Lucinda Cowden (born 24 April 1965) is an Australian actress.

Lucinda Cowden
Born (1965-04-24) 24 April 1965 (age 59)
OccupationActor
Years active1985-present
Notable workNeighbours

Cowden was born in Ballarat, Victoria.[1] She played Melanie Pearson in the soap opera Neighbours from 1987 until 1991, with a cameo appearance in the 20th anniversary documentary in 2005. She reprised the role in January 2021.[2]

Cowden left Neighbours in 1991, and later admitted that she did not want to be typecast.[3] She then went to the United Kingdom and appeared as Aladdin at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury. She also embarked on a 12-week tour of the UK as Peter Pan.[3] Cowden presented the second and third seasons of the BBC children's television series, Parallel 9.[1] She was a voice actress on the children's show The Koala Brothers.[4]

Cowden returned to Neighbours in 2020.[5] Cowden also reprised the role again in 2023 after the series was picked up by Amazon Freevee.[6]

Filmography edit

Film edit

Year Title Role Type
1993 Body Melt Andrea Feature film
2008 Lover's Walk Young Audrey Short film
2014 Chocolate Strawberry Vanilla Amanda Feature film
2016 ABCs of Death 2.5 Segement "M" for Mutant" Feature film
2016 Lost Soul Mother Short film
2018 Just Between Us Mum Feature film

Television edit

Year Title Role Notes
1985 Winners Jenny Foster 1 episode: "Just Friends"
1985 Handle with Care Sarah TV film
1985; 1986 Prisoner Guest role: Mandy TV series, 1 episode
1986 Prisoner Guest role: Receptionist TV series, 1 episode
1987–1991, 2005, 2020–2022, 2023–present Neighbours [7][8] Melanie Pearson Regular role
1989 The Power, The Passion Regular role: Danni Edmonds TV series
1992 The Late Show Guest role: Constantly upstaged actress ABC TV series, 1 episode
1993–1994 Parallel 9 Herself - Presenter TV series UK, 44 episodes
2003–2007 The Koala Brothers Regular role: (Voice) Mitzi, Alice and Lolly TV series, UK/Australia 79 episodes
2004 The Basil Brush Show Guest role: Marion TV series UK, 1 episode
2006 Making Children Smile Herself (Voice) Video UK
2007 Doctors Guest role: Clare O'Grady TV series UK, 1 episode
2012 The Big Fat Quiz of the 80s Neighbours character: Melanie Pearson (Uncredited / archive footage) TV Special, UK
2015 Neighbours 30th: The Stars Reunite Herself TV Special Documentary[9]
2017 Gocsy's Classics Guest role: Gloria TV series, 1 episode
2021; 2022 Isolation Interviews Herself TV series, 2 episodes
2022 Neighbours: End of the Road Herself / Melanie Pearson ABC TV special aka "Leaving Erinsborough" UK

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Zap!". What's on TV. No. 34. (IPC Magazines). 21–27 August 1993. p. 56.
  2. ^ Lee, Jess (9 December 2020). "Neighbours announces Lucinda Cowden is returning as Melanie Pearson". Digital Spy. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Panto gives flight to a fancy". Evening Standard. 31 December 1992. Retrieved 7 December 2021 – via Newspapers.com. 
  4. ^ "Watch The Koala Brothers". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Exclusive: Neighbours' Lucinda Cowden discusses Melanie Pearson's return". Digital Spy. 30 January 2021.
  6. ^ Patterson, Stephen (6 November 2023). "Neighbours star reveals Melanie's 'shocking' return storyline".
  7. ^ "Lucinda Cowden returning as Neighbours' Melanie | TV Tonight". 10 December 2020.
  8. ^ "Neighbours secures Ramsay St location, Lucinda Cowden returns. | TV Tonight". 17 April 2023.
  9. ^ Knox, David (28 February 2015). "Airdate: Neighbours 30th: The Stars Reunite". TV Tonight. Retrieved 3 March 2015.

External links edit