Home and Away legend looks unrecognisable 35 years on from soap debut – would you have recognised her?…
A HOME and Away legend looks completely unrecognisable 35 years after first stepping into Summer Bay – but would you have recognised her?
Soap icon, who played much-loved foster mum Pippa Ross, looks worlds away from her Summer Bay days.
Debra Lawrance took over the role as Pippa Ross from 1990 to 1998.
The Australian actress made a number of subsequent return appearances, the most recent being in 2009.
The original Pippa was played by Vanessa Downing, who left the soap in 1990.
Debra met her husband, Dennis Coard, when he was cast as Pippa’s second husband on Home and Away as Michael Ross.
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They married in 1992 and have two children together.
The Melbourne-born actress has a Bachelor of Dramatic Art at NIDA, alongside the likes of Mel Gibson.
She has appeared in a number of TV roles, but her big break was a lead role in The Fast Lane, a widely successful ABC comedy.
Her success led to her appearance in the film Evil Angels, starring Meryl Streep.
Debra is also known for her role as Rose in Please Like Me, for which she won an AACTA Award for Best Performance in a Television Comedy and a Logie Award for Most Outstanding Supporting Actress.
She briefly joined rival soap Neighbours in 2018 as Liz Conway, the sister of Susan Kennedy.
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The star has also dabbled in reality TV, appearing as a celebrity contestant on Hell’s Kitchen Australia in 2017.
She won the series, winning $50,000 for her nominated charity Ovarian Cancer Australia.
She also appeared as a contestant in the ninth season of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! in 2023.
Debra has also taken to the stage playing Minerva McGonagall in the stage production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, both in Melbourne and in the UK from 2019 to 2024.
Away from acting, she has her own business teaching vocal communication skills.
