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Biography

Penny Downie is an Australian actress known for her stage and television appearances in the United Kingdom. With the Royal Shakespeare Company, she has played leading roles.

She began her career in Australia, initially in Brisbane at Twelfth Night Theatre and Brisbane Arts Theatre. Downie was a student of theatre director, Joan Whalley. She trained at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), Sydney. After graduation she appeared in TV series such as The Box, Bellbird, The Sullivans, Prisoner and Learned Friends.

She moved to the United Kingdom in the early 1980s. In 1984 when she appeared as Dee Rogers in the Minder episode “If Money Be the Food of Love, Play On”. Other UK TV credits include: Inspector Morse, Kavanagh QC, The Cazalets, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Spooks, Trial & Retribution, New Street Law, Poirot, The Ice House, Lost for Words and New Tricks.

Penny met her partner, the playwright Nick Dear, during her time with the RSC, when she played a mass -murderer in his play The Art of Success (1986).