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Actor, Cameo & Crew Profiles > Actor Profiles > Kylie Minogue

Kylie Ann Minogue was born 28th May 1968 in Melbourne, Australia to accountant Ron Minogue from Townesville, Queensland, and former ballerina Carol Minogue née Jones who had emigrated to Australia from Maesteg, Wales in 1955. Kylie was the eldest of three; sister Dannii was born 1971, and brother Brendan, born 1973. Her acting career began at the age of twelve with small parts in the soaps The Sullivans and Skyways but her first big role came in 1985 playing 'Char' Kernow in The Henderson Kids. Kylie had singing ability too and performed in 1983 on Young Talent Time with her sister Dannii who was already a regular performer on the programme.

However, Kylie quickly eclipsed her sister's fame and became a household name when in 1986, she won the role of Madge's daughter Charlene Mitchell in Neighbours. The soap was gradually gaining a strong following and Minogue's portrayal of feisty teen Charlene boosted ratings further, especially amoung young viewers. In the two years Minogue featured in Neighbours the programme became a phenomenon and Kylie herself won huge praise for her performance; she became the first person to win four Logie awards in one event. She is especially remembered for her character's romance and marriage to neighbour Scott Robinson, played by Jason Donovan. Although it was denied at the time, the young actors were also having a relationship and this may be part of the reason they are still considered one of Neighbours best onscreen partnerships.

In 1987 Minogue performed a version of the Little Eva song The Loco-Motion alongside other Neighbours cast members at a fundraiser for Fitzroy Football Club. She was spotted by a music executive and quickly signed to Mushroom Records in Australia who then released the renamed Locomotion to huge success. Following this she flew to Britain to work with music producers Stock, Aitken and Waterman and together they struck a vein of pop gold with Kylie becoming one of the most successful stars of the 20th century. A string of hits became the soundtrack for a generation in the UK, Europe and Australia; I Should Be So Lucky, Got To Be Certain, Especially For You (with Jason Donovan), Hand On Your Heart, Tears On My Pillow, Better The Devil You Know, Step Back In Time, Shocked - for fans, it seemed Kylie could do no wrong.

As her music career went from strength to strength, Minogue's acting went on the back burner. She gave up her part in Neighbours in 1988 and after a starring role in the 1989 film The Delinquents, she took a five year break from screen work and concentrated on the music.

After her enourmous success with Stock, Aitken and Waterman, Kylie moved to Deconstruction Records in 1993. There she was given the freedom to make more mature music and gained her own song writing credits. She was even moved to complain that under her former record label she'd felt stifled. Singles such as Confide In Me, Put Yourself In My Place, and her collaborations with Nick Cave (Where The Wild Roses Grow) and Manic Street Preachers (Some Kind Of Bliss) gained critical acclaim and mostly faired well in the charts. However it was noted that she wasn't reaching her former sales heights, and some fans yearned for the goodtime dance/pop of her early work.

During this period Minogue dabbled in movies again with parts in Street Fighter (1994) and Bio-Dome (1996), but her focus remained on music as she didn't act again until the year 2000 in low budget productions, Cut and Sample People.

By 2000, Kylie had parted company with Deconstruction and moved to Parlophone where she once again reinvented herself with the Light Years album, featuring the lead single Spinning Around which featured a slick disco sound and a video showcasing a sexy new image for Kylie. On A Night Like This and a duet with Robbie Williams, Kids, followed, all helping to gain her a new following of fans. The next year she took the world by storm with the Kraftwerk-esque anthem Can't Get You Out Of My Head. It's parent album Fever became the most succesful of her entire career. A cameo role as The Green Fairy in movie blockbuster Moulin Rouge! (2001), a one off part in Australian sitcom Kath & Kim (2004) and playing the voice of Florence in the animated film The Magic Roundabout (2005), all proved popular additions to Kylie's acting CV.

Following her third Parlophone album, Body Language and the hits collection Ultimate Kylie, Minogue was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005. She underwent surgery and chemotherapy and took time out to recover but resumed her live Showgirl - Homecoming Tour in late 2006 and released her tenth album X in 2007. A surprise role as Astrid Peth in the Doctor Who Christmas special closed the year and 2008 saw the release of hit singles Wow and In My Arms.

Profile by David

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