Kerry Armstrong
Kerry Michelle Armstrong is an Australian actress and author. She is one of only two actresses to win two Australian Film Institute Awards in the same year, winning Best Actress in a Leading Role for Lantana and Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Television Drama for SeaChange in 2001.
After early television roles in Australia including Prisoner and Skyways, Armstrong moved to the United States in 1981, where she played Ophelia in Hamlet and Isabella in Measure for Measure at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., and had a role in the soap opera Dynasty. She returned to Australia in 1987. Her other television roles include MDA and Bed of Roses.
Early life and education
Kerry Michelle Armstrong was born in Melbourne, to parents Bev and Norm Armstrong and grew up in the beachside suburb of Beaumaris alongside sister Kim.At the age of eleven, Armstrong performed in a school production of The Little Prince, as the narrator. Soon after, her father's engineering career saw the family relocate to Barcelona for two years. Back in Melbourne, Armstrong attended St Leonard's College, in Brighton, where her high school drama teacher considered her a standout amongst the other students.
When she was 15, Armstrong attended a cattle call for theatre company J. C. Williamson's in Melbourne. British comedian Sid James was there and offered her a role in an Australian touring production of The Mating Season, believing her to be 21. Her parents forbade her to accept the role at first, but eventually relented, Armstrong travelling for nine months with the production. She continued her studies by correspondence, before returning to school in year 11. Then, in 1977, she left once more, to perform in a production of Doctor in Love.
Career
Early years
Armstrong's first appearance on television in the early 1970s was as a weather presenter on GTV-9 in Melbourne, succeeding Delvene Delaney in the position. When she applied for the role she was still a teenage schoolgirl, but led them to believe she was 22. The first publicly aired word she ever spoke was "Goodnight!"Armstrong scored her first role in a television series in Marion before landing small roles in soap operas The Sullivans, and Skyways and Bruce Beresford's award-winning 1977 film The Getting of Wisdom at the age of 16, alongside Sigrid Thornton. She landed her big break in prison drama Prisoner, playing Lynn Warner in the first 44 episodes. In 1981, she co-hosted the Network Ten series Together Tonight, with Greg Evans.
United States
Armstrong moved to the United States in 1981, where she studied under Herbert Berghof and Uta Hagen at the HB Studio in New York City on an acting scholarship. She graduated as a full-time student.While studying, Armstrong worked as maitre d’ at Central Park restaurant Tavern on the Green before scoring acting work. With the studio's Playwrights Foundation, she played Juliet in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Ophelia in Hamlet, and Isabella in Measure for Measure at the Arena Stage in Washington, DC. She also starred in Hamlet alongside Anthony Hopkins and as Christine in Tom Stoppard's Dalliance at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut.
On television, Armstrong landed an ongoing role in long-running daytime soap opera One Life to Live, She appeared in several episodes of Dynasty as Elena, Duchess of Branagh. and guest starred in the 1984 Murder, She Wrote episode "Death Takes a Curtain Call".
Alongside other actors including John Cusack, Tim Robbins and Helen Hunt, Armstrong was a founding member of The Actors' Gang, an experimental theatre company that continues to tour internationally with adaptations of the classics more than 30 years later. In 1986, Armstrong, Cusack and Robbins auditioned for Saturday Night Live, but only Armstrong was offered a part, which she subsequently declined. The same year, she was offered a three-picture deal with Universal Studios, but it clashed with her stage role in Measure for Measure in Washington, which she ultimately chose. Confidence was also sometimes a barrier for Armstrong, costing her a role in 1987 thriller Fatal Attraction.
Australian return
In 1987, Armstrong returned to Australia upon the death of her grandmother. She appeared in the film Grievous Bodily Harm with Colin Friels. She also resumed acting in Australian television series, including Police Rescue, Ocean Girl, Halifax f.p., Blue Heelers and award-winning 1990 miniseries Come in Spinner, in a lead role alongside Rebecca Gibney.Armstrong was nominated for a 1991 AFI Award for Best Actress for her role in the drama film Hunting, in which she starred with Guy Pearce. The film was released by Paramount in the US. In 1993, she had a regular role in sitcom All Together Now, as Beth Sumner. From 1993 to 1994, she had a recurring role as Jady in Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left. She also appeared in an episode of American action adventure series High Tide in 1994.
Armstrong featured in 1997 US miniseries 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea opposite Bryan Brown and Michael Caine. The same year, she was in drama film Amy with Ben Mendelsohn and Rachel Griffiths, followed by 1998 film Justice with Marcus Graham.
In 1998, Armstrong was offered the role of Heather Jelly in the television series SeaChange, the ever-devoted but long-suffering wife of corrupt local mayor Bob. The role won her critical acclaim and garnered several awards.
When SeaChange ended in 2000, Armstrong almost walked away from acting, after she lost her confidence. However, that changed when film producer Jan Chapman had the script for 2001 film Lantana delivered to her door, convinced she was the right fit for the lead role of Sonja Zat. The film, directed by Ray Lawrence, starred an ensemble cast including Anthony LaPaglia, Barbara Hershey, Geoffrey Rush, Glenn Robbins, and Vince Colosimo. and Armstrong went on to win an Inside Film Award, an AFI Award and a Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for her performance. The same year she won another AFI Award, for the final season of SeaChange, making her the first actress to win the Best Performance by an Actress award in both the feature film and television categories in the same year.
In 2002, Armstrong joined the cast of medico-legal drama MDA on ABC alongside Jason Donovan and Shane Bourne. However, she left the series at the end of its second season, with her character, Dr Ella Davis, leaving the firm that was the focus of the show. After MDA, Armstrong appeared in the films One Perfect Day, Oyster Farmer playing the role of Trish opposite Alex O'Loughlin and dance mockumentary Razzle Dazzle, as overbearing stage mother, Justine Morgan, for which she received her fifth AFI Award nomination. In 2006, she competed on season five of Dancing with the Stars in 2006. Armstrong and dance partner, Christopher Ryan, were the third couple eliminated from the show.
In 2008, ABC TV screened six-part series Bed of Roses, with Armstrong in the lead role as Louisa Atherton. The same year, she starred in US film Reservations, as a woman battling breast cancer – a role written especially for her, after the producer had seen Armstrong in Lantana. In 2010, Bed of Roses returned for a second season on the ABC, followed by a third and final season in 2011, with Armstrong resuming the role. In the same year, she starred in the short film The Forgotten Men, alongside Jack Thompson and Gyton Grantley.
In 2013, Armstrong made her directorial debut with the play The Woolgatherer at La Mama Theatre, for the Melbourne Fringe Festival which was met with rave reviews. She then directed a series of short plays for The Melbourne Storytelling Festival and eleven short films.
After a five year hiatus from acting, 2016 saw Armstrong return to Australian screens in the series The Wrong Girl for Network Ten, playing Mimi Woodward, divorced mother of protagonist Lily, played by Jessica Marais. She also filmed the features Pawno and 2.22.
In 2018, Armstrong appeared as a contestant on reality show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, alongside AFL player Josh Gibson, tennis player Bernard Tomic, Australian Idol alum Shannon Noll, model Simone Holtznagel, 1980s US pop singer Tiffany, boxer Anthony Mundine, reality star Jackie Gilles, comedians Fiona O'Loughlin and Peter Rowsthorn. politician David Oldfield and his wife The Real Housewives of Sydney star Lisa Oldfield. Armstrong was the second celebrity eliminated and fourth overall celebrity to leave, in the third week.
From 2018 to 2020, Armstrong had a regular role on long-running soap opera Neighbours, playing the villainous Alice Wells. She also reprised her role of Heather Jelly on the reboot of SeaChange in 2019. The following year, she appeared in feature film The Very Excellent Mr Dundee alongside Paul Hogan and John Cleese.
In 2021, Armstrong appeared in season 2 of ABC comedy series Frayed, as family matriarch Jean. The same year, she also featured in award-winning eight-part comedy series Spreadsheet for streaming service Paramount+. In 2022, she had a recurring guest role as Summer in mystery-drama series Darby and Joan, opposite Bryan Brown and Greta Scacchi.
In 2024, Armstrong was announced as part of the cast for the Stan Christmas movie Nugget Is Dead?: A Christmas Story. She also performed opposite Colin Friels in a Sydney Theatre Company stage production of Australian play Into the Shimmering World.
In January 2026, Armstrong is set to play a controlling mother in upcoming drama series Dear Life on streaming service Stan, opposite Brooke Satchwell, Ryan Johnson and Deborah Mailman.