Tziporah Atarah Malkah (born Katherine Helen Fischer; 30 November 1973) is an Australian former model and actress.

Tziporah Malkah
Born
Katherine Helen Fischer

(1973-11-30) 30 November 1973 (age 50)
Occupation(s)Model, actress
Years active1987–2007, 2017
MotherPru Goward

Early life and career

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Katherine Helen Fischer was born on 30 November 1973 in Adelaide, South Australia, the daughter of future Australian politician Pru Goward and university lecturer Alastair Fischer.[1] She is the eldest of three daughters.[2] She attended the Canberra Girls' Grammar School[3] before going to Narrabundah College.[4]

In 1987, at the age of 13, Malkah won the Dolly Covergirl of the Year competition[3] and was touted as the next Elle Macpherson.[5] By the early 1990s, she had become a high-profile model working in Sydney and New York.[6][7] She did shoots for Bloomingdales, Glamor magazine and Mademoiselle,[6] and was featured on the covers of Black + White magazine[8] and Vogue Australia.[4] In 2005–2006, Malkah was the face of AMP Capital Shopping Centres in Australia.[9]

In 1993, Malkah had a role in the Australian film Sirens, playing alongside Elle Macpherson, Portia de Rossi, Sam Neill and Hugh Grant[10] as one of the three life models of painter Norman Lindsay.[11] In 1995, Malkah was recruited for an ongoing role in the Network 10 TV soap opera Echo Point which aired for six months.[12] She appeared in several of the Elle McFeast (Libbi Gorr) comedy specials on ABC TV such as Breasts (1996) and The Whitlam Dismissal (1996).[13]

For two years (1996–1997), Malkah was the host of the Looney Tunes cartoon show What's Up Doc? on the Nine Network. In 1997, she had a small part in the Australian film Dust Off the Wings, a drama set amidst Sydney's surfing culture.[14] In 2000, she starred in the horror film Blood Surf, filmed in South Africa.[15]

In 2001 she fronted the Channel 10 television special Kate Fischer's Myth of the Perfect Woman[16]

Malkah starred as a blind girl who is courted by a struggling comedian in the Australian film comedy The Real Thing (2002)[17] and had a small role as a CIA agent in the Steven Seagal direct-to-video action film The Foreigner (2003).[18][19] In 2002, she appeared in three episodes of the Channel 7 medical drama series All Saints.[20]

In 2005, Malkah resurfaced on the Nine Network's Celebrity Overhaul, a show in which celebrities try to regain their fitness through good diet and exercise habits.[21]

In 2006, Malkah appeared as a guest judge on the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) program Song For The Socceroos and as a contestant on the Seven Network TV show It Takes Two.[1] The same year, she also made a guest appearance on the first series of The Chaser's War on Everything on ABC TV and also became the host of the short-lived weekly clip show Top 40 Celebrity Countdown on the Seven Network.[22]

In 2007, she filmed a short comedy video, Supermodel Hotdog, which aired on YouTube. The sketch, filmed at her LA apartment, self-satirised her popular image as a celebrity and movie star.[23]

In January 2017, Malkah (having legally changed her name several years earlier) became a contestant on the Australian version of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! [24] She was evicted by a public vote on day 31 after spending 30 days in the African jungle.[25] Following her departure, she made news headlines after some awkward post-eviction interviews.[26]

Personal life

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She was engaged to businessman James Packer until the couple separated in 1998 after five years together and a two-year engagement.[27] Their breakup received wide coverage in both the mainstream and tabloid press, fueled by rumours regarding the extent of the financial settlement, which was reported as being as high as $10 million.[28] Malkah later stated she received "a few hundred thousand dollars" and the house they had formerly shared.[1] She eventually sold the house for A$2,825,000 in 2000.[29] Since 1998, Malkah has spent much of her time living in the United States.[1]

According to the Sydney Morning Herald in 2010, Malkah described herself as a political conservative and a supporter of the US Republican Party and the Australian Liberal Party.[30]

After returning to Australia in 2011, she resided at a boarding house for 22 months due to reduced circumstances.[31]

In 2016, it was reported that Malkah was living in Toorak, Victoria, and employed as an aged care worker.[32]

Filmography

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Cultural references

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In 1997, "Kate and Barbie", a portrait of Malkah by Australian painter Paul Newton was a finalist in the annual Archibald Prize exhibition[33] and is now in her private art collection. Newton also painted another portrait of Malkah the same year titled "Homage to Madame X", now owned by her mother, Pru Goward.[34] David Bromley painted her portrait in 2001.[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Styles, Aja (1 February 2017). "I'm A Celebrity Australia 2017: Kate Fischer, now Tziporah Malkah, tells of eating disorder". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 1 August 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  2. ^ "Woman most likely". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 September 2006. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Family photo takes ACT cover girl Kate to the top". Canberra Times. 31 October 1987. p. 11. Archived from the original on 24 June 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  4. ^ a b Preston, Yvonne (8 May 1994). "Behind the Face". Canberra Times. p. 21. Archived from the original on 24 June 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  5. ^ Loveridge, Anne (27 March 1990). "Magical music sets party mood". Canberra Times. p. 16. Archived from the original on 25 June 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  6. ^ a b Hull, Crispin (13 March 1994). "Film-maker takes a risk with models". Canberra Times. p. 17. Archived from the original on 24 June 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  7. ^ Marriner, Cosima; Waterhouse, Kate (1 April 2012). "Political genes that put new faces to the name". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 24 June 2024. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  8. ^ a b "Bromley unveils a body of work". The Age. 26 July 2002. Archived from the original on 14 October 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  9. ^ "AMP Retail snares Kate Fischer". Australasian Business Intelligence. COMTEX News Network. 1 March 2005.
  10. ^ "Model turned actress". telegraph.co.uk. 27 January 2012. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  11. ^ Ebert, Roger. "Sirens Movie Review & Film Summary (1994) – Roger Ebert". suntimes.com. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  12. ^ "TV's Hall of Shame » Television.AU". televisionau.com. 11 June 2012. Archived from the original on 7 December 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  13. ^ "Elle Mcfeast Special". ABC Shop. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  14. ^ Stratton, David (3 January 1998). "Dust Off The Wings". Variety. Archived from the original on 14 October 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  15. ^ "Blood Surf » Horror » Cult Reviews". cultreviews.com. Archived from the original on 25 January 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  16. ^ Anderson, Doug (31 July 2001), "Our Pacific neighbours may cry green murder, but Kate's warming to a perfect world", The Sydney Morning Herald
  17. ^ "Stephen Amis". Innersense Productions. Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  18. ^ "The Foreigner (2003) Movie Review - BeyondHollywood.com". beyondhollywood.com. 3 February 2003. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  19. ^ "The Foreigner". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 9 December 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  20. ^ "Australian Television: All Saints: articles". australiantelevision.net. Archived from the original on 30 July 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  21. ^ "Celebrity Overhaul". National Sound and Film Archive. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  22. ^ "Top 40 Celebrity Countdown". Sydney Morning Herald. 13 December 2006. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  23. ^ "Kate Fischer's mad video". adelaidenow.com.au. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  24. ^ Loomes, Phoebe (28 February 2017). "I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here: it's more than schadenfreude, and I can't stop watching". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 25 June 2024. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  25. ^ Moran, Jonathon (27 February 2017). "Tziporah Malkah sent packing from jungle camp on I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here!". News Corp Australia Network. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  26. ^ "'She's awful': Triple M hosts diss Tziporah Malkah after bad interview". NewsComAu. Archived from the original on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  27. ^ Moran, Jonathon (22 May 2011). "The once-svelte Kate Fischer stacks on the pounds". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  28. ^ Turner, Rosalind (November 2000). "Bondi Cinderellas - Storytelling and Gatekeeping in the Press". Media International Australia, Incorporating Culture & Policy. 97 (97): 105–212. doi:10.1177/1329878X0009700113. ISSN 1329-878X. S2CID 147588082.
  29. ^ Chancellor, Jonathon (7 November 2010). "Notts landing: buyers pass up Packer's Bondi pad". Domain. Archived from the original on 26 August 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  30. ^ Pitt, Helen (31 July 2010). "Kate follows family to Judaism". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 16 November 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  31. ^ "Fischer: 'How I ended up in a homeless shelter for two years'". NewsComAu. 22 December 2016. Archived from the original on 19 September 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  32. ^ "Kate Fischer's new life: 90s bombshell now unrecognisable". news.com.au. 11 October 2016. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  33. ^ "Archibald Prize finalists 1997". National Art Gallery of NSW. Archived from the original on 14 October 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  34. ^ "Commissions". paulnewton.com.au. Archived from the original on 16 February 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
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