Carmen Duncan

• Name — Carmen Duncan • Birth Name — Carmen Joan Duncan • Born — 7 July 1942 • Birthplace — Cooma, New South Wales, Australia • Died — 3 February 2019 • Place of death — Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Education — National Institute of Dramatic Art • Occupation — Actress and activist • Years Active — 1960–2019 • Family — Paula Duncan (sister) • Children — 2

Duncan was born in Lismore in 1942, and grew up in Cooma, New South Wales, Her family moved to Double Bay in Sydney in the late 1950s, where she graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in 1961.

Duncan was known to Australian audiences as a character actress in television, stage and film, as well as having appeared in television commercials. Duncan relocated to England early in her career, spending the 1960s in London and the UK appearing in weekly repertory theatre. She went on to play the lead in Make Me a Widow in the West End. She was nominated for Best Actress at the Theatre Critics Award for her role as Meg in the National Theatre's tour of A Man for All Seasons, before winning the award a few years later for her role in After the Fall. She went on to appear in numerous theatre roles in Australia, between 1970 and 2015. When Duncan returned to Australia, she starred in several television series, including The Battlers, You Can't See 'Round Corners, Delta and Hunter, the latter in 1967. In 1973, she played Helen Sheridan in evening soap opera Number 96 for several months. She left the series when she was pregnant with her second child and Jill Forster took over the role. In the early 1970s, Duncan's younger sister Paula followed her into acting. However they only ever worked together once, in an episode of Cop Shop. A role on the soap Certain Women followed. Duncan later had an ongoing role in Skyways, and guest starred in several episodes of A Country Practice as Terence Elliott's wife, Rowena. Her film roles included Touch and Go (1980) and Run Chrissie Run! (1984). She was nominated for the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress for her role as Sandra Rast in 1980 horror film Harlequin. She also starred in 1982 Ozploitation film Turkey Shoot (1982) and later, its 2014 reboot. Duncan emigrated to the United States in the 1980s, where she acted on television. From October 1988 to September 1994, she portrayed Iris Carrington Wheeler on long-running American daytime soap opera Another World. She succeeded Beverlee McKinsey in the role after a long absence. Many of her critics, including TV Guide Michael Logan, remarked that her accent sounded less American than her counterparts, making her seem out of place in the serial. As an actress, she generally used a Cultivated Australian accent, which is similar to Received Pronunciation. After leaving the Another World role in the mid-1990s, Duncan returned to Australia, where she acted in guest roles on television series including All Saints, Water Rats, Farscape, Head Start, Something in the Air, Always Greener. She also lampooned her former soap opera image on television commercials. In 2003, Duncan appeared as Anna Denton on CrashBurn. In 2004, she returned to the United States to fill in for Eileen Fulton as Lisa Grimaldi in three episodes of As the World Turns, while Fulton was on emergency medical leave. Back in Australia, she later appeared in Winners & Losers and Pulse. Duncan became a member of Actors Equity in 1962 and the federal council of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance.

Duncan retired from acting in 2006 and became a fundraising manager for the GO Fund, a New South Wales charity associated with gynaecological cancer. She served as an ambassador for the Breast Care Centre at the Royal Hospital for Women.

Duncan lived in Sydney. She was married to Norman Barrett (who went by the name of 'Adrian') in 1968. Together, they had two children – a son and a daughter. The couple split in 1984. Through her children, Duncan had three grandchildren, living in Sydney and Darwin. Duncan's younger sister is fellow actress Paula Duncan.

In 2000, Duncan was diagnosed and treated for early stage breast cancer. She later also developed bowel and thyroid cancer and eventually succumbed to vaginal cancer, a rare gynaecological cancer. She died in hospital in Sydney, on 3 February 2019, aged 76.

• Year — Title — Role — Type • 1963 — The Hungry Ones — Regular role • 1966–67 — Nice 'n Juicy — Rosie Withers — 2 episodes • 1966–73 — Homicide — Barbara Scott / Sally Trevor / Gail Fisher — 3 episodes • 1967 — Hunter — Rosie Glow — 3 episodes • You Can't See 'Round Corners — Myra Neilson — 4 episodes • Australian Playhouse — 1 episode • 1968 — The Battlers — 1 episode • 1969 — Ready When You Are, C.B. — Teleplay • A Christmas Carol — Teleplay • Riptide — Professor Karen Shaw / Kate Brett — 2 episodes • Delta — Diane — 1 episode • Division 4 — Irene Daly — 1 episode • 1970 — The Link Men — Carol Crane — 1 episode • 1972 — Matlock Police — Lisa King — 1 episode • The Spoiler — Marie — 13 episodes • 1973 — Catch Kandy — Mrs. Wayne — 9 episodes • And Millions Will Die! — Jill Brennan — TV movie • Ryan — Anne — 1 episode • Number 96 — Helen Sheridan / Helen Sheridan Sellars — 15 episodes • 1974 — The Evil Touch — Girl — 1 episode • 1974–75 — Certain Women — Beth Pearson — 7 episodes • 1975 — Something Special — 1 episode • 1976 — Jackson High — TV pilot • Mama's Gone A-Hunting — Helena Stevens — TV movie • 1977 — Hotel Story — Regular role: — 6 episodes • 1978 — Chopper Squad — Gary's wife — 1 episode • 1978–81 — Cop Shop — Meredith Wade / Carla Hauser / Kim Morgan — 6 episodes • 1979 — A Place In the World — TV miniseries, 2 episodes • The Young Doctors — Sylvia Marcus — 3 episodes • Skyways — Elaine MacFarlane — 30 episodes • 1981 — Intimate Strangers — Elodie — TV miniseries, 2 episodes • 1982; 1986 — A Country Practice — Rowena Elliott — 14 episodes • 1983 — Les traqués de l'an 2000 • Skin Deep — Vanessa Corey — TV movie • 1984 — Special Squad — Lorraine — 1 episode • Super Sleuth — Margaret Little — TV movie • 1985 — Stock Squad — TV movie • 1986 — Body Business — Cassie Fairchild — TV miniseries • 1987 — The Flying Doctors — Jan Buchanan — 1 episode • Rafferty's Rules — Stella Samuels — 1 episode • 1988–94 — Another World — Iris Wheeler • 1995 — Frailejón • 1996 — Women: Stories of Passion — Faith — 1 episode • 1998 — Pacific Drive — Guest role: — 1 episode • 2000 — The Lost World — Kayla — 1 episode • All Saints — Elizabeth Wallace — 1 episode • Ihaka: Blunt Instrument — Mrs. Renton — TV movie • 2000; 2002 — Farscape — Leslie Crichton — 2 episodes • 2001 — Water Rats — Geraldine St. Clare — 1 episode • Head Start — Ellen — TV miniseries, 1 episode • Something in the Air — Margaret Jenkins — 3 episodes • 2002 — Counterstrike — President Elinor Shaw — TV movie • The Junction Boys — Mary Harmon — TV movie • 2003 — Always Greener — Antonia Jones — 1 episode • CrashBurn — Anna Denton — 13 episodes • 2004 — As the World Turns — Lisa Grimaldi — 3 episodes • 2011–12 — Winners & Losers — Prof Kerry Green — 10 episodes • 2016 — Ash vs Evil Dead — Lillian Pendergrass — 1 episode • 2017 — Pulse — Nora Johns — 1 episode

• Year — Title — Role — Type • 1960 — The Life of the Insects — Clytie / Sixth Moth — UNSW with NIDA • Gammer Gurton's Needle — Scrapetrifte • 1961 — Peer Gynt — Ingrid — The New Auditorium, Kensington with AETT / NIDA • The Strangest Kind of Romance — The Landlady — UNSW • The Beggar's Opera — Mrs. Coaxer — UNSW with AETT / NIDA • The Imaginary Invalid — Toinette the maid • 1962 — A Man for All Seasons — Meg — Palace Theatre, Sydney, Union Hall, Adelaide • Write Me a Murder — Palace Theatre, Sydney with AETT • 1963 — The Playboy of the Western World — UNSW Old Tote Theatre, Sydney • Make Me a Widow — Lead role — West End, London • Hamlet • 1965 — After the Fall — Independent Theatre, Sydney • 1966 — Cactus Flower — Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, Theatre Royal Sydney with J. C. Williamson's • 1967 — The Dance of Death — Independent Theatre, Sydney • The Cocktail Party • Getting Married — Independent Theatre, Sydney, Playhouse Canberra • 1970 — Lunchtime — AMP Theatrette, Sydney with Q Theatre Company / The Theatre Group • 1971 — A Scent of Flowers • 1972 — Birds on the Wing — Macleay Theatre, Sydney • 1973 — A Patriot for Me — Independent Theatre, Sydney • Cat on a Hot Tin Roof • 1974 — Romeo and Juliet • 1975 — The Austral Muse — Nimrod Theatre, Sydney with Artists' Co-operative Theatre • Down Under — Stables Theatre, Sydney with King O'Malley Theatre Company • 1977 — Next — St James Playhouse, Sydney with Lunchtime Playhouse • Lovers — Plaza Cinema, Sydney with Lunchtime Playhouse • 1978 — Bedroom Farce — Theatre Royal Sydney, Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne with Peter Williams Productions / AETT • 1981 — Cat on a Hot Tin Roof — Maggie — SGIO Theatre, Brisbane with QTC • 1983 — Top Girls — Marlene — Nimrod Theatre, Sydney • 1987 — Blithe Spirit — Elvira — Sydney Opera House, Glen St Theatre, Sydney, Canberra Theatre, Newcastle Civic Theatre with Forest Theatre Company • 2001 — On Approval — Glen St Theatre, Sydney • 2013 — A Murder is Announced — Mrs Swettenham — Sydney Theatre, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne • 2015 — The Credeaux Canvas — Tess — Seymour Centre, Sydney • Anything Goes — Evangeline Harcourt — Princess Theatre, Melbourne, Lyric Theatre, Brisbane, Sydney Opera House with Gordon Frost Organisation Source: