Rebekah Sophie Elmaloglou (born 23 January 1974) is an Australian actress, known for her roles as teenage tearaway Sophie Simpson on Home and Away and Terese Willis on Neighbours. She also made guest appearances in E Street, A Country Practice and Pacific Drive. Her film appearances include Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), Princess Kate (1988) and The Sum of Us (1994).

Rebekah Elmaloglou
Born
Rebekah Sophie Elmaloglou

(1974-01-23) 23 January 1974 (age 50)
OccupationActress
Years active1984–present
Known forNeighbours (TV series) as Terese Willis
Home and Away (TV series) as Sophie Simpson
Spouse
Kane Baker
(m. 2009)
Children1
RelativesSebastian Elmaloglou (brother)
Judi Dench (cousin)
Jeffery Dench (cousin)

Early life

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Elmaloglou was born at the Royal Women's Hospital, Paddington, New South Wales, to a Greek father, Gregory, who was principal cello in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and an English mother, Theresa, who was a kindergarten teacher. Her father was born in France.[1] Elmaloglou left school at the age of 15 and trained at the Keane Kids studios in Sydney,[2] where she studied acting, singing and dancing.

Career

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Elmaloglou has appeared in numerous roles in various programmes and films such as Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), Five Times Dizzy (1986) and Jocelyn Moorhouse' debut film The Siege of Barton's Bathroom (1986),[3] Relatives, In Too Deep (also known as Mack the Knife) (1989) and Love in Limbo(1993)[4] plus the 1988 telemovie Princess Kate. In 1989, she had a 2-week guest stint as asthmatic street-kid Simone in E Street and immediately followed this with a regular role in Home and Away as Sophie Simpson (1990–1993).

Following Home and Away, Elmaloglou appeared alongside Russell Crowe in the Australian film The Sum of Us (1994), and guest starred in A Country Practice as Christine Agapitos. In 1994 she appeared on the stage at the Sydney Opera House in Caravan.[5]

She relished filming The Sum of Us, saying "your best work comes out of a film and you feel that you can really show your talents as an actress".[4] She also compared filming this to when she was on Home and Away:

"You feel like you're really acting and really doing something when you do film because in television you're grinding your way through it. The moment you finish one script you're on to another one and it just goes on and on and on. (In film) you have more time to work with it – not at it – and you spend more time talking to the director about the role."[4]

In 1993, she went to the UK for a production of Aladdin.[4] Elmaloglou appeared in Pacific Drive in 1996, as a victim of incest, who dices with death when she turns to drugs. She appeared in an episode of Life Support as a "publicity whore". The actress later posed naked in a Gothic-themed set of photographs for the Australian celebrity nude art magazine Black+White. In a 1995 interview, she stated that she did not receive the offers she had anticipated after leaving Home and Away and that finding work was a struggle.

On 7 February 2013, it was announced that Elmaloglou had joined the cast of Neighbours as Terese Willis, a role she remained in until the show's final episode on 28 July 2022.[6][7] Elmaloglou continued in the part when Neighbours rebooted in 2023.

Personal life

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Dame Judi Dench is a cousin.[1] Two of Elmaloglou's brothers, Dominic and Sebastian Elmaloglou, have also appeared on Home and Away, plus she has a brother who is a crew member on the show'.[8]

When working on Home and Away (from 1990 to 1993), Elmaloglou frequently had panic attacks.[9] She was later diagnosed with obsessive–compulsive disorder and has been open about her condition.[10]

Elmaloglou has been married to Kane Baker since 2009, and together they have a son born in 2008.[11][12]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Type
1985 Lorca and the Outlaws (aka 'Starship") Little Girl Feature film
1985 Relatives Rebecca Feature film
1985 Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome Gatherer Feature film
1986 The Siege of Barton's Bathroom Short film
1988 Touch The Sun: Princess Kate May Mathieson TV film
1988 Fragments of War: The Story of Damien Parer Helena TV film
1990 In Too Deep Jojo Feature film
1993 Love in Limbo Feature film
1994 The Sum of Us Jenny Johnson Feature film
1995 Back of Beyond Susan MacGregor Feature film
2007 U-Turn Car Chick 1 Short film

Television

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Year Title Role Type
1986 Professor Poopsnagle's Steam Zeppelin Child TV series, 1 episode
1986 Five Times Dizzy Mareka Nikakis TV series, 12 episodes
1987; 1993 A Country Practice Belinda Perkins TV series, 2 episodes
1988 Emma: Queen of the South Seas Young Emma TV miniseries, 2 episodes
1989 E Street Simone TV series, 4 episodes
1991 Adventures on Kythera Tik TV series, 13 episodes
1991–1993, 2005 Home and Away Sophie Simpson TV series, 506 episodes
1993 A Country Practice Christina Agapitos TV series, 5 episodes
1994 G.P. Leanne TV series, 1 episode
1994 Paradise Beach Karen Wolfe TV series, 1 episode
1996 Pacific Drive Eliza Garland TV series, 1 episode
1999 Water Rats Christina Mangano TV series, 1 episode
2000; 2001 All Saints Justine Addison TV series, 2 episodes
2003 Life Support Penne's publicity partner TV series, 1 episode
2005 Home and Away Sophie Simpson TV series, 1 episode
2013–present Neighbours Terese Willis TV series, 1386 episodes
2016 Neighbours: Summer Series Terese Willis TV series, 1 episode
2017 Neighbours: Pipe Up Terese Willis TV miniseries, 1 episode
2017 Neighbours vs. Time Travel Terese Willis TV miniseries, 2 episodes
2018 Endless Summer: 30 Years of Home and Away Sophie Simpson TV movie
2023 Neighbours: The Next Chapter Terese Willis TV series

Television (as self)

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Year Title Role Type
1991 Celebrity Family Feud Contestant (with Home And Away cast: Emily Symons, Mat Stevenson & Greg Benson) TV series, 1 episode: "Home and Away v The Four Kinsmen"
1991; 1993 Tonight Live with Steve Vizard Guest TV series, 2 episodes
1991 Big Square Eye Guest TV series, 1 episode
1991; 1992 The Main Event Guest TV series, 2 episodes
1992; 1994 Vidiot Guest TV series, 2 episodes
1992 Home and Aerobics Herself Video
1992 Chance and Coincidence Herself TV special
1992 The Big Breakfast Guest TV series, 2 episodes
1993 Going Live! Guest TV series, 1 episode
1993 Sale of the Century Contestant TV series, 1 episode
1993; 1994 Live It Up Guest TV series, 2 episodes
1994 Burke's Backyard Celebrity gardener TV series, 1 episode
1994 The Great Outdoors Guest TV series, 1 episode
1994; 1997 Good Morning Australia Guest TV series, 2 episodes
1994 Day to Day Herself TV series, 1 episode
1994 Midday with Derryn Hinch Guest TV series, 1 episode
1994 At Home Guest TV series, 1 episode
1994 Level 23 Guest TV series, 1 episode
1994 Ten News Herself TV series, 1 episode
1995 Behind the Wheel Herself TV series, 1 episode
1995 Funniest People Guest TV series, 1 episode
1997 Nude Night Surfing Guest TV special
1997 A Current Affair Guest TV series, 1 episode
1997 In Melbourne Tonight Guest TV series, 1 episode
1997 Monday to Friday Guest TV series, 1 episode
1998 Midday with Kerri-Anne Guest TV series, 1 episode
1998 Battle of the Sexes Contestant TV series, 1 episode
2002 The Best of Aussie Dramas Herself TV special
2012 The Morning Show Guest TV series, 1 episode
2014 The Wright Stuff Guest Panelist TV series, 1 episode
2014 Pointless: Celebrity Special Contestant TV series, 1 episode
2019; 2022 Loose Women Guest TV series, 2 episodes
2022 Studio 10 Guest TV series, 1 episode
2022 Neighbours: End of the Road Herself (as Terese Willis ) TV special
2022 The Project Guest TV series, 1 episode
2023 Studio 10 Guest (with Stefan Dennis) TV series, 1 episode
2023 10 News First Guest TV series, 1 episode
2023 This Morning Guest (with Stefan Dennis) TV series, 1 episode, UK
2023 Studio 10 Guest (with Annie Jones) TV series, 1 episode

Theatre

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Year Title Role Type
1983 The Sound of Music Marta Australian tour
1992 Cinderella Cinderella Sunderland Empire Theatre, United Kingdom
1993 Aladdin Aladdin De Montfort Hall Leicester, United Kingdom, Inverness, Scotland
1994 Theatresports
1994 Caravan Sydney Opera House
1997–98 Wogboys Enmore Theatre, Sydney, IMB Theatre, Wollongong
2001 The Vagina Monologues Sydney

References

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  1. ^ a b Gilmore, Heath (7 May 1994). "Rebekah Plays The Waiting". The Sun-Herald. Fairfax Media. p. 143. Archived from the original on 5 June 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
  2. ^ "Home". keanekids.com.
  3. ^ Leerentveld, Erwin (6 July 2022). "Bartons on the Web". Bartons on the Web. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d TV Week magazine, 13 November 1993, pages 12–13. "She's Alright Jack" written by Fiona Wingett.
  5. ^ "Theatre Directory". The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 July 1994.
  6. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (7 February 2013). "'Neighbours' to introduce another new family". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  7. ^ "Olympia Valance and Rebekah Elmaloglou farewell Neighbours". Greek Herald. 29 July 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  8. ^ "Neighbours star on Home and Away response to show axe". Digital Spy. 17 July 2022.
  9. ^ Browne, Rachel (1 July 1995). "The soapie scrapheap". The Sun-Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
  10. ^ Kent, Simon (8 March 1998). "The Diary". The Sun-Herald. Fairfax Media. p. 26. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
  11. ^ "Rebekah's joy: I'm having a baby". Woman's Day. 21 April 2008. Archived from the original on 25 April 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2008.
  12. ^ "Rebekah's gorgeous garden wedding". Woman's Day. 29 June 2009. Archived from the original on 4 August 2009. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
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