   magdalene m. "magda" szubanski ( ; born 12 april 1961) is an english-born australian actress, comedian, television presenter, radio host and author. szubanski's career began while she was studying at university and she progressed to television sketch comedy, as both a writer and performer. she has performed in the comedy programs the d-generation and fast forward; more recently, she stars as sharon strzelecki in the television comedy show kath & kim. szubanski portrayed esme hoggett in the film babe and its sequel babe: pig in the city, and played the recurring character of furlow on the television series farscape. ==life and career== ===early life=== thumb|magda szubanski at kath & kimderella film premiere, in august 2012 szubanski was born in liverpool, lancashire, england.ancestry.com. england & wales, birth index: 1916â2005 [database on-line]. provo, ut, usa: ancestry.com operations inc, 2008. original data: general register office. england and wales civil registration indexes. london, england: general register office. her mother, margaret (mccarthy), a native of dunfermline, scotland, was of irish and scottish descent. her father, zbigniew szubanski, came from a well-off polish family and was, according to magda, an assassin in a counter-intelligence branch of the polish resistance movement in world war ii.http://blogs.ancestry.com/au/2010/11/26/new-australian-who-do-you-think-you-are-magda-szubanski/{{cite web|last=szubanski|first=magda|title=reclaiming fear|url=http://themoth.org
1961_births 20th-century_Australian_actresses 20th-century_English_actresses 21st-century_Australian_actresses 21st-century_English_actresses Actresses_from_Liverpool Australian_film_actresses Australian_people_of_Irish_descent Australian_people_of_Polish_descent Australian_people_of_Scottish_descent Australian_television_actresses Australian_women_comedians Comedians_from_Melbourne English_emigrants_to_Australia English_people_of_Irish_descent English_people_of_Polish_descent English_people_of_Scottish_descent LGBT_comedians LGBT_entertainers_from_Australia Lesbian_actresses Living_people