Dee Smart

Smart was born in Adelaide, South Australia, the seventh of nine children. She grew up on a large cattle farm outside the city with her parents, four brothers and four sisters. At the age of sixteen, she joined the Victorian College of the Arts, hoping to become a classical dancer, but while she didn't experience much success,{{cite web |url=http://dee-smart.tripod.com/bio.html |title=Biographical Details |date=October 2001 |work=Dee-lightful}} she found herself in demand as a model.{{cite news|last=Payne|first=Pamela |title=THREE TYROS WITH PROMISE |url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&kw=dee+smart&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=author&sf=headline&rc=200&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=news930616_0064_5062|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=16 June 1993}} She then turned to acting, studying with Hayes Gordon at Sydney's Ensemble Theatre.{{cite news|last=Cox|first=Kate |title=Smart pace |url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&kw=dee+smart&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=author&sf=headline&rc=10&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=news000713_0190_3174|newspaper=The Sun-Herald|date=9 July 2000}}{{cite web |url=http://www.australiantelevision.net/water_rats/profiles/smartd.html |title=Dee Smart as Alex St. Claire |work=Australian Television Information Archive

}}

After studying drama for three years, Smart secured her first ever professional acting role at age 25 when she signed a two-year contract to play Lucinda Croft, the tomboyish niece of old-fashioned school principal Donald Fisher, in the popular soap opera Home and Away.{{cite web|title=A quick word with Dee Smart|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=127870|work=The New Zealand Herald|accessdate=17 January 2012|date=25 March 2000}} Smart said that she was "a wreck" before filming her first scenes but soon learned to cope with the process and would attend acting classes each weekend. As Lucinda, Smart would have many storylines involving her love interest, policeman Nick Parrish (played by Bruce Roberts), as well as her estranged brother David (played by Guy Pearce), and quickly became one of the show's most popular characters.

Despite this early success however, Smart did not enjoy her work on the show and in December 1991, a mere eight months into her contract, she gave magazine TV Week a "scathing" interview about her role,{{cite journal|title=Twenty years of Home and Away Part one 1988–1997|journal=TV Week|date=12–18 January 2008|pages=6}} telling the publication that she felt as though she was completing a "prison sentence", adding that "It feels like I've been here for years". Smart criticised the series' fast production, claiming there was no time to develop a character and said that it was "impossible to do a good job" because of the time limits, noting that she was surprised there was time to do any acting. Smart also spoke negatively about her character Lucinda because she "goes on and on and on - it is kind of abnormal for a character to last this long", ending the interview by saying she would not sign another long-term contract.{{cite journal|title=Let me out of here!|journal=TV Week|date=21–27 December 1991|issue=51|publisher=Southdown Press}}

The Seven Network, Home and Away's broadcast channel, as well as the show's producers were naturally annoyed by Smart's comments but couldn't release her from her contract since storylines were planned in advance and her character would have to remain in the series for "some time yet".{{cite journal|title=Briefly…|journal=TV Week|date=11–17 January 1992|issue=2|publisher=Southdown Press}} However, less than a year after giving the interview, Smart was publicly sacked via an announcement in TV Week and Lucinda was written out. Unlike many former regulars, she has never returned to the show. Despite these negative experiences, Smart told Inside Soap that she had learned a "tremendous amount" from working on the series and said that she is like her character in that she is not traditional and does not care about doing "the 'done' thing".{{cite journal|last=Fletcher|first=Mary|title=Dee quits Home and Away|journal=Inside Soap|date=November 1992|issue=2|pages=12|publisher=Attic Futura (UK) Ltd}}

In the following years, Smart unsuccessfully attempted to launch a singing career,{{cite news|last=Dubecki|first=Larissa|title=Aiming higher than the Sky |url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&kw=dee+smart&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=author&sf=headline&rc=200&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=AGE060811KU17E6T237M|newspaper=The Age|date=8 August 2006}}{{cite news|last=Gadd|first=Michael|title=Can she cut it on new set? |url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&kw=dee+smart&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=author&sf=headline&rc=200&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=NCH060728KG6E15EDCFM|newspaper=The Newcastle Herald|date=28 July 2006}} posed nude in the magazine Black+White,{{cite news|last=Browne|first=Rachel|title=Bits and pieces Airwaves |url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&kw=dee+smart&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=author&sf=headline&rc=200&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=news950129_0276_4403|newspaper=The Sun-Herald|date=29 January 1995}}{{cite news|last=Thomas|first=Brett|title=The Naked Bunch |url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&kw=dee+smart&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=author&sf=headline&rc=200&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=news970302_0115_5678|newspaper=The Sun-Herald|date=2 March 1997}} performed on stage in a handful of plays in Australia and Christmas pantomimes in the United Kingdom alongside her Home and Away love interest Bruce Roberts and did not return to the screen until 1994 when she was cast by student director Samantha Lang in her Graduate short film Audacious, which went on to screen at a number of film festivals across the world, winning some awards along the way. She continued her stage endeavors the next year, appearing in two plays, but also went on working in front of the camera, starring in the television film Blackwater Trail and the feature Back of Beyond, which reunited her with Home and Away co-star Rebekah Elmaloglou. That same year, Smart also started appearing as Lady Luck in the variety programme The Footy Show, offering viewers betting tips until 2002.{{cite news|last=Quinn|first=Rod|title=Brain |url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&kw=dee+smart&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=author&sf=headline&rc=200&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=SHD010603461QL2ORFBQ|newspaper=The Sun-Herald|date=3 June 2001}} In 1996 she starred in the Australian-Canadian co-production Turning April alongside Justine Clarke, another Home and Away alum, and 1997 saw the release of director Stephan Elliott's Welcome to Woop Woop in which Smart plays a prominent role. The highly anticipated comedy, which premiered out-of-competition at the Cannes Film Festival, was a critical and commercial flop and remains Smart's last theatrical feature to date.

Between 1996 and 1998, Smart appeared in a number of guest spots on Australian TV shows such as Twisted Tales, G.P., Halifax f.p. (reuniting with her Home and Away brother Guy Pearce), Wildside and Murder Call, and starred as Columbia in a 25th Anniversary production of The Rocky Horror Show which ran for two months,{{cite news|title=Plum role for musical debutante |url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&kw=dee+smart&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=author&sf=headline&rc=10&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=news980727_0001_2651|newspaper=Illawarra Mercury|date=24 July 1998}} but despite offers was reluctant to sign on for a regular television role due to her experience on Home and Away.{{cite news|last=Browne|first=Rachel |title=Moving with the smart set |url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&kw=dee+smart&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=author&sf=headline&rc=200&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=news000308_0510_8569|newspaper=The Sun-Herald|date=5 March 2000}} This changed in 1999 when she was cast as Detective Senior Constable Alex St. Clare in the police procedural Water Rats, a role which she actively pursued, enduring five auditions over three months.{{cite news|last=Williams|first=Glen |title=Dee's Big Break |url=http://www.australiantelevision.net/water_rats/articles/deesbreak.html|newspaper=Woman's Day|year=1999}}{{cite news|last=Everton|first=Denise |title=RATS SCRABBLE BACK FROM CAST EXODUS television |url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&kw=dee+smart&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=author&sf=headline&rc=200&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=news000715_0043_6629|newspaper=Illawarra Mercury|date=14 July 2000}} Smart's casting proved controversial with tabloids relaying that she got the role thanks to her friendship with Nine Network boss James Packer, which was denied by the producers.{{cite news|last=Sharp|first=Annette |title=KRISTY Hinze is poised to launch her television career |url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&kw=dee+smart&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=author&sf=headline&rc=200&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=SHD010513HCD5O3MOPUA|newspaper=The Sun-Herald|date=13 May 2001}} She left the show in July 2001, being six months pregnant with her first daughter Charlie,{{cite news|title=Water Rat pregnant |url=http://www.australiantelevision.net/water_rats/articles/ratpregnant.html|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|location=Sydney|date=30 March 2001}} and with other stars leaving and dwindling ratings, Water Rats was cancelled later that same month.{{cite news|last=Miller|first=Kylie|title=Nine casts off Water Rats as stars leave |url=http://www.australiantelevision.net/water_rats/articles/axed.html|newspaper=The Age|date=25 July 2001}}

Smart did not work much in the ten years following the birth of her daughter and the end of Water Rats, save for two episodes of the TV show The Alice in 2005 and 2006 and a month-long stint on the play Burnt Piano in early 2008. In 2011 she started a return to the small screen with a supporting role in the disaster television film Panic at Rock Island, followed by three appearances in the second season of the period drama Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries in 2013, a year in which she also starred in three short films, and most recently two episodes of Winter in 2015.

She was a finalist in the Archibald Prize in 2017[https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/prizes/archibald/2017/29838/ 2017 Finalist], Archibald Prize and 2020.

Smart married musician Steve Balbi in 1992 at her parents' house in Adelaide, following a three year relationship.{{cite magazine|last=Williams|first=Glen|date=18 January 1992|title=Dee weds her rockstar|magazine=TV Week|page=3}} The marriage ended in divorce. She was later introduced to futures trader Chris Hancock whom she married in Las Vegas in June 1998 after four years of dating, in front of an Elvis Presley impersonator singing Viva Las Vegas and a congregation of ten people, including billionaire businessman James Packer, a childhood friend of Hancock's, and her Welcome to Woop Woop co-star Rod Taylor, who walked her down the aisle. The couple have three children, including eldest daughter Charlie, born on 28 October 2001, son Johnny and daughter Zoe. Smart gave birth to their youngest child in early 2012 at age 45, an age which was deemed controversial in Australian media.{{cite news|last=Sharp|first=Annette|title=10 reasons not to have babies at 47 |url=http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/reasons-not-to-have-babies-at-47/story-e6fredq3-1226397134257|newspaper=The Advertiser|date=15 June 2012}}

Smart and Hancock lived together with their pet Jack Russel Terrier Jessie, James Packer and later his then wife Jodhi Meares in Packer's luxury three-level apartment in Bondi Beach{{cite book |last=Barry|first=Paul|date=11 October 2009|title=Who Wants to Be a Billionaire?: The James Packer Story |url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&kw=dee+smart&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=author&sf=headline&rc=10&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=SAG09101127I834MV6JV|publisher=Allen & Unwin}} following Packer's split with girlfriend Kate Fischer. They all lived together for about a year, with Smart and Hancock helping to plan Packer and Meares' lavish wedding.{{cite news|last1=Williams |first1=Sue |last2=Sutton |first2=Candace |title=Love sealed with a $6.4bn kiss |url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&kw=dee+smart&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=author&sf=headline&rc=200&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=news991027_0723_7786|newspaper=The Sun-Herald|date=24 October 1999}} Packer and Meares' relationship deteriorated when Smart and Hancock, who have been referred to as "the glue in the marriage", moved out in 2000, eventually leading to a divorce.{{cite news|last=Sharp|first=Annette|title=Why Jodhi called it quits |url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/06/15/1023864363499.html|newspaper=The Sun-Herald|date=16 June 2002}} The couple have remained good friends with both parties, as well as Packer's next wife Erica. Prior to living with Packer they owned a house in Rose Bay and afterwards they purchased a terraced house in Woollahra which they sold in 2003.{{cite news|last=Chancellor|first=Jonathan|title=Packer's mates sell |url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&kw=dee+smart&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=author&sf=headline&rc=200&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=SHD030928V8B787CKK1U|newspaper=The Sun-Herald|date=28 September 2003}}

Smart is also an avid knitter, sewer and painter, and has been exhibited.{{cite news|last=Hampson|first=Jane|title=See it! Hear it! Do it! |url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&kw=dee+smart&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=author&sf=headline&rc=200&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=news970614_0155_7448|newspaper=The Sun-Herald|date=14 June 1997}}{{cite news|last=Petley|first=William|title=One smart cookie |url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&kw=dee+smart&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=author&sf=headline&rc=200&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=SHD050109SG5D72ADL9F|newspaper=The Sun-Herald|date=9 January 2005}} She was a devout Scientologist starting in April 2003,{{cite news|last=Sharp|first=Annette|title=Packer's newest recruits |url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&kw=dee+smart&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=author&sf=headline&rc=200&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=SHD030413ESVCV3BMSGU|newspaper=The Sun-Herald|date=13 April 2003}}{{cite news|last=Sharp|first=Annette|title=Smart still buoyant after Water Rats' sinking |url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&kw=dee+smart&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=author&sf=headline&rc=200&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=SHD030420UG4EJ0F2FUU|newspaper=The Sun-Herald|date=20 April 2003}} after she and her husband were introduced to the religion by James Packer. Smart later abandoned the religion as she thought there were good morals to it, but also that the rules required of adherents were too strict.{{cite news|last=Reines|first=Ros|title=Smart decision |url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/singos-millions-of-blondes/story-e6frewt9-1111115861243|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|location=Sydney|date=23 March 2008}} Her eight siblings, who range from seven years younger to thirteen years older than her, are not involved in the entertainment industry and are scattered across Australia and London.

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Category:Living people

Category:Australian television actresses

Category:Former Scientologists

Category:1966 births

Category:Archibald Prize finalists