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Character Profiles > Charlene Robinson Kylie Minogue

Charlene 'Lennie' Edna Robinson (née Mitchell) 1986-1988
Lived: 24, 26 Ramsay Street
Born: 1969
Parents: Fred and Madge Mitchell
Marital Status: Scott Robinson (1987-)
Siblings: Henry and Sam
Children: Daniel and Madison
Family Tree: Ramsay/Mitchell
Occupation: Student, Mechanic

Born in 1969 in Coff's Harbour, New South Wales, Charlene Mitchell was the second child of Fred and Madge Mitchell. Much to her mother's dismay, Charlene grew into a tomboy who rebelled against who she saw as an intensely overbearing mother and was the apple of her father's eye. Growing up, Charlene often visited her uncle Max and his family in Ramsay Street, Erinsborough (named after her great-grandfather) where she grew friendly with the boy next door, Scott Robinson.

In Coff's Harbour, Charlene's life was always full of drama. She lost her virginity at 15 to her boyfriend Greg, thinking he loved her. But when she fell pregnant, he left her in the lurch and Charlene made the difficult decision to have an abortion. Charlene was further troubled by her parents' divorce after Fred was caught having an affair with a younger woman, Susan Cole. Madge decided to return to Ramsay Street but Charlene couldn't see any wrong in her father and stayed with him in Coff's Harbour. But after she and Fred began to argue, Charlene decided to head for Erinsborough to stay with Madge. On her arrival, nobody was home at No. 24 and Charlene decided to enter the house by climbing through an open window. Mistaking her for a robber, Scott Robinson ran up to the house and tried to stop her but Charlene punched him in the face. Once they realised the mistake, they both remembered that mutual attraction they felt towards eachother since they were kids. Not long after Charlene agreed to stay with Madge permanently at No. 24, she started seeing Scott.

As their relationship developed, Scott began to put pressure on Charlene to have sex with him. When Charlene finally relented, they booked a room at Lassiter's, the local hotel owned by Scott's older brother Paul. Before they got intimate, Charlene decided to confide in Scott about her sexual relationship with Greg back in New South Wales. Scott, upset that this was not going to be Charlene's first time, stormed out of the hotel leaving Charlene in tears. But after he talked through his problems with Paul, Scott apologised to Charlene and they agreed to put it behind them.

Charlene's relationship with Madge was always strained but Charlene pushed her mother to the limit when she came home one afternoon with a newborn baby, claiming it was hers. Madge was horrified and hurt that Charlene had worked so hard to hide the pregnancy from her. Scott, too, was just as stunned. As Madge got used to the idea, she began to enjoy being a grandmother and welcomed baby Sam into the family. But when Charlene revealed to Madge that Sam was actually her half-brother, Fred and Susan's baby, Madge was disgusted. Charlene, it transpired, had agreed to look after Sam while Susan recovered from an illness in the wake of Fred walking out on her and she pleaded with Madge to forgive her. Madge, feeling sorry for Sam and even Susan, agreed to let them stay at No. 24 until they found their feet. Charlene was thrilled and soon found them a permanent home lodging with Clive Gibbons next door.

When Scott and Mike decided to try their luck in the world of music and record a demo tape to send around to various record producers, Scott asked Charlene to do the backing vocals. However, Scott was less than impressed when record producer Molly Meldrum arrived in Ramsay Street looking only to sign up Charlene. A thrilled Charlene agreed to see if she liked the recording industry but when she went to the studios she realised it wasn't for her and decided to complete Year 12. Scott, too, came to realise that he had been unreasonably jealous of Charlene's talents, and apologised to her.

Charlene went on to cause more problems for her mother when she started dating school tearaway Warren Murphy, while split from Scott. Charlene began to drink with Warren and stay out late at parties. The arguments that followed with Madge prompted Charlene to pack her bags and she moved into a caravan by Lassiter's Lake. However, the move nearly cost her her life when the caravan went up in flames. Scott and Paul managed to save Charlene and after coming to her senses, she got back together with Scott and returned home to live with Madge.

After completing her HSC, Charlene decided she wanted to become a mechanic but found it difficult to obtain an apprenticeship in Erinsborough. When her Uncle Max found her an apprenticeship in Brisbane, Madge tried to persuade Charlene to take advantage of the opportunity. But Charlene knew that taking the job in Queensland would mean having to leave Scott behind. However, after a lot of soul-searching, and pressure from her mother, she decided it was too good an opportunity to pass up and made plans to go to Brisbane. However, when the day came for her to leave, Charlene realised she couldn't bear to be apart from Scott and decided to stay in Erinsborough and look for an apprenticeship there. Soon after, Charlene's dream came true when Rob Lewis offered her an apprenticeship at his garage.

As Charlene and Scott's relationship became more and more serious, the couple decided they wanted to move in together. But both Madge and Scott's father Jim were completely aghast at the idea and did everything they could to stop the young lovers. Charlene also came up against the opposition of Madge's prudish old flame Harold Bishop, who had just become engaged to her mother. It was only Scott's grandmother Helen and Charlene's brother, Henry, who supported the couple and Helen did everything she could to try to change Jim and Madge's minds. But as the opposition continued to grow, Scott decided that there was only one way he and Charlene could be together - through marriage. As Charlene was fixing the engine on a car one day at the garage, Scott interrupted her and surprised her by asking her to marry him. Charlene immediately agreed and they got engaged. Even Madge realised she could no longer deny the fact that the two were deeply in love and gave them her blessing. And Jim finally came around to the idea after Helen reminded him that he had married Scott's mother at a similar age and he welcomed Charlene to the Robinson family by giving her his late wife's gold cross and chain. Charlene's happiness was complete when Henry and Madge surprised her with the wedding dress she had longed for but couldn't afford to buy. Despite one last hiccup where she broke out in a rash in the days leading up to her big day, Charlene and Scott were finally married in a fairytale ceremony in July 1987.

The couple moved in with Madge and Henry at No. 24 to save on the expense of renting. However, they still found it hard to make ends meet since Scott was repeating Year 12 and only worked part-time for the Erinsborough News. Charlene was forced to take on some part-time shifts at the Coffee Shop to help support herself and her husband. Charlene was taken by surprise when Scott raised the possibility of starting a family after the couple babysat young Jamie for Des and Daphne Clarke. Despite Charlene pointing out that they were still newlyweds and had no home of their own, Scott was adamant they could do it and Charlene started to like the idea herself. But Jim talked them out of the idea after pointing out how much he and Scott's mother had missed out on by having kids at such a young age and the couple agreed to wait a few more years.

Charlene and Scott's marriage faced a major crisis when Scott kissed Charlene's best friend, Jane Harris, who was tutoring him in maths for the HSC. The pair mistakenly thought the clinch had been witnessed by Henry, but what actually led to the truth coming out was Mike revealing to Charlene that he had recently read Jane's high school diary which detailed the crush she had harboured for Scott. So when Charlene approached Jane about her suspicions that there was something going on between them, Jane thought Henry had told his sister and admitted that she had kissed Scott. Hurt and betrayed by her husband and her best friend, Charlene angrily confronted Scott and she threw him out of the Ramsay house, forcing Scott to move back in with his family next door. A month long separation followed during which Helen, Henry and various other family members intervened in an attempt to get the couple reconciled. Finally, when Jane returned after spending time away as a model, she confronted Charlene and made her realise that she still loved Scott. Charlene and Scott reunited and Charlene also came to forgive Jane after she was injured when she fell from Mike's motorbike.

Further marriage problems occurred for the couple when Charlene found herself attracted to her driving instructor, Steve Fisher, who she had met while on holidays at her grandparents' in Queensland. Scott was suspicious of the pair from the outset, but was repeatedly reassured by Charlene that nothing was going on. But after passing her driving test, Charlene ended up kissing Steve and with Scott away in Canberra, she began to spend more and more time with Steve. But before anything else could happen between them, Charlene told Steve she couldn't see him anymore. She then confessed what had happened with Steve to Scott, who refused to talk to her and spent several nights in Henry's room. They eventually patched things up at the Ramsay Street Fifties night when 'Suddenly', their wedding song, was played. The ordeal led the couple to decide the time was right to start looking for a place of their own and they began flat-hunting around Erinsborough.

But Charlene's doting grandfather Dan went one step further when he visited and told the couple he had bought a house for them in Brisbane. Charlene and Scott were thrilled with the idea of finally living in their own home and made preparations to move up north. But Scott was unable to get a transfer from his cadetship at the Erinsborough News and was uneasy about risking missing out on his dream of becoming a journalist. The couple ultimately made the heartbreaking decision that Charlene should go on ahead to Brisbane while Scott waited for a transfer. In a tearful goodbye to her family and friends, Charlene kissed her beloved Scott goodbye and drove out of Ramsay Street to begin her new life in Brisbane. Scott joined her soon after and in 1992, Charlene gave birth to a son, Daniel and later had a daughter, Madison.

Trivia Notes
• Charlene's nickname for her journalist boyfriend was 'Scoop'
• Kylie Minogue's portrayal of Charlene won a Logie award for Most Popular Actress in 1987. In 1988 she won Gold and Silver Logies for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television and Most Popular Actress respectively

Tenure
234-777