You'll know Fiona Spence better as Celia Stewart in the popular series Home And Away. And home is definitely where her heart is, as Pamela Wyatt found out.
Fiona Spence, who plays Celia Stewart in Home And Away,
has also played a very different role - the nasty Vera in Prisoner: Cell
Block H. But, in real life, Fiona isn't a bit like Vera.
In fact, she's a charming, petite lady who's very easy
to talk to.
"I
play two very different characters in the two shows," she told me.
"They're such different types of women - but I think they're both sad characters
even though they have such different personalities.
"Actually, it's been quite a change for me doing Home
And Away. It's a much lighter part altogether."
I asked Fiona a bit about her background.
"I was born in Bromley in England," she said. "My
mother was Irish and my father was Australian - he was in the British Army.
"When I was six we went back to Australia, so I had my
school days there.
"I returned to England in the late Sixties and early
Seventies for a short period and then I went back to Australia, to acting
school, as that was something I'd always really wanted to do.
"I graduated after three years, and I've been an actress
ever since. I've done some theatre of course - I think that's where
most actors get their experience.
"I've also done quite a bit of TV. I started Cell
Block H in 1979, which I believe has quite a cult following in Britain.
"It's been very popular too in the USA which we were all pleased about. Then about a year ago I started with Home And Away which I'm also very glad to say has gone very well, too."
Did she have any relations in the acting business, I wondered.
"No. I have two brothers - one is a pilot over
there, the other is at university. Actually, I'm halfway through
a university course.
"I'm taking an arts degree, but it's really very hard
to do while I'm working, so I'll have to go back to it when I have some
time off.
"I'm not married, but I have my own beautiful home in Melbourne. I'm really proud of it, and I really miss it when I go to Sydney to film Home And Away.
"It's over five hundred miles from Sydney to Melbourne, so I really can't go back too often. Unless I can manage a few days it's not worth it. If I don't happen to be in scenes for a couple of days I can go.
"I also really miss my two King Charles spaniels. I adore them, but I'm afraid I have to leave them at home as I can't have them while I'm working.
"I couldn't take them to the studio - it's not allowed,
I'm afraid!
"My lovely garden I'm loth to leave, too - I'm nutty
about that. I really adore gardening.
"If I hadn't been an actress, perhaps I might have had a market garden or something. I really find it most relaxing pottering in the garden, in my jeans and an old shirt.
"To me it's the most wonderful thing to see marvellous
flowers and plants just come up from absolutely nothing, and over here
things seem to grow so quickly. I suppose it's the climate or something.
"I know a lot of my friends think I'm crazy - I'm one
of those people who talk and sing to their plants and flowers. I
really don't care what anyone says, I really do think it makes
them grow.
"I think Prince Charles does that, too, doesn't he?"
she asked, smiling.
"One of my friends, Vanessa - she's also in Cell Block
H - has been a very big help to me with my garden in Melbourne. She
taught me such a lot about gardens in general."
I asked Fiona what other interests she had.
"Well, I like water sports, and walking. I can't
think of anything nicer than taking my dogs for a walk - or rather, they
take me!
"They both have minds of their own. They really are little devils sometimes, but I still love them a lot. I've always loved animals, even as a young kid.
"I remember if it was very hot in the summer and I was
on the beach, I'd go and find a tin or something and fill it with water,
and if I saw stray dogs on the beach wandering about I'd give them the
water. I was always taking stray or sick animals home.
"I think my mother got a bit fed up sometimes - she said
she wasn't Noah's Ark"
Had Fiona ever worked overseas at all?
"No, I haven't, but I'd like to very much when Home And
Away finishes. I'd like to do more theatre work, and as Britain is
noted as being the home of the theatre, perhaps I'll be lucky enough to
work over there in a show some time.
"It would be wonderful. I'd really look forward
to it.
"It would also give me a chance to meet some of my fans in Britain. I've had such charming letters from them.
"It would be great fun to meet them. I really haven't
travelled around all that much. I've been to the USA and Hawaii.
"Something I've thought of doing in my next break - I
don't think it will be very relaxing - is to go trekking in the Himalayas.
I'm going with a friend.
"Don't you think it sounds exciting? Can you imagine
us tramping up there with our packs on our backs?
"But I'm really looking forward to it," she went on.
"I guess I've always liked excitement and been a bit of a tomboy.
"I suppose it was having two brothers. We were
always getting up to something or other.
"Whatever they were doing I always wanted to join in,
whether they wanted me to or not. I expect I was a pain in the neck
to them sometimes."
I asked if it was very different for her working on Home
And Away with all the young teenagers in the cast, after working with the
actors in Prisoner: Cell Block H.
"Of course, it's quite different," she said. "It's
been really wonderful, though, and we've been blessed with having such
a wonderful cast who all get on so well.
"It does make such a difference if everyone in the
cast gets on together, as we have so many hours at a time with each other.
"It's awful if people start to get temperamental on the
set. I've been in shows like that and then everyone starts to get
upset, so it's a real treat to be in this one.
"I also think the theatrical business is rather sad in
some ways, as we tend to make really good friends in some shows when we're
working so long together, then when the show finishes we all go off to
our own home towns or on to different shows, and we may not see each other
again for months or maybe even years.
"In Sydney I have my mother and other relations so it's
been really nice working here."
I wondered what her plans for the future were.
"Well, when Home And Away finishes I'd really like to
do more theatre work than I have been doing. I really miss the live
audience.
"Being on TV so long I expect it'll be a bit frightening
when I start again, but like all actors, I love the smell of the greasepaint
and the roar of the crowd - and the applause, too, of course!"
[Taken from My Weekly magazine - 1989(?)]