Anne Charleston

Anne Charleston (born in 1943, Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian actress currently based in Galway, Ireland [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5364304.stm BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Neighbours' Madge joins Emmerdale] ] and the UK. She is probably most famous for her role as Madge Bishop in the Australian soap opera "Neighbours" and more recently as Lily Butterfield in "Emmerdale".

Early career

Anne Charleston first became widely recognisable in Australia in the early 1970s on television, taking various guest roles in the Crawford Productions police dramas "Homicide", "Division 4" and "Matlock Police". Other appearances included guest roles in other Crawford's adventure series "Hunter" (1967) and "Ryan" (1973), and in Network Ten-produced police drama "The Long Arm" (1971).

She had continuing roles in soap operas "Bellbird" and "Class of '75", and appeared in "Number 96" as a deranged woman who kidnapped Alf and Lucy's baby in late 1975. She had also appeared in the feature film version of "Bellbird", "Country Town" (1971), playing a different character from that which she had played in the series. In the late 1970s and the 1980s she had several small roles in soap opera "Prisoner". Having briefly played the brusque daughter of released prisoner "Mum" Brooks in 1979, Charleston returned for several appearances in the serial as policewomen through the early 1980s before taking the larger recurring role of Deidre Kean, mother of prison toughie Reb Kean (Janet Andrewartha), in 1984. In 1985 she took a leading regular role in new soap opera "Possession"; however, the series was cancelled by the network later that same year due to lower than desired ratings.

Charleston had also enjoyed a busy career acting in the Australian theatre. With St. Martin's Theatre she acted in "Wrong Side of the Park", "The Irregular Verb", "To Love", "Angels in Love", "A Far Country", "The Anniversary", "Invitation to a March", "Eden House", "The Cavern", "Have you Any Dirty Washing Mother Dear", "Blithe Spirit", "Children's Day". [Atterton, Margot. (Ed.) "The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Australian Showbiz", Sunshine Books, 1984. ISBN 0-86777-057-0 p 40]

She also appeared in J C Williamson's "Woman in a Dressing Gown" starring Googie Withers, "Juggler's Three" for the Melbourne Theatre Company Workshop, and "The Secretary Bird" starring Patrick Macnee. Other theatre includes "Busybody", "Port Wine", "Night of the Ding Dong", "Burst of Summer", "Murder in the Cathedral", "The Rivals", "The Tower", "Everyman", "Antigone", "The Man of Destiny", "Otherwise Engaged", "The Shifting Heart". [Atterton, Margot. (Ed.) "The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Australian Showbiz", Sunshine Books, 1984. ISBN 0-86777-057-0 p 40]

"Neighbours"

In 1986, Charleston was cast as Madge Mitchell in the popular Australian soap opera "Neighbours". Madge was a new character added to the series when it switched to Network Ten. The series became immensely popular in Australia and the UK in the months following, and Madge quickly became a popular character central to many of the show's storylines. Through the series Charleston became internationally recognised, and she won a 1987 Penguin award for Best Actress for the portrayal.

Charleston continued in the role until 1992, when she left the series and emigrated to the Republic of Ireland. Four years later Charleston accepted the offer to return to "Neighbours", reprising the role from 1996 until 2001. In her second stint in the series, Charleston observed that Madge had been transformed from being bold and fiery to far more meek and passive, a change that led to her ultimate decision to leave the series in 2001.

Other roles

After leaving "Neighbours" for the first time, she lived in Ireland for several years, and returned there after leaving the series again in 2001. With the high levels of popularity enjoyed by "Neighbours" in the UK, Charleston has now relaunched her career there, and has undertaken theatre and radio work in the UK and Ireland since leaving "Neighbours" in 2001, and is also a regular performer in pantomime.

She took the role of Dossa in comedy series "Dossa and Joe" and then had the regular role of Betty Waddell in the relaunched series of "Crossroads" in 2003. In 2004 she was a contestant in the second series of the Living TV reality television show, "I'm Famous and Frightened!"

In 2005, she had cosmetic surgery performed on her neck, live on British television, on the Five programme, "Cosmetic Surgery Live". In the same year, she also "regressed into a previous life", as a poor Irish farm girl, when she appeared in the programme "Have I Been Here Before?".

In late 2006 Anne joined the cast of "Emmerdale", originating the character of Lily Butterfield, the estranged sister of Edna Birch (Shirley Stelfox) who arrives to attend her great niece Eve's wedding blessing. Unbeknown to Edna and Lily, Edna's son Peter has invited them both to try to get them to make amends. However, a dark family secret will ensure their reunion does not run smoothly.

Of her new role, Anne said: "I am over the moon to be joining one of my favourite soaps. I am delighted to be playing such a fantastic character." [ [http://www.lse.co.uk/TVNews.asp?Code=BZ214562T&headline=anne_charleston_to_join_emmerdale Anne Charleston to join 'Emmerdale' - TV News - Life Style Extra] ] Series Producer Kathleen Beedles added: "We are thrilled to confirm that Anne will be playing the character of Lily. Viewers can expect to see sparks fly when Edna and Lily are reunited and we are looking forward to welcoming Anne on-set." [ [http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=20033&in_page_id=7 Madge Bishop joins Emmerdale | Metro.co.uk] ] [ [http://www.rte.ie/arts/2006/0921/emmerdale.html RTÉ.ie Entertainment: Former Neighbours star joins Emmerdale] ] Charleston's first taping day was on Monday 25 September 2006, and she first appeared on screen on Friday 3 November 2006. She filmed only three episodes, but reappeared later in October 2007 for a four month run, and returned in 2008 on a regular contract. [ [http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/a44587/anne-charleston-returns-to-emmerdale.html Soaps - News - Anne Charleston returns to 'Emmerdale' - Digital Spy] ] .

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