Abigail

Abigail

Born: July 23, 1946
in London, England, UK
Abigail became Australia's undisputed number 1 female sex symbol through her role as virginal blonde Bev Houghton in Number 96 (1972). English born Abigail was educated in France. Her mother was a Ceylonese (Sri Lankan) of Dutch Burgher/Eurasian ethnicity. Abigail came to Australia in 1971 and played female lead in "There's a Girl in My Soup" in Perth. Moved to Sydney and got noticed in a TV commercial in which she played a Marilyn Monroe type bombshell opposite Phil Silvers. Landed the role of Bev in Number 96. Was an original cast member and one of the most popular stars of the series, though Abigail quickly tired of the monotonous storylines for Bev (she was a shy virgin and the scriptwriters conspired to simply throw her into bed with a series of men) and after several public disagreements with the show's producers left suddenly in June 1973. The role of Bev was hastily recast, with the new actress taking over mid-episode. Abigail was the only major star of the series not to appear in the movie version released in 1974. Abigail had difficulty gaining many serious roles after leaving the series, and appeared in several bit-parts closely following the contours of her sex-symbol image in various sex-comedy films of the mid 1970s. Later appeared in several comedy roles on the stage, played a prim French teacher in school based drama Class of '74 (1974) and a super-efficient secretary in the early episodes of hospital soap The Young Doctors (1976). Was finally lured back to Number 96 in 1976 briefly playing a new character called Eve who was to appear in a proposed spin-off series with Elaine Lee though the new series was never picked-up. Retired from acting and lived on a banana plantation in Queensland. Publicly criticized the increasingly overt sex-scenes and violence featured in the later episodes of Number 96. In 1984 after a long absence from the limelight was cast as comic heroine Caroline Morrell in television soap Sons and Daughters (1982) by producers desperate to revamp the show after the departure of the series most famous character Patricia "Pat the Rat" Hamilton portrayed by Rowena Wallace. Abigail's character was a great success and the show survived a further three years with Caroline quickly becoming one of the central characters. She continued with the series until its demise in 1987. Later appeared in guest roles on TV shows such as the long-running series Neighbours (1985), and was added to the cast of floundering series Chances (1991) in a last ditch attempt to spice up its quickly fading popularity. In return to her sex-comedy roots, Abigail's Chances character was a sex-therapist named Bambi Chute.

Movies for Abigail...

Title: Chances
Character: Bambi Chute
Released: January 29, 1991
Type: TV
Chances was an Australian evening soap opera, produced from 1991 to 1992. It told the story of the average middle-class Taylor family whose lives are transformed by winning $3 million in the lottery. The series was broadcast by the Nine Network, initially as two one-hour episodes each week. Principal cast members included John Sheerin and Brenda Addie as Dan and Barbara Taylor, Jeremy Sims as their mischievous son Alex, Deborah Kennedy as Dan's sister Connie Reynolds, Tim Robertson as Dan's brother Jack, Anne Grigg as his wife Sarah, and Michael Caton as neighbourhood friend Bill Anderson. Originally, creator Lynn Bayonas pitched the show as a family-oriented drama; however to help ensure the program's success, Channel Nine asked for nude scenes and risqué elements to also be included in the series. Initial publicity for the show focused on the sex angle, and it was for this that Chances was chiefly known.
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Sher Mountain Killings Mystery
Title: Sher Mountain Killings Mystery
Character: Muriel Cordeaux
Released: November 6, 1990
Type: Movie
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Title: Elly & Jools
Released: June 11, 1990
Type: TV
Elly & Jools is an Australian children's television series that originally aired on the Nine Network in 1990. It starred Rebecca Smart as Elinor 'Elly' Lockett and Clayton Williamson as Julian 'Jools' Trevaller. It also featuredred Abigail, Anne Tenney, Peter Fisher, Dennis Miller, Damon Herriman and Vanessa Collier. The dog which appeared in the series also played the dingo in the Meryl Streep and Sam Neill film, A Cry in the Dark.
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Title: Bodysurfer
Character: Mrs. James
Released: August 9, 1989
Type: TV
Bodysurfer charts the odyssey of David Lang. Searching beyond mid-life crisis, David finds unanswered questions of his childhood can lead him toward a state of maturity. He realises it is his last hope for reconstructing his fractured family
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Breaking Loose
Title: Breaking Loose
Released: November 17, 1988
Type: Movie
A young man leaves home in search of his fathers backgound in a small country town and gets mixed up with all sorts of weird and wild characters.
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Melvin, Son of Alvin
Title: Melvin, Son of Alvin
Character: Mrs Simpson
Released: December 20, 1984
Type: Movie
A shy young man is irresistible to women.
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Title: Sons and Daughters
Character: Caroline Morrell
Released: January 18, 1982
Type: TV
Sons and Daughters was a Logie Award winning Australian soap opera created by Reg Watson and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation between 1981 and 1987. The first episode aired on Monday, 18 January 1982, during the Christmas/New Year non-ratings period in Sydney and Melbourne, and the official broadcast date of the final episode was 19 August 1987, although this varied across Australia and the final episode was screened in Melbourne on Sunday 27 December 1987. There are 972 half-hour episodes but during the series' original run in Australia, later episodes were shown in an hour-long format and the first pilot episode as shown in Australia was actually a 90-minute special; subsequent screenings have seen that episode split into three half-hours.
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All at Sea
Title: All at Sea
Character: Denise Demour
Released: July 8, 1977
Type: Movie
A saucy comedy treat from the vaults that stars cast members from "Blankety Blanks", "The Celebrity Game" and "No 96" as a group of misfits attempting to run a holiday resort. The adventures of various guests and staff at Sea Island Resort in Queensland. It is run by Mr Blimer with the help of John Bright. Blimer tries to seduce his assistant; a waitress, Joy, is constantly harassed by the guests but is working her own agenda; employee Mike likes Maryanne but winds up sleeping with the seemingly proper Miss Farrow; Arthur Pickering, is a government minister; a reverend, Parslow, is actually a thief.
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The Adventures of Eliza Fraser
Title: The Adventures of Eliza Fraser
Character: Buxom Girl
Released: December 16, 1976
Type: Movie
An old captain & his young wife share a lot of adventures after they're shipwrecked and captured by Aborigines on an island near Australia.
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Title: The Young Doctors
Released: November 8, 1976
Type: TV
The Young Doctors is an Australian early evening soap opera. The series was set in the fictional Albert Memorial hospital and primarily concerned with romances between younger members of the hospital staff, rather than typical medical issues and procedures. It screened on the Nine Network from Monday, 8 November 1976 until Wednesday, 30 March 1983.
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The True Story of Eskimo Nell
Title: The True Story of Eskimo Nell
Character: Esmeralda The Spirit of the Leopard
Released: March 27, 1975
Type: Movie
The bawdy saga of the most infamous whomper of all time.
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Alvin Rides Again
Title: Alvin Rides Again
Character: Mae
Released: December 16, 1974
Type: Movie
Alvin Purple, a man who can't hold down a job because of his voracious sexual appetite, impersonates a dead American Gangster.
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Alvin Purple
Title: Alvin Purple
Character: Girl in See-Through
Released: December 20, 1973
Type: Movie
Alvin is your average guy, except for the fact women find him irresistible and chase him everywhere. He tries to avoid them and get psychiatric help but gets used by the psychiatrists as a gigolo to treat other patients instead.
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Title: Number 96
Released: March 13, 1972
Type: TV
Number 96 was a popular Australian soap opera set in a Sydney apartment block. Don Cash and Bill Harmon of the Cash Harmon Television production company, produced the series for Network Ten, which requested a Coronation Street-type serial, and specifically one that explored adult subjects. The premise, original story outlines, and the original characters were devised by David Sale who also wrote the scripts for the first episodes and continued as script editor for much of the show's run. The series proved to be a huge success, running from 1972 until 1977. Number 96 was so popular it spawned a feature film version, filmed in December 1973. Number 96 was known for its sex scenes and nudity, somewhat risque at the time, and for its comedy characters. The series was the first Australian soap opera to feature an openly gay character.