Deidre Rubenstein (born 1948)[1] is an Australian television and theatre actress, as well as a dramatist and playwright well known for her performance in Australian soap operas and main stage dramatic roles. She has won the Australian Film Institute (AFI) Award as Best Actress.
Rubenstein is Jewish[2] and graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1967[3] and has worked extensively in live theatre, television, films and as a narrator of audio books. She has produced a significant body of work as a narrator of audio books and has won several awards in this field.[4]
Television work
editRubenstein has worked in television comedies, drama, mini-series and TV movies.[5] In 1970 she appeared in an episode of Homicide. She played a guest role in Prisoner (1979–80), as terrorist Janet Dominguez. In 2004 Rubenstein played the scheming Svetlanka Ristic in the soap opera Neighbours.[5]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Breaking Through | Ann | Film |
| 1991 | The Girl Who Came Late (aka Daydream Believer) | Trish Schultz | Feature film |
| 1996 | The Inner Sanctuary | Peggy | Feature film |
| 1999 | Siam Sunset | Celia Droon | Feature film |
| 2000 | The Calling | Martha O’Connor | Short film |
| 2001 | Like Mother Like Son: The Strange Story of Sante and Kenny Kimes | Las Vegas Judge | TV film |
| 2002 | Secret Bridesmaids' Business | Ruth | TV film |
| 2004 | Josh Jarman | Theatre Actress | Feature film |
| 2008 | Salvation | Gloria’s Coach | Feature film |
| 2008 | Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger | Mrs Fleisher | Feature film |
| 2011 | Underbelly Files: The Man Who Got Away | Uncredited | TV film |
| 2015 | Force of Destiny | Miriam | Feature film |
| 2023 | The Rooster | Mrs Poulson | Feature film |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Homicide | Jane | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1978-1980 | Prisoner | Janet Dominguez | TV series, 5 episodes |
| 1980 | Water Under the Bridge | Lainey | TV series, 3 episodes |
| 1982 | The Mike Walsh Show | Guest - Herself with Tony Taylor | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1985 | Palace of Dreams | Chana Mendel | Miniseries, 10 episodes |
| 1988 | Australians | Nance | Miniseries, 1 episode |
| 1988 | Rafferty's Rules | Peggy Guest | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1988 | A Country Practice | Helen Morris | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1989 | E Street | Louise Baker | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1989 | G.P. | Iris Grimshaw | TV series, 3 episodes |
| 1996 | Mercury | Steffi Petrakis | Miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 1997-2003 | Blue Heelers | Helen Delaney, Magda Lapenscu | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 2000 | Introducing Gary Petty | Nancy | TV series, 6 episodes |
| 2001-02 | BackBerner | Psychologist | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 2002 | The Secret Life of Us | Nathan’s Mum | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 2002 | MDA | Dr Fallows | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2004 | Neighbours | Svetlanka Ristic | TV series, 12 episodes |
| 2007 | Kick | Reva Feinmann | Miniseries, 1 episode |
| 2008 | Saddle Club | Rosemary Cross | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2008 | City Homicide | Cheridah Lapstone | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2021 | Superwog | Agnes | YouTube series, 1 episode |
Theatre
editRubenstein's career in the theatre includes work with several major Australian companies, including the Nimrod Theatre Company and Melbourne Theatre Company.[6]
In 1993, she had a solo show called What's a Girl to Do?,[7] where she performed poems written by contemporary Australian women poets.[8] It was later performed by Rubenstein at The Stables Theatre in Sydney (1994) and at the 1995 Edinburgh Festival.[9]
This show inspired her to do another solo show using work commissioned for her, work that was written to be performed live. She was awarded a Victorian Government Women Artist's Grant and commission contemporary writers to produce the performance pieces that were later and produced in a book called Confidentially yours. The first performance was in the Playbox Theatre Centre, C.U.B Malthouse, Melbourne on 11 February 1998. The writers commissioned to produce the work that became Confidentially Yours were, Janis Balodis, Andrew Bovell, Nick Enright, Michael Gurr, Daniel Keene, Joanna Murray-Smith and Debra Oswald. Andrew Bovell wrote a pair of stories for the show that he later used in the script for the film Lantana.
In 2005, Rubenstein performed in Menopause the Musical, a comedy breaking down the taboos about menopause.[10] With Caroline Gillmer, Susan-Ann Walker and Jane Clifton, Rubenstein, as "The Dubbo Housewife", explored the stereotypes and madness of that time in a woman's life.
In 2015, she played Gertrude Stein in the musical Loving Repeating - a Musical of Gertrude Stein in Melbourne.
Awards and nominations
edit- 1996 – a recipient of the inaugural Women Artists Grants, a Victorian Government initiative to encourage emerging women artists living and working in Victoria.[11]
- 1998 – TDK Australian Audio Book Awards Narrator Award for Unabridged Fiction:[12] Dreamtime Alice by Mandy Sayer
- 2001 – Vision Australia Library Awards, joint winner of the Adult Narrator of the Year Award[13] with James Wright reading of The Architect by Jillian Watkinson.
Bibliography
edit- Rubenstein, Deirdre, ed. (1998). Confidentially yours (Australian Drama – 20th Century). Melbourne: Currency Press, Sydney, in Association with Playbox Theatre Centre, Monash University. ISBN 0-86819-553-7.
References
edit- ^ "Australian Library Collection". Libraries Australia. Retrieved 8 August 2007.
- ^ "Jewish writing on stage". The Australian Jewish News. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
- ^ "NIDA Graduates". NIDA. Archived from the original on 5 February 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2007.
- ^ "Bibliography in Louis Braille Audio Books". 30 June 2007. Archived from the original on 27 June 2002.
- ^ a b "IMDb Filmography". 30 June 2007.
- ^ "Deirdre Rubenstein as "The Dubbo Housewife"". 2 February 2005. Archived from the original on 30 August 2007.
- ^ "What's a Girl To Do? By Deidre Rubenstein". Playbox theatre Center General Information. Archived from the original on 31 August 2007. Retrieved 8 August 2007.
- ^ Rubenstein, Deirdre, ed. (1998). Confidentially yours (Australian Drama – 20th Century). Melbourne: Currency Press, Sydney, in Association with Playbox Theatre Centre, Monash University. p. iv. ISBN 0-86819-553-7.
- ^ Rubenstein (1998). p.iv
- ^ "Flushed with Success". The Age. Melbourne. 31 January 2005.
- ^ "News Release: Women Artists Honoured". 6 May 1997. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
- ^ "Medial Release: TDK Australian Audio Book Awards celebrate 10 years of excellence". 11 November 1998.
- ^ "Louis Braille Audio Award List". 30 June 2007. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013.
External links
edit- Deidre Rubenstein at IMDb
- doollee.com – Playwrights
- Candide reviews Nimrod Theatre (Retrieved 8 August 2007)