Robyn_Malcolm

Robyn Malcolm

Robyn Malcolm

New Zealand actress

Robyn Jane Malcolm MNZM (born 15 March 1965)[1][2] is a New Zealand actress, who first gained recognition for her role as nurse Ellen Crozier on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street.

Quick Facts MNZM, Born ...

She is best known for six seasons of playing Cheryl West, matriarch to a sometimes criminal working-class family in the television series Outrageous Fortune, Kirsty Corella in the Australian television series Rake, Julie Wheeler in Upper Middle Bogan and Marina Baxter in The Code.[3]

Early life and education

Malcolm was born in Ashburton, and attended Ashburton College,[4] and graduated from Toi Whakaari (New Zealand Drama School) with a Diploma in Acting in 1987.[5][6] She won an International Actors Fellowship at the Globe Theatre in London for 2003.[7]

Career

Malcolm's first long-running television role was nurse Ellen Crozier in soap opera Shortland Street. She appeared on the show for five years and was nominated for Best Actress at the 1998 TV Guide Television Awards. She was nominated again for her lead role in television feature, Clare, based on the cervical cancer experiment at Auckland's National Women's Hospital which resulted in the Cartwright Inquiry.

In 1999, Malcolm was one of the founding members of the New Zealand Actors' Company along with Tim Balme, Katie Wolfe and Simon Bennett. The company produced and toured a number of successful stage productions throughout New Zealand.

In 2005, Malcolm took on the role of Cheryl West, matriarch of the West family, in Outrageous Fortune. Mixing comedy and drama, the show became one of the highest rated and most honored in New Zealand history. Malcolm won NZ television awards for the role including the Qantas TV Awards for Best Actress in 2005 and 2008, TV Guide Best Actress in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 and Air NZ Screen Awards Best Actress in 2007

Malcolm won the Woman's Day Readers' Choice Award for Favourite New Zealand Female Personality in 2005, and New Zealand's sexiest woman at the 2007 TV Guide Best on the Box awards.[8]

Malcolm co-starred in 2010 feature film The Hopes and Dreams of Gazza Snell, playing mother to a family obsessed with go-karting and motorsports. She has also had small roles in movies Absent Without Leave directed by John Laing, The Last Tattoo directed by John Reid, Gaylene Preston's Perfect Strangers, and Christine Jeffs' Sylvia. She had a minor role as Morwen in the second film of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

In the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours, Malcolm was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to television and theatre.[9]

She plays Mrs Keene on the 2023 drama series Black Bird.[10]

In March 2024 she was honoured with a Best Actress accolade at the Series Mania Film Festival in Lille, France. She received this prestigious award in the International Panorama section for her outstanding performance in "After the Party," a series she co-created with writer Dianne Taylor. This recognition marked a significant milestone as the first time a New Zealand entry had been considered for an award at the festival.[11]

Filmography

Films

More information Title, Year ...
Key
† Denotes films that have not yet been released

Television

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Key
† Denotes television series that have not yet been aired

Theatre

More information Year, Title ...

Personal life

Malcolm has two sons.[12] Her sister is married to Roger Sutton, the former CEO of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority.[13]

Activism

Malcolm voiced Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand advertisements for the New Zealand general election, 2008.[14]

Malcolm has helped spearhead an actors' union campaign to negotiate standard contracts for actors in The Hobbit films. The producers refused, saying that collective bargaining would be considered price-fixing and therefore illegal under New Zealand law. The situation escalated into international calls for an actors' boycott of the films, but the boycott was called off. Several days later, the producers said they were considering moving the films to another country as they could not be guaranteed stability in New Zealand.[15] In response, the ruling National Party made several controversial changes to New Zealand's employment laws, and passed legislation explicitly controlling people working on the Hobbit movies.

References

  1. [1]
    Reid, Neil (3 January 2010). "TV star tells why she's joined Greenpeace". Sunday News. Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
  2. [2]
    Neville, Alice (21 March 2010). "TV stars' outrageous sexiness". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
  3. [3]
    "Robyn Malcolm's brave new world".
  4. [4]
    Collins, Simon (21 July 2009). "Celebs go toe-to-toe on smacks". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
  5. [5]
    Hughes, Andrew; Wix, Olivia (26 November 2009). "The Job Tour: Movie and acting careers in Wellington". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
  6. [6]
    "Graduate". www.toiwhakaari.ac.nz. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  7. [7]
    "Artists take their talent to the world". The New Zealand Herald. 22 May 2003. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
  8. [8]
    "Westie named NZ's sexiest woman". Stuff.co.nz. 15 November 2007. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
  9. [9]
    "Queen's Birthday honours list 2019". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 3 June 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  10. [10]
    Skipwith, David (15 July 2022). "'Huge energy': Robyn Malcolm pays tribute to late Black Bird star Ray Liotta". Stuff.
  11. [11]
    "Robyn Malcolm takes out best actress gong at France film festival". Radio New Zealand. 24 March 2024.
  12. [12]
    Fraser, Fiona (16 August 2010). "Robyn Malcolm's double life". New Zealand Woman's Weekly. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
  13. [13]
    Hampton, Jeff. "Unconventional lines man appointed new quake boss". TV3 News. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  14. [14]
    "Future focus at Green campaign launch". Stuff.co.nz. 5 October 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
  15. [15]
    Paul Harper, Derek Cheng and Amelia Wade (21 October 2010). "Hobbit loss 'potential tragedy for NZ film'". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
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