# Lisa McCune

Lisa McCune (born 19 February 1971) is an Australian actress, known for her role in TV series Blue Heelers as Senior Constable Maggie Doyle, and in Sea Patrol as Lieutenant Kate McGregor RAN. She has won four Gold Logie Awards.
McCune has also featured in many theatre roles.

## Early life

Born in Sydney, McCune grew up in Perth. She first performed on stage at the age of 15 playing Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz at the Limelight Theatre in Wanneroo, Western Australia.
After attending Carine Senior High School and graduating from Greenwood Senior High School, she was accepted into both the classical singing and musical theatre courses at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). She graduated with a BA in Music Theatre in 1990.

## Career
### Early career (1986–1993)

Upon graduation, McCune secured an agent, Robyn Gardiner Management (RGM Associates), and took on various jobs in Sydney and Melbourne. In February 1991, she won a twelve-month contract with Coles Supermarkets for a series of print and TV advertisements in which she played Lisa, the girl-next-door checkout chick.
McCune performed in a statewide tour of Victorian high schools in the educational John Romeril play about work experience, called Working Out, was in the chorus for a Sydney musical version of Great Expectations starring Philip Gould, and starred as the aspiring ballerina postulant, Sister Mary Leo, in the sequel to the Dan Goggin musical Nunsense.
She had a brief appearance in a re-enactment about a possible UFO-sighting in Bass Strait for the American series Unsolved Mysteries and a role in the 1993 satirical horror movie Body Melt in which her heavily pregnant character was attacked by a ferocious placenta before dying from an exploding stomach. McCune also sang in a couple of bands, including George Kapiniaris' Flares and Choice.
In 1991, she filmed a pilot for a Steve Vizard/Artist Services comedy called Turn it Up (aka Radio Waves). In 1993, McCune won the lead part of Allie Carter in the pilot of Newlyweds before being replaced by Annie Jones for the series.

### Blue Heelers (1993–2000)

McCune shot to fame in September 1993 at age 22 when she debuted as Constable Maggie Doyle in Blue Heelers, playing the role until the seventh season. During this time she won the Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Television Personality four times.
Throughout her Blue Heelers run, she occasionally took time off to appear in other productions. In 1996 McCune appeared opposite Brett Climo who played her brother in Blue Heelers, in a friend's film The Inner Sanctuary. In early 1997 she played the role of Anne in the Melbourne Theatre Company's (MTC) production of Sondheim’s A Little Night Music. In 1998, McCune played Cinderella in another Sondheim musical, Into the Woods. She also did two short seasons of the classic two-hander Love Letters.
In early 1999 she took six weeks off Blue Heelers to play one of the leads, Mary Abacus, in the miniseries adaptation of Bryce Courtenay's The Potato Factory, which earned her a nomination for an AFI award for Best Actress in a TV Drama. In July 1999, a couple of months before finishing on Blue Heelers, she starred alongside John Wood in She Loves Me.

### Later career (2000–present)

Immediately after finishing Blue Heelers, she starred alongside John Waters, Bert Newton, Nikki Webster, Rachel Marley and later Rob Guest in a stage version of The Sound of Music, as Maria von Trapp.
In 2001, while she was pregnant with her first child, her portrait by Shaun Clark was entered in the Archibald Prize. She was off screens for a year to be a stay-at-home mother.
In 2002, her next project was a 'comeback' role in the television series Marshall Law with Alison Whyte and former Blue Heelers cast member William McInnes. Although it rated well in the first week, the series was critically panned and its subsequent low ratings ensured it was cancelled after one season.
In 2004, after another year off due to the birth to her second child, McCune slowly began to return to television. She again was the advertising face of Coles Supermarkets. She also hosted Seven Network shows The World Around Us and Forensic Investigators. McCune also appeared as the love interest opposite Matt Day in the ABC telemovie Hell Has Harbour Views.
In September 2005, McCune guest starred in a four-episode storyline on MDA alongside her former Blue Heelers co-star Paul Bishop. Also in 2005 she narrated a second season of Forensic Investigators and appeared in the Australian film Little Fish, starring alongside Cate Blanchett and Sam Neill in the early stages of her third pregnancy. In 2006, she played Annabel in Tripping Over.
She has also appeared in a number of musicals and other stage productions around Australia, notably as Sally Bowles in Cabaret, Hope Cladwell in Urinetown, and Olive Ostrovsky in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. In 2012/13, she performed opposite Teddy Tahu Rhodes in Opera Australia's production of the Bartlett Sher 2008 New York revival of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific at the Sydney Opera House, the Princess Theatre, Melbourne, and the Brisbane Queensland Performing Arts Centre.
From 2007 until 2011, McCune was in the ensemble cast for the Nine Network drama series, Sea Patrol. Her character is the executive officer (second in command) Lieutenant Kate McGregor, of HMAS Hammersley, a fictional Royal Australian Navy patrol boat. There were five seasons of the show, and it was cancelled due to financial issues resulting from the scheduled loss of pertinent government tax credits.
On 5 April 2008, she began her role of Sarah Brown in the major stage production Guys and Dolls, playing for 20 weeks at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne before being revived for a Sydney season at the Capitol Theatre on 12 March 2009.
In 2010, she appeared as Jean in the MTC production of Sarah Ruhl's Dead Man's Cell Phone. McCune also appeared as the celebrity guest in the reasonably-priced ute/car in season 3, episode 1 of Top Gear Australia in August. She appeared alongside Richard Roxburgh in season 1, episode 2 of the television series Rake, which aired in November.
McCune starred Dr. Sam Stewart in Reef Doctors, an Australian television drama series that ran 9 June 2013 to 7 September 2013.
In 2014, she starred as Anna Leonowens in Opera Australia's production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, playing opposite Teddy Tahu Rhodes in Brisbane and Sydney, and Lou Diamond Phillips in Melbourne.
In 2015, McCune recorded "The Unbearable Price of War", a duet with Lee Kernaghan for his album Spirit of the Anzacs. Later that year, she joined David Hobson, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, and Greta Bradman for a concert tour, From Broadway to La Scala, of the five Australian mainland state capitals.
In 2018, she appeared in the Network Ten comedy How to Stay Married with Peter Helliar. In 2019, McCune appeared in 33 Variations at the Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, opposite Ellen Burstyn. McCune played Gertrude in Bell Shakespeare's 2020 production of Hamlet at the Sydney Opera House, the Canberra Theatre Centre and the Arts Centre Melbourne. In 2022, she appeared as Elizabeth Laine in Girl from the North Country at the Sydney Festival, and then in Adelaide and Melbourne.
In 2024, McCune appeared in ABC kids show Planet Lulin.

## Personal life

McCune married Tim Disney, a film technician who was part of the Blue Heelers crew, on 18 February 2000. They have three children, born in 2001, 2003 and 2005. McCune confirmed in 2020 that Disney was her ex-husband but they continue to co-habitate and co-parent. In 2021, McCune said she was "happily single", in an interview with The Australian Women's Weekly.
McCune found herself at the heart of a very public cheating scandal with her South Pacific co-star Teddy Tahu Rhodes, when the pair were sighted holding hands and kissing in Sydney in 2012.

## Filmography
### Television

| Year | Title | lRole | Notes |
| 1992 | Fast Forward | Various | Episode: "4:16" |
| 1994–2000 | Blue Heelers | Maggie Doyle | Main cast |
| 2000 | The Potato Factory | Mary Abacus | Television miniseries |
| 2002 | Marshall Law | Ros Marshall | Main cast |
| 2005 | MDA | Dr. Liz Gibson | 4 episodes |
| 2006 | Two Twisted | Fiona Wells | Episode: "Call Back" |
| 2006 | Tripping Over | Annabel | Episode: "1.1, 1.3, 1.5, 1.6" |
| 2007–2011 | Sea Patrol | Lieutenant 'XO' Kate McGregor, RAN | Main cast |
| 2010 | Rake | Lucy Marx | Episode 1.2: "R vs. Marx" |
| 2013 | Reef Doctors | Dr. Sam Stewart | Main cast, also co-producer |
| 2013–2014 | It's a Date | Em | Episode: "1.1, 1.2" |
| 2015 | The Divorce | Louise | Main cast |
| 2017 | The Warriors | Deb Van Exel | Main cast |
| 2017 | The Ex-PM | Lorelei Baggins | Episode: "Reckoning" |
| 2018–2020 | How to Stay Married | Em Butler | Main cast |
| 2023 | Big Miracles | Narrator | 7 episodes |
| 2023 | The Garden Hustle | Self | Co-host |
| 2024 | Planet Lulin (F.A.N.G) | Esme | 10 episodes |
| 2025 | Taskmaster Australia | Contestant | |

### Film

| Year | Title | lRole | Notes |
| 1991 | Turn It Up | Lynette | TV film |
| 1993 | Body Melt | Cheryl Rand | Feature film |
| 1996 | Inner Sanctuary | Felicity | Feature film |
| 2005 | Hell Has Harbour Views | Caroline Ashton | TV film |
| 2005 | Little Fish | Laura | Feature film |
| 2007 | One of the Lucky Ones | Wendy the Narrator | TV film |
| 2011 | Blood Brothers | Margaret Kennedy | TV film |
| 2014 | The Little Death | Maureen | Feature film |

## Stage

| Year | Title | lRole | Venue / Co. |
| 1991 | Working Out | | Fairfax Studio, Melbourne |
| | Great Expectations | Chorus | Sydney |
| 1993 | Nunsense 2 | Sister Mary Leo | La Mama, Melbourne with Open City, Edgley International & Malcolm C. Cooke |
| 1997; 1998 | A Little Night Music | Anna Egerman | Playhouse, Melbourne, Princess Theatre, Melbourne, Theatre Royal, Sydney with MTC |
| 1998 | Into the Woods | Cinderella | Playhouse, Melbourne |
| | Love Letters | Melissa Gardner | |
| 1999 | She Loves Me | Amalia Balash | Melbourne Concert Hall with The Production Company |
| 1999; 2000 | The Sound of Music | Maria von Trapp | Lyric Theatre, Sydney, Princess Theatre, Melbourne, Lyric Theatre, Brisbane with The Gordon Frost Organisation |
| 2002; 2003 | Cabaret | Sally Bowles | State Theatre, Sydney, Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, Lyric Theatre, Brisbane with IMG Productions |
| 2004; 2006 | Urinetown | Hope Cladwell | Lyric Theatre, Brisbane, Playhouse, Melbourne, Sydney Theatre with MTC & STC |
| 2007 | The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee | Olive Ostrovsky | Sydney Theatre with MTC & STC |
| 2008; 2009 | Guys and Dolls | Sarah Brown | Princess Theatre, Melbourne, Capitol Theatre, Sydney with Donmar Productions |
| 2010 | Dead Man's Cell Phone | Jean | Southbank Theatre, Melbourne with MTC |
| 2012 | 8 - The Play | | Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, Sydney Town Hall |
| 2012; 2013 | South Pacific | Nellie Forbush | Sydney Opera House, Princess Theatre, Melbourne, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Festival Theatre, Adelaide with Opera Australia & Lincoln Center Theatre |
| 2013 | Shane Warne: the Musical | Simone Warne | Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide for Adelaide Cabaret Festival |
| 2014 | The King and I | Anna Leonowens | Lyric Theatre, Brisbane, Princess Theatre, Melbourne, Sydney Opera House with Opera Australia |
| 2014 | The Schummans – Love and Life in Letters and Song | Clara Schumann | Sydney Opera House with Lyric Arts Inc |
| 2015; 2017 | From Broadway to La Scala | Singer – Soprano | Sydney Opera House with Sydney Lyric |
| 2016 | Machu Picchu | Gabby / Middle Toe | Wharf Theatre, Sydney, Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide with STCSA & STC |
| 2016 | Follies in Concert | Sally | Melbourne Recital Centre with Storeyboard Entertainment |
| 2017 | Letters from the Heart | | Loreto College Theatre, Ballarat |
| 2018 | Gloria | Gloria / Nan | Southbank Theatre, Melbourne with MTC |
| 2018 | Peer Gynt | | Federation Concert Hall, Hobart with Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra |
| 2019 | 33 Variations | Clare | Comedy Theatre, Melbourne |
| 2020 | Hamlet | Gertrude | Sydney Opera House, Canberra Theatre Centre, Arts Centre Melbourne with Bell Shakespeare |
| 2022 | Girl from the North Country | Elizabeth Laine | Lyric Theatre, Brisbane, Canberra Theatre, Opera House, Wellington, Civic Theatre, Auckland, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide, Theatre Royal, Sydney for Sydney Festival with GWB Entertainment |
| 2024 | Sweat | Tracey | Wharf Theatre with STC |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 1995 | Logie Awards | Most Popular New Talent | Blue Heelers | Won |
| 1996 | Logie Awards | Most Popular Actress | Blue Heelers | Won |
| 1996 | Logie Awards | Most Popular Personality | Blue Heelers | Nominated |
| 1997 | Logie Awards | Most Popular Actress | Blue Heelers | Won |
| 1997 | Logie Awards | Most Popular Personality | Blue Heelers | Won |
| 1998 | Logie Awards | Most Popular Actress | Blue Heelers | Won |
| 1998 | Logie Awards | Most Popular Personality | Blue Heelers | Won |
| 1998 | People's Choice Awards | Favourite TV Star | Blue Heelers | Won |
| 1998 | People's Choice Awards | Favourite Actress in a Drama or Serial | Blue Heelers | Won |
| 1999 | Logie Awards | Most Popular Actress | Blue Heelers | Won |
| 1999 | Logie Awards | Most Popular Personality | Blue Heelers | Won |
| 1999 | People's Choice Awards | Favourite TV Star | Blue Heelers | Nominated |
| 1999 | People's Choice Awards | Favourite Actress in a Drama or Serial | Blue Heelers | Nominated |
| 1999 | AFI Awards | Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Television Drama | The Potato Factory | Nominated |
| 2000 | Logie Awards | Most Popular Actress | Blue Heelers | Won |
| 2000 | Logie Awards | Most Popular Personality | Blue Heelers | Won |
| 2000 | Green Room Awards | Female Actor in a Leading Role (Music Theatre) | The Sound of Music | Nominated |
| 2001 | Logie Awards | Most Popular Personality | Blue Heelers and The Potato Factory | Nominated |
| 2001 | Helpmann Awards | Best Female Actor in a Musical | The Sound of Music | Nominated |
| 2003 | Helpmann Awards | Best Female Actor in a Musical | Cabaret | Nominated |
| 2003 | Green Room Awards | Female Actor in a Leading Role (Music Theatre) | Cabaret | Won |
| 2004 | Green Room Awards | Female Actor in a Leading Role (Music Theatre) | Urinetown | Nominated |
| 2005 | Helpmann Awards | Best Female Actor in a Musical | Urinetown | Nominated |
| 2006 | Logie Awards | Most Outstanding Actress | Hell Has Harbour Views | Nominated |
| 2008 | Logie Awards | Most Popular Actress | Sea Patrol | Nominated |
| 2008 | Logie Awards | Most Popular Personality | Sea Patrol | Nominated |
| 2008 | Green Room Awards | Female Actor in a Leading Role (Music Theatre) | Guys and Dolls | Nominated |
| 2012 | Green Room Awards | Female Actor in a Leading Role (Music Theatre) | South Pacific | Nominated |
| 2014 | AACTA Awards | Best Performance in a Television Comedy | It's a Date | Nominated |
| 2014 | Helpmann Awards | Best Female Actor in a Musical | The King and I | Nominated |
| 2014 | Green Room Awards | Female Actor in a Leading Role (Music Theatre) | The King and I | Nominated |