Carmen Duncan
{{Short description|Australian actress and activist (1942–2019)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2019}}{{Use Australian English|date=February 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Carmen Duncan
| image = Carmen Duncan.jpg
| caption = Carmen Duncan in Harlequin (1980)
| birth_name = Carmen Joan Duncan
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1942|7|7|df=y}}
| birth_place = Cooma, New South Wales, Australia
| death_date = {{nowrap|{{death date and age|2019|02|03|1942|07|07|df=y}}}}
| death_place = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| resting_place =
| other_names =
| occupation = Actress and activist
| years_active = 1960–2019
| spouse =
| family = Paula Duncan (sister)
| children = 2
| website =
}}
Carmen Joan Duncan (7 July 1942 – 3 February 2019) was an Australian-born stage and screen actress and activist, with a career locally and internationally in the United States that spanned over 50 years.
She was nominated for the AFI Award for Best Actress for the 1980 film Harlequin, and was also known for the film Don't Let It Get You. Her other film appearances include Touch and Go (1980) and Turkey Shoot (1982). She played Iris Wheeler in the American soap opera Another World from 1988 to 1994.
Duncan appeared in numerous theatre roles between 1970 and 2015.{{cite web|url=https://ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/6925|title=Carmen Duncan|author=AusStage|access-date=19 July 2022|archive-date=16 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816124447/https://ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/6925|url-status=live}}
Early life and career
Duncan was born in Cooma, New South Wales, in 1942.{{Cite news |last=Idato |first=Michael |date=3 February 2019 |title=Actor Carmen Duncan, 76, dies of cancer |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/actor-carmen-duncan-76-dies-of-cancer-20190203-p50vfc.html |access-date=4 February 2019 |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |archive-date=24 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024112554/https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/actor-carmen-duncan-76-dies-of-cancer-20190203-p50vfc.html |url-status=live }} She graduated in 1961 from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney.{{cite news |last1=Idato |first1=Michael |title=Actor Carmen Duncan, 76, dies of cancer |url=https://www.canberratimes.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/actor-carmen-duncan-76-dies-of-cancer-20190203-p50vfc.html |accessdate=3 February 2019 |work=Canberra Times |date=3 February 2019 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204014620/https://www.canberratimes.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/actor-carmen-duncan-76-dies-of-cancer-20190203-p50vfc.html |archive-date=4 February 2019 |url-status=dead }} Duncan was known to Australian audiences as a character actress in television, stage and films, as well as having appeared in television commercials. Her television roles included the series Hunter (1967) and she appeared in the evening soap opera Number 96 playing Helen Sheridan in 1973. A role on the soap Certain Women followed. She later had an ongoing role in Skyways, and guest starred in several episodes of A Country Practice as Terence Elliott's wife, Rowena.{{cite news |author=AAP |author-link=Australian Associated Press |date=3 February 2019 |title=Carmen Duncan dead at 76 |url=https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/actor-carmen-duncan-dead-at-76/news-story/d32b6fd3e4e4ee1f16e08d49566c7051 |access-date=3 February 2019 |work=news.com.au |publisher=News Pty Limited |archive-date=4 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204014704/https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/actor-carmen-duncan-dead-at-76/news-story/d32b6fd3e4e4ee1f16e08d49566c7051 |url-status=live }} Her film roles included Turkey Shoot (1982) and its 2014 reboot.
Duncan emigrated to the United States in the 1980s, where she acted on television. From October 1988 to September 1994, she portrayed Iris Carrington Wheeler on the American daytime soap opera Another World. She succeeded Beverlee McKinsey in the role after a long absence. Many of her critics, including TV Guide{{'s}} Michael Logan, remarked that her accent sounded less American than her counterparts, making her seem out of place in the serial. As an actress, she generally used a Cultivated Australian accent, which is similar to Received Pronunciation.
After leaving the Another World role in the mid-1990s, Duncan returned to Australia, where she acted in guest roles on television series and lampooned her former soap opera image on television commercials. In 2000, she was diagnosed and treated for early stage breast cancer. In 2003, she appeared as Anna Denton on CrashBurn. In 2004, she returned to the United States to fill in for Eileen Fulton as Lisa Grimaldi in three episodes of As the World Turns while Fulton was on emergency medical leave. Duncan became a member of Actor's Equity in 1962 and the federal council of the Media and Entertainment Arts Alliance.
Activism
Duncan retired from acting in 2006 and became a fundraising manager for the GO Fund, a New South Wales charity associated with gynaecological cancer.{{cite web |title=GO Fund board |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070829064450/http://gofund.org.au/html/board.htm |work=GO Fund |access-date=3 February 2019 |date=29 August 2007 |archive-date=29 August 2007 |url=http://gofund.org.au/html/board.htm}} She served as an ambassador for the Breast Care Centre at the Royal Hospital for Women.
Personal life
Duncan lived in Sydney. She had two children. Her younger sister is actress Paula Duncan.
Carmen Duncan died on 3 February 2019 from breast cancer, aged 76.
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
! width="50" scope="col" | Year ! width="200" scope="col" | Title ! width="150" scope="col" | Role ! width="150" scope="col" | Type |
| 1966
| Judith Beech |
| 1967
| Is Anybody Doing Anything About It? | Herself | Film short |
| 1969
| Ready When You Are, C.B. | | Teleplay |
| 1969
| | Teleplay |
| 1969
| You Can't See 'round Corners | Myra Neilson |
| 1970
| Castaway Nurse Kate | Feature film |
| 1973
| Jill Brennan | TV movie |
| 1976
| Helena Stevens | TV movie |
| 1978
| Cries From a Cold Aquarium | | Film short |
| 1980
| Sandra Rast |
| 1980
| Millicent |
| 1982
| Jennifer |
| 1982
| Astrid Bonner | Feature film |
| 1983
| Vanessa Corey | TV movie |
| 1983
| Margaret Davis | Feature film |
| 1984
| Eve | Feature film |
| 1984
| The Gamble | Liz | Film short |
| 1985
| Bootleg | Rita | Feature film |
| 1995
| Frailejon | Mother Narration | Film short |
| 1997
| Poppy | Feature film |
| 2000
| Ihaka: Blunt Instrument | Mrs. Renton | TV movie |
| 2002
| Counterstrike | President Elinor Shaw | TV movie |
| 2002
| Mary Harmon | TV movie |
| 2003
| Vera McCallum |
| 2008
| Forget Me Not | Shelly | Film short |
| 2010
| The Bris | Rita | Film short |
| 2013
| Truth Is... | Mum | Film short |
| 2014
| President Sheila Farr |
| 2016
| Veov Drive | Melody Day | Film short |
| 2018
| Lady Wynn | Feature film |
=Television=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
! width="50" scope="col" | Year ! width="150" scope="col" | Title ! width="150" scope="col" | Role ! width="350" scope="col" | Type |
| 1963
| | TV series |
| 1966–1967
| Rosie Withers | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1966–1973
| Homicide | Barbara Scott / Sally Trevor / Gail Fisher |
| 1967
| Hunter | Rosie Glow |
| 1967
| You Can't See 'Round Corners | Myra Neilson |
| 1967
| | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1968
| | TV series |
| 1969
| Riptide | Professor Karen Shaw / Kate Brett |
| 1969
| Delta | Diane | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1969
| Irene Daly | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1969
| Guest | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1969–1970
| Herself | TV series |
| 1970
| Carol Crane | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1972
| Lisa King |
| 1972
| Marie | TV series, 13 episodes |
| 1973
| Mrs. Wayne | TV series, 9 episodes |
| 1973
| Ryan | Anne | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1973
| Helen Sheridan / Helen Sheridan Sellars |
| 1974
| Girl | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1974–1975
| Beth Pearson | TV series, 7 episodes |
| 1975
| Something Special | | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1976
| Jackson High | | TV pilot |
| 1977
| Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1977
| | TV series, 6 episodes |
| 1978
| Gary's wife | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1978–1981
| Cop Shop | Meredith Wade / Carla Hauser / Kim Morgan |
| 1979
| | TV miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 1979
| Sylvia Marcus | TV series, 3 episodes |
| 1979; 1984
| Guest - Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1979
| Skyways | Elaine MacFarlane |
| 1981
| Elodie | TV miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 1982; 1986
| Rowena Elliott |
| 1983
| Les traqués de l'an 2000 | | |
| 1984; 1985
| Guest - Herself with sister Paula Duncan | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1984
| Lorraine | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1984
| Margaret Little | TV movie |
| 1985
| Guest - Herself with Trisha Noble | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1985
| | TV movie |
| 1986
| Cassie Fairchild | TV miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 1987
| Jan Buchanan |
| 1987
| Stella Samuels | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1988–1994
| Iris Carrington Wheeler / Iris Wheeler |
| 1991
| 1991 Australian Fashion Awards | Herself | TV special |
| 1991; 1996; 1997; 1999; 2000
| Herself | TV series, 5 episodes |
| 1991; 1996; 1997
| Herself | TV series, 3 episodes |
| 1991
| In Sydney Today | Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1991
| Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1992
| Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1993
| Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1993
| At Home | Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1993
| Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1995
| Frailejón | | |
| 1995; 1996; 2002
| Herself | TV series, 3 episodes |
| 1996
| Faith | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1996
| Monday to Friday | Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1998
| | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1999
| Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1999
| Denise | Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1999
| Laws | Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2000
| Kayla | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2000
| Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2000
| Elizabeth Wallace |
| 2000; 2002
| Farscape | Leslie Crichton | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 2001
| Geraldine St. Clare |
| 2001
| Ellen | TV miniseries, 1 episode |
| 2001
| Margaret Jenkins | TV series, 3 episodes |
| 2003
| Antonia Jones |
| 2003
| Whose House Is It Anyway? | Guest | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2003
| Anna Denton |
| 2004
| Lisa Grimaldi | TV series, 3 episodes |
| 2004
| Making Liquid Bridge | Herself | Video |
| 2007
| Susie | Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2011–2012
| Prof Kerry Green |
| 2012
| Guest - Herself with Denise Drysdale & Hazel Phillips | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2014
| Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2015
| Mornings | Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2016
| Lillian Pendergrass | TV series, Season 2, 1 episode |
| 2017
| Pulse | Nora Johns | TV series, 1 episode |
Theatre
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=0241922|name=Carmen Duncan}}
- [http://iriswheeler.tripod.com/index.html Irises: The Unofficial Beverlee McKinsey and Carmen Duncan Home Page]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Carmen}}
Category:Australian film actresses
Category:Australian soap opera actresses
Category:Actresses from New South Wales
Category:Deaths from breast cancer in Australia
Category:Deaths from cancer in New South Wales
Category:Australian emigrants to the United States