australia) | Performer (Runner Up) | Season 12 |
| 2020 | The All New Monty: Guys & Gals | Performer | Season One |