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talic textMercia Deane-JohnsBig text
Mercia-Deane-Johns is an Australian actress of film, stage and television. She is also a writer, singer and stand-up comedienne. Her career has spanned five decades and she is still active today. Born in Melbourne she’s been playing an array of characters since she was 12 years old, a constant presence on Australian screens.
A slender, energetic woman and youngest of seven children she has long been one of Australia’s most versatile performers.
Her first credited film role was in the 1973 ground-breaking sex comedy Alvin Purple also known as `The Sex Therapist` starring Graeme Blundell and directed by Tim Burstall.
She was in the memorable Aussie TV series Homicide Homicide (Australian TV series) in 1975 and 1976 as `Brenda Lukins`.
One of Mercia’s early jobs was in the 1970s series Matlock Police which ran from 1971 - 1976 in which she and Sigrid Thornton played girls who were incarcerated in a home. She performed in the Crawford Productions TV series Bluey (TV series) as `Debbie Morley` in 1976. In 1977, she appeared opposite John Hargreaves in Young Ramsay, a series about a young city vet who does to work in the country. In the same year, she was in Cop Shop a long running Crawford Productions police drama series. She had a small role in the 1978 Australian TV movie Demolition which starred John Waters and veteran Oz actor Vincent Ball. Other 1970’s roles included guest starring in an episode of Skyways with Tony Bonner in 1979.
She went on to play a vast array of characters: Italian mammas, the Israeli girl Timna in The Sullivans, the outrageous and eccentric Sharon Taylor in TVs Chances. She has played bikie chicks, secretaries, academics and even a prostitute in the 1983 film Going Down Going Down (1983 film) which, while given only a limited distribution at the time, continues to grow in reputation as a minor gem of Australian cinema.
She had a small part as a secretary in Phillip Noyce’s Heatwave (film) in 1981 and in the same year had a more substantial role as `Angela` in Winter of Our Dreams directed by John Duigan playing alongside Judy Davis and Bryan Brown.
In 1982, she was in `Winner Take All – Downside Risk`. This was an ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) TV series about the fast-paced world of big business and co-starred Peter Curtin, Tina Bursill, Briony Behets and Diana McLean.
In 1985, she was in `Winners – the other facts of life` with Dennis Miller, Anne Grigg, Sheila Florence and Candy Raymond.
Later in the 1980’s Mercia played opposite a teenage Nicole Kidman in the TV miniseries Vietnam and in the 1990’s, as well as Chances, she was in the police series Water Rats.
In 1991 she appeared in What's Cooking? (Australian TV series) an Australian cooking television series which ran from 1991 - 1999 on the Nine Network.
Mercia was in the television film McLeod's Daughters (film) in 1996 with Jack Thompson, Tammy MacIntosh and Kris McQuade.
She was in the long running Home and Away from 1997 – 2001 playing Melanie Rainbow.
In 2000, she was in an episode of the hospital drama All Saints.
As well as performing in several episodes of the much-loved police drama Blue Heelers, in the early 2000’s she was in the drama Above the Law (TV series).
In 2002, she was in the Canadian-Australian Co-production of Guinevere Jones, a teenage fantasy series where she played the part of evil witch Morgana Le Fay. The show was partly filmed at Abbotsford Convent, St Helier Street, Abbotsford, Victoria a 120-year-old building and heritage site in Melbourne, Australia.
In 2007, she played the part of Barbara in Unfinished Sky a story about an Outback farmer who takes in an Afghani woman who has fled from a brothel.
She played Grace Barton in ten episodes of Packed to the Rafters from 2009 - 2010.
As well as acting Mercia has done voiceovers as during four episodes of `Persons of Interest` in 2014. In each episode, a person of interest is given their previously secret intelligence file and attempts to answer the allegations contained in it. Mercia recording in 2014.
She appeared in a supporting role in the 2015 Australian movie Last Cab to Darwin, a comedy/drama road film directed by Jeremy Sims (star of Chances, coincidentally) who co-wrote it with Reg Cribb from their original 2005 Drover’s award-winning play.
She has worked with some of Australia's best-known actors. The late and much missed John Hargreaves, Judy Davis in John Duigan's Winter of Our Dreams, Nicole Kidman in the popular Kennedy Miller series Vietnam and the late Charles Bud Tingwell who was such a stalwart of Australian films. She has appeared with John Meillon who is remembered from the Crocodile Dundee films as well as Heatwave. She has also worked with John Ewart who is known for Sunday Too Far Away and Alwyn Kurts who famously portrayed the gruff Inspector Colin Fox in the TV series Homicide.
Mercia stated: “I started at Crawford Productions which is really the only true 'Hollywood' studio this country has ever had. It was an incredible training ground for everyone from editors, actors and directors. Most of us who continued to work in Film and Television started here, training on the job”.
Her most recent film role sees her playing the part of `Bulldozer` in `Throbbin’ 84` which is a crime comedy flick set in 1984 also starring Alan King and Roslyn Gentle. The film takes its name from the 1984 Australian compilation music album Throbbin' '84.
'She has made many stage appearances, seven are listed here:
'Mercia Deane Johns Theatre Credits
`Meanwhile Back on Planet Earth` a musical with Liza Minnelli at the Bondi Pavilion, Sydney in 1995.
`The Blind Giant is Dancing` ACT Theatre Company in 1984.
George and Mildred Australian Tour with the Elizabethan Theatre Company in 1980.
`Playboy of The Western World` at the Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC) in 1978.
`Electra` (Play by Sophocles) at the Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC) in 1978.
`Once a Catholic` in 1978
`Two and Two Make Sex` with Patrick Cargill on an Australian Tour in 1975.
Mercia has a diploma of classical singing and theory of music from the London College of Music. She is an Associate of the London College of Music (A.L.C.M) which she obtained in 1975.
She says: “My mother insisted I train, because, she knew how difficult it would be as an actress. Mamma was right. Once I had my diploma though, I knew I did not want to be an opera singer. Instead, I started listening to Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, Sam Cooke, Alberta, and lots of Gospel music. Then, I started singing in pubs around Sydney. At first, I sang with my back to the audience, I was so terrified but the old diggers at the pub listened attentively and were always honest. One day a woman came up to me and said, love, you've got to turn and face us one day. Today is as good as any other.
She has sung in many bands including The Celibate Rifles, Wig World, The Rat Pack, Monks Wife, and also in cover bands in Sydney, Janis Joplin, Patti Smith, Fleetwood Mac. She also produced her first Cabaret in 2011, which was very well received. She has also worked in Musicals. Mercia Deane-Johns is a genuine multi-faceted Super Star.
“I love all genres of music. Singing with the Celibate Rifles was amazing. I felt as if I had leaned back into that wall of sound and it lifted me up and carried me away. Singing jazz of course is different, more intimate and musicals are another feeling all together. The Cabaret was a lot of fun. I'd never written stand-up before, or done it. I absolutely loved taking people on a journey, of tears and laughter. I am writing the next one. There's nothing quite like singing with a Rock 'n Roll band, or an orchestra for that matter, or indeed a big band. My love of music is as diverse as my love of literature or film. Film of course is another love. One cannot compare either. They have different places. A little like a wife, a mistress and a whore.”
Music has been her salvation as she relates: “Music saved me. Without music, I'm not sure I would have survived. I had a wonderfully eclectic musical education, thanks to my family. Classical, Blues, Jazz, Folk, Rock, Pop. I rarely bought music, my brothers and sisters did that for me. I'd spend hours copying and singing to Dylan, the Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Chrissie Hynde, Blondie, Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, The Doors, Velvet Underground, Sex Pistols, Patti Smith, Emmylou Harris, Linda Rondstat, Marianne Faithfull. There was always music happening in our household. We all played instruments. My daughter too, loves music and can pick up instruments and get to know them one to one. That's a real skill. My nephew is a composer for film and theatre. Music was and has is a very positive aspect for all of us.'
She has made a number of commercials including for CC Corn Chips, New Zealand and Watties Italian Food, Australia.
Mercia enjoys writing and has kept an anecdotal record of her thespian experiences in a series of articles called `Mercia’s Missives`. She describes with humour and pathos the difficulties in working with misogynistic directors, unsympathetic make-up artists, bitchy co-stars and young actors who think they are God’s gift to women.
She is very supportive of the rights of the Aboriginal Australians people in Australia saying: “It's a beautiful country nature wise. Yet, for me, it's a cultural desert. What the colonisers did to our Indigenous brothers and sisters is a total disgrace, and until there is reparation or a treaty signed and land returned, this country shall have a heart that only just beats. It may be multi-cultural, but it is fiercely racist, and because of that, ignorant. We should have the Aboriginal Flag, and in such a wealthy country there should be no poverty or illnesses that belong to the third world for our Indigenous peoples. They die younger than the white population; suffer from kidney disease, and the eye disease trachoma. It's a disgrace. So often Governments give funding, and yet it never seems to reach where it is actually needed. As a child, I would become hysterical watching anything to do with whites treating blacks badly. They'd have to drag me out of the room. I still feel the same. I am very proud to say that many of my friends are black activists in this country. They have worked hard for justice and continue to do so.”
As well as singing and acting Mercia has a penchant for stand-up comedy and has ambitions to appear at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe one day.
Mercia appeared with co-star and fellow Australian singer and actress Anne-Maree McDonald in Caliente in 2011. This was a one-hour stand-up comedy routine which they performed at The El Rocco Room, in Sydney’s Kings Cross, New South Wales.
Between 2006-2010 Mercia attended Southern Cross University and obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Writing and Communication.
The administrations of Australian Prime Ministers John Gorton (1968 – 1971) and Gough Whitlam (1972 - 1975) put considerable extra funding in to the Australian film industry which led to the `New Wave` of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. There were memorable productions like Picnic at Hanging Rock with Helen Morse and Anne-Louise Lambert, My Brilliant Career with Judy Davis, Wendy Hughes and Sam Neill released in August 1979, Summerfield with Nick Tate, John Waters and Elizabeth Alexander made in 1977 and The Plumber with Judy Morris and Ivor Kants directed by Peter Weir in 1979. There were the two films about the Juanita Nielsen affair; Heatwave Heatwave (film) and The Killing of Angel Street which both came out about the same time in the early 1980's. There was Long Weekend starring John Hargreaves and Briony Behets in 1978. There was Going Down (1983 film) in 1983 and Winter of Our Dreams in 1981 which both featured Mercia and the horror film Patrick with Susan Penhaligon, Robert Helpmann, Julia Blake and Robert Thompson in 1978. There was Gallipoli (1981 film) with Mel Gibson, Gerda Nicolson, Bill Kerr and Bill Hunter. Of course, we mustn't forget Crocodile Dundee with the unforgettable Paul Hogan.
This was perhaps the golden age of the Cinema of Australia and Mercia was a proud part of it.
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Mercia Deane-Johns filmography:
| Title | Year | Role | Director | Notes |
| Throbbin' 84 | 2017 | Bulldozer | Timothy Spanos | |
| Last Cab to Darwin | 2015 | Fay | Jeremy | |
| The One Who Broke Your Heart | 2012 | Sean's Mum | Scott Pickett | Short film |
| Unfinished Sky | 2007 | Barbara | Peter Duncan | |
| Airtight | 1999 | Ma Lucci | Ian Barry | TV Movie |
| Erskineville Kings | 1999 | Barmaid | Alan White | |
| McLeod's Daughters | 1996 | Rosa | Michael Offer | TV Movie |
| Harbour Beat | 1990 | Secretary | David Elfick | |
| Room to Move | 1987 | Janet | John Duigan | TV Movie |
| Pandemonium | 1987 | Morticia | Haydn Keenan | |
| Double Sculls | 1986 | Melanie Atkins | Ian Gilmour | TV Movie |
| Body Business | 1986 | Colin Eggleston | TV Mini-series 2x2 hours | |
| Conferenceville | 1984 | Julian Pringle | TV Movie | |
| Crime of the Decade | 1984 | Ken Cameron | TV Movie | |
| Molly | 1983 | Ned Lander | ||
| Going Down | 1982 | Ned | Haydn Keenan | Released 1983 |
| Heatwave | 1981 | Secretary | Phillip Noyce | Released 1982 |
| Winter of Our Dreams | 1981 | Angela | John Duigan | |
| The Box | 1975 | Typist | Paul Eddey | |
| Alvin Purple also called The Sex Therapist | 1973 | Small role | Tim Burstall |
References:Big text
1/ Mercia Deane-Johns on IMDb http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0213055/
2/ Mercia Deane-Johns at Replete Management http://repletetalent.com/portfolio/mercia-deane-johns/
3/ Mercia Deane-Johns at Hollywood.com http://www.hollywood.com/celebrities/mercia-deane-johns-57409707/
4/ Mercia’s Missives https://merciamissives.wordpress.com/
5/ Australian Times Mercia Beaucoup: battler of Aussie stage and screen http://www.australiantimes.co.uk/mercia-beaucoup-battler-of-aussie-stage-and-screen/
6/ Mercia Deane-Johns You Tube various clips of her career https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vq2Kyj1kek
7/ Famous Fix Last Cab to Darwin http://www.famousfix.com/topic/last-cab-to-darwin
8/ Mercia Deane-Johns photos at Myspace https://myspace.com/merciadeanejohns/mixes/classic-my-photos-425591/photo/152716710
9/ Mercia Deane-Johns Show reel https://vimeo.com/192235404
10/ Mercia Deane-Johns clip from Going Down https://vimeo.com/17205248
11/ Guinevere Jones at Australian Television Information Archive http://www.australiantelevision.net/guinevere-jones/
12/ Winter of Our Dreams Australian Screen Online (ASO)
https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/winter-of-our-dreams/
13/ Going Down on ASO https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/going-down/
14/ Heatwave at Australian Screen Online (ASO)
https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/heatwave/
15/ McLeod’s Daughters on ASO https://aso.gov.au/titles/tv/mcleods-daughters/clip1/
16/ Winner Take All – Downside Risk on ASO https://aso.gov.au/titles/tv/winner-take-all-downside-risk/clip1/