# 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.
Nunn is a former theatre and television actress and radio and television screenwriter for nearly 50 years, best known for her roles as Vicki Stafford The Box, Irene Fisher on Sons and Daughters, and 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.

## Career
### Acting

Nunn worked for many years as a leading stage actress, starting in 1964.
Her breakout television role was in the risque soap opera The Box, as scheming bisexual reporter Vicki Stafford. Her character became a popular cult figure in the series and Nunn continued in the role for the show's entire 1974–1977 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, followed by Dr. Irene Fisher in television serial Sons and Daughters from 1984 until 1986.
Nunn is 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. In 2002 she returned in a guest role playing the same character – it transpired this was actually an hallucination of her former on-screen husband, Alf Stewart, caused by a brain tumour.

### Screenwriting

Nunn is a screenwriter of radio and television, as well as an author. She has written scripts for television series Neighbours and Possession.

### Literary career

In the 1980s, Nunn 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.

## 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.

## 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 |
| 2024 | The Morning Show | Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| Additional credits ||||
| Year | Title | As | Notes |
| 1985 | Possession | Writer | |
| 1985 | Neighbours | Writer | Season 1 (3 episodes) |