Ellen Crozier
Ellen Rosemary Crozier is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street, who was portrayed by Robyn Malcolm for nearly six years in the mid to late 1990s.
Casting
Robyn Malcolm "won" the role of Ellen Crozier during the shows third season in 1994. At the time, the shows primary writers were James Griffin and Rachel Lang and Malcolm remembers the period as not only a highlight of her career, but of Shortland Street in general. Malcolm retained the role for nearly 6 years. Malcolm made her last appearance in November 1999.Storylines
Following the resignation of Senior Charge Nurse Jaki Manu. Ellen was recruited by clinic director Michael McKenna following a recommendation by friend and former colleague Grace Kwan. Prior to her interview, Marj identified Ellen as a bronze medal swimmer from the 1978 Commonwealth Games. Due to her experience in high dependency nursing and four years in management roles at Central, Ellen was offered the higher role of Director of Nursing.Always running late, the clinic staff soon piece together more of Ellen’s home life with her having a 13 year old daughter Minnie, and an anaesthetist husband of 6 years Johnny. Ellen encouraged Johnny to join the on-call anaesthetist roster for the new High Dependency Unit. Conflict soon arose when Minnie developed an infatuation with Nick Harrison and Johnny’s first patient, Alex McKenna, ended up in a coma. Ellen’s friendship with Grace was tested when patients of a historic drug trial that was supervised by Grace and Minnie had been enrolled in, were found to have developed epilepsy; and then Grace discovered Johnny had a secret second family including an 8 year old daughter. Whilst Johnny initially admitted to being the father, he lied about how long he had known of the girl. Once Ellen discovered that Johnny was having a long term affair with the girl’s mother, she called an end to her marriage resulting in Minnie acting out. Ellen took up smoking and accidentally burned down their home. Whilst Ellen moved into Sam Aleni’s share house, Minnie and Johnny moved into the Harrison’s home whilst Jenny was overseas. Ellen tried to play Cupid with housemates Sam and Rebecca, however this backfired and resulted in Rebecca moving out of the house. By the end of the year Johnny was in a relationship with Jenny, and Ellen and Johnny both vied for Minnie to live with them. Ellen was able to use her share of the insurance money to buy the share house from Carrie Burton and convert the shed into a sleepout for Minnie.
After rescuing Bernie Leach the pair dated briefly, however Bernie’s temper and constant gift giving became too much for Ellen. The arrival of Ellen's estranged sister Carla to work as a nurse at the clinic added extra complications to Ellen’s domestic life. Carla soon married Bernie and Ellen ended up returning to Johnny for a short lived affair whilst he was in a relationship with Jenny. When Jenny is diagnosed with cancer and Johnny still up to his old tricks, Ellen called things off with Johnny once and for all. Minnie’s father Ryan returned to their lives and started dating Grace, who didn’t at first believe Ellen when she revealed that Minnie was a product of rape. Ryan and Ellen eventually made peace for the sake of Minnie.
In 1996, Carla’s mental health continued to decline and an attempt to undermine Tiffany resulted in Ellen losing her Director of Nursing role and being required to work under supervision. Following the Ferndale earthquake and death of Bernie, Ellen at first refused to believe that Carla could be responsible for his murder. However, Carla’s actions became increasingly irrational and following a suicide attempt, Ellen arranged for Carla to be sectioned in a mental health facility. Carla had an adverse reaction to her medication during a visit from Ellen, resulting in Carla attacking Ellen. After realising that the institution was not the best option for Carla, Carla was discharged into their mother’s care. Carla revealed the truth to the Nursing Council about setting up Tiffany and Ellen’s restrictions were lifted, however Ellen gave Tiffany her blessing to remain in the Director of Nursing’s position.
By mid-1996 Ellen started to date the new clinic director David Kearney with the soon pair moving in together and blending their families. However, between Johnny manipulations and Ellen misinterpreting David’s ex-wife answering his phone during a business trip, Ellen fled the country on a round the world trip with Grace. David eventually tracked down Ellen to a hospital in Fiji where she was working and revealed that she’s pregnant. The two married in 1997 but the death of their baby Rose the following year, separated the two and they both had affairs - Ellen with Rangi Heremaia and David with Bridget. They finally decided to reunite but David felt obliged to stay with Bridget who was dying from brain cancer. The pair reconciled in 1999 when David was diagnosed with a blinding disorder and the two left for an early retirement in Hawke's Bay. Ellen informed Waverley Wilson on the phone, that she and David would not be able to attend her wedding to David's son Fergus in 2001 due to money problems and David’s health.