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Actor, Cameo & Crew Profiles > Actor Profiles > Anne Charleston

Anne Charleston was born on 30th December 1942 in Melbourne, Australia. Her parents were a bank official and housewife, and they had wanted her to attend university, but she just wanted to sing and dance and so pursued her dream to act. After a bad relationship, Anne became a single parent to her son, Nick.

Anne had an established acting career long before she was cast in Neighbours: During the 1970s, she took on various guest television roles in series including Homicide Division 4, Matlock Police, Hunter, Ryan and The Long Arm. Anne also appeared in soap operas Bellbird and Class of '75. During the 1980s, she took on a larger recurring role in a new soap, Possession, which went on to be cancelled within a year. Throughout this time Anne also enjoyed a varied and busy career in the Australian theatre.

In 1986, Anne was cast as Madge Mitchell in Neighbours, a new character introduced when the show moved to its new home at Channel Ten, and she soon became internationally recognised, winning a Penguin Award for Best Actress in 1987. In 1992, Anne left Neighbours and emigrated to the Republic of Ireland citing “I was born and brought up in Australia, but Ireland's where I belong.” However, Anne returned four years later to reprise the role of Madge until the character was diagnosed with cancer in 2001, and died in husband Harold's arms in some of Neighbours' most moving scenes.

Following Neighbours, Anne’s acting career would continue with roles in the comedy series Dossa and Joe, and the relaunching of UK soap opera Crossroads. In 2006 Anne joined the cast of popular British soap Emmerdale as the character of Lily Butterfield, remaining on and off with the soap until 2009. More recently, Anne has appeared in the 2013 Prisoner remake Wentworth. Throughout Anne’s acting career she has been a regular in pantomimes and radio appearances.

In 2015, Anne resurrected the character of Madge and returned to Neighbours for their 30th anniversary, alongside her on-screen husband and soul mate Harold. As Madge had died fourteen years earlier, the character appeared as a vision who could only be seen by Harold, offering him advice and guidance as he struggled to move on with his life.

Profile by Debbie