Deborah Mailman Biography

Deborah Mailman (born 14 July 1972) is an Australian television and film actress. She was the first Aboriginal actress to win the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She is well known for having played the character "Kelly" on successful Australian television series, The Secret Life of Us. She is also well known for her current role as Cherie in the successful Australian drama series Offspring.

Early life

Mailman grew up in Mount Isa in north west Queensland and is one of five children born to Wally Mailman, a famous Rodeo Rider and horseman, and Jane (Heeni) Mailman, the daughter of a Preacher and talented musician. She has both Indigenous Australian (Bidjera) and M?ori (Ngati Porou and Te Arawa) heritage. In 1992 she graduated from Queensland University of Technology Academy of the Arts with A Bachelor of Arts majoring in Performing Arts. Since then she has worked extensively in Australian film, television and theater as well as many contributions overseas. She played the role of Kate in aLa Boite Theatre production of Shakespeare's 'The Taming of the Shrew' in 1994.

Career

In 1998, Mailman won her first AFI win, was for playing the character "Nona", in the Australian independent film Radiance. From here she has since become one of Australia's most prominent local actors especially through her lead role on The Secret Life of Us, a role for which she was twice awarded Most Outstanding Actress In A Drama Series at the Logies (2002 and 2004). She stayed during the shows entire duration (2001"2006).

She then took part in a four-part television documentary series with Cathy Freeman called Going Bush (2006) where the pair set off on a journey from Broome to Arnhem Land spending time with Indigenous communities along the way. She was featured prominently in the Leah Purcell documentary Black Chicks Talking (2001), where she candidly discussed her thoughts about her Aboriginal heritage.

She appeared in the Play School TV series and was part of The Actors Company for the Sydney Theatre Company (2006"2007).

She appeared in the film Rabbit-Proof Fence. She played a lead role in the 2010 musical film Bran Nue Dae. In the play The Sapphires and the subsequent film of the same name she played the role of singer Gail McCrae.

She was awarded an Inside Film Award for her short film Ralph. She played the role of Cherie Butterfield in Channel Ten's Offspring drama series.

In 2012 she is starring in Redfern Now, an indigenous mini-series for the ABC.

Personal life

Mailman's partner is advertising executive Matthew Coonan. They have two sons, Henry and Oliver. Deborah has four other siblings.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1998	Radiance	Nona
2000	The Third Note	Tina
2000	The Monkey's Mask	Lou
2001-2006	The Secret Life of Us	Kelly Lewis / Narrator	TV series (Seasons 1-4, Episodes 1-86)
2002	Rabbit-Proof Fence	Mavis
2006	The Book of Revelation	Julie
2009	Bran Nue Dae	Roxanne
2010"Present	Offspring	Cherie Butterfield	TV series
2012	Mental	Sandra
2012	The Sapphires	Gail McCrae
2012	Mabo (TV film)	Bonita
2012	Redfern Now	Lorraine	TV series (Episode 3: Raymond)

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Nominated work	Result
1998	Best Performance by a Leading Actress	Radiance
2003	Best Leading Actress in a Television Drama	The Secret Life Of Us
2010	Best Supporting Role in a Feature Film	Bran Nue Dae
2010	Best Supporting Role in a Television Drama	Offspring (TV series)
2012	Best Performance by a Leading Actress	The Sapphires
2002	Most Outstanding Actress In A Drama Series	The Secret Life Of Us
2004	Most Outstanding Actress In A Drama Series	The Secret Life Of Us
2003	NAIDOC Person of the Year
2004	Female Actor of the Year