Wendy Hughes (29 July 1952 – 8 March 2014) was an Australian actress.

Career

Born to English parents, Wendy Hughes was an award-winning Australian actress who worked on stage and screen. Born in Melbourne, she originally studied to become a ballerina. During her teens she turned her focus to acting, attending theNational Institute of Dramatic Art, and, after honing her skills with the Melbourne Theatre Company, had her first film role in Petersen (1974). During the early 1970s she also had her first television parts.

Called "one of the important players in the development and productivity of Australian film", she worked closely with prominent Australian artists such as cinematographer John Seale, writers David Williamson and Bob Ellis. She was one of the leading players in the 1970s "New Australian Film" renaissance.

Her first internationally known role was the character Patricia in Lonely Hearts (1982). This role commenced a decades-long collaboration with Dutch-Australian Director Paul Cox.

As one of the leading actresses in Australian cinema, her roles in the 1970s and 1980s included those in Newsfront, Kostas, My Brilliant Career, Lucinda Brayford, Touch and Go, Hoodwink, Lonely Hearts, Careful, He Might Hear You, My First Wife, I Can't Get Started, An Indecent Obsession, Echoes of Paradise, Boundaries of the Heart, Warm Nights on a Slow Moving Train (1988) andLuigi's Ladies.

Hughes made her American debut in John G. Avildsen's film Happy New Year opposite Peter Falk and Charles Durning. In 1989 she starred opposite Pierce Brosnan in a HBO made for TV movie, The Heist.

She also continued to make occasional appearances on television, such as playing Jilly Stewart in the mini-series Return to Eden.

During the early 1990s, she spent time in the United States, where she played medical examiner Dr. Carol Blythe in the television series Homicide: Life on the Street. She also appeared in the miniseries Amerika, and made a guest appearance as Lieutenant Commander Nella Daren on Star Trek: The Next Generation as one of Captain Picard's few love interests on the show.

Back in Australia, she played lead roles on television in The Man From Snowy River ("Snowy River: The McGregor Saga"), and State Coroner. Film appearances around this time include Princess Caraboo and Paradise Road.

Later film roles include Salvation (2007), The Caterpillar Wish (2006) and The Man Who Sued God (2001). Stage appearances included playing the part of Mrs Robinson in the Melbourne version of The Graduate (2001), Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (2007), Honor in Honour (2010) and Higgins' mother in Pygmalion (2012).

Hughes died of cancer in the morning of 8 March 2014, aged 61. Her more than forty year career established her as one of Australia's most prolific and finest actors.

Awards

She was nominated for Australian Film Institute acting awards six times, and won the Best Lead actress award in 1983 for her performance in Careful, He Might Hear You.