Mary-Anne Fahey (born 19 August 1955 as Mary-Anne Waterman) credited also as Maryanne Fahey, is an Australian actress, comedian, screenwriter and children's author.

Career Fahey has starred in and written for numerous TV and film comedy programs including The Comedy Company, Kittson Fahey, the first Australian female-only sketch comedy program, Get a Life and One Size Fits All. She had roles in Future Schlock, The Dunera Boys, All the Rivers Run II, Celia, Lucky Break and SeaChange. She has received roles in theatre including Mary Lives!.

Fahey is most famous for her work on Channel Ten's The Comedy Company especially for her school girl character, Kylie Mole, and three-year-old "Jophesine", the Play School Sketches with Glenn Robbins and the "Bedscene" sketches with her then real-life husband Ian McFadyen.

In the 1980s she appeared in an advertisement for David Reid electronics, which was promoting the Commodore Amiga 500.

Kylie Mole

Fahey's Kylie Mole character—a scowling schoolgirl—was so popular she published the best-selling novel My Diary by Kylie Mole. She released a Double A-Side single with tracks "So Excellent"/"I Go, I Go", which hit #8 on the Australian ARIA chart in November 1988. A music video for "So Excellent" was filmed. The Kylie Mole character was one of several iconic characters that appeared in the show. Her characterisation especially resonated with Australian youth. The Australian adoption of the word "bogan" was first popularised in the media by Kylie Mole, and other phrases she used gained a wider currency.

Later career Fahey lives in Melbourne and is concentrating on writing and children's theatre. In May 2007,Penguin Books (Australia) author bio for Mary-Anne Fahey she published her first children's novel, I, Nigel Dorking: An Autobiography about a Boy with an Unusual Vocabulary, a Suit of Armour and an Unshakeable Dream, Written by That Very Boy (Nigel Dorking), Grade Six ( and ).I, Nigel Dorking, book description & details Book Review of I, Nigel Dorking: "My Life as a Loser", by Sue Bursztynski, June 2007. Accessed 11 August 2007.

Awards Fahey won a 1989 Logie Award for "Most Popular Light Entertainment/Comedy Personality" for her work on The Comedy Company. She has won an AWGIE AwardMelbourne Writers' Festival 24Aug-2Sep 2007: Mary-Anne Fahey Information page and an Irish-dancing trophy where she came second in a competition of two.

Personal life Fahey has two sons. Thomas Fahey, from her first marriage, and James McFadyen, born 12 July 1990. Fahey and Ian McFadyen split up in 1992. From 1994 until 2011 her partner was children's writer Morris Gleitzman. He too has a background in comedy writing as a former writer for The Norman Gunston Show, and a satirical columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

From 2014, Fahey has been in a relationship with Paul Jennings, another children's book writer who had previously collaborated with Morris Gleitzman on two books series, Wicked and Deadly.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Type 1984 Future Schlock Sarah Feature film 1989 Celia Pat Carmichael Feature film 1994 Lucky Break (aka Paperback Romance) Myra Feature film

Television Year Title Role Type 1981 Cop Shop Robyn Cain 2 episodes1983 Prisoner Kelly Fraser 2 episodes All The Rivers Run Hilda Miniseries, 3 episodes1984 The Keepers 1 episode Special Squad 1 episode1985 The Eleventh Hour Various characters TV series The Dunera Boys Naomi Mendellsohn Miniseries, 2 episodes1986 The Great Bookie Robbery Cheryl Miniseries, 2 episodes Rubbery Figures Various characters (voice) TV series 1987 Willing and Abel 1 episode1988 The Flying Doctors Lisa Morgan 1 episode The Gerry Connolly Show Various characters 5 episodes 1988–1990 The Comedy Company Kylie Mole Regular role 1991 All Together Now Rivka Carpenter 1 episode 1992–1993 Kittson Fahey Various characters 1993–1996 Crocadoo Gina (voice) Animated series, season 1 1994 Blue Heelers Sandra Lynch 1 episode 1997 Get a Life Jackie Carter (voice) Animated series 1998 Crocadoo II Kelly (voice) Animated series, 1 episode 1999 Chuck Finn Dr. McCorquondale (voice) Animated series, 1 episode2000 SeaChange Kerry Philby 1 episode One Size Fits All Herself / Various characters 13 episodes

Stage Year Title Role Venue / Company 1980 Alcestis University of Melbourne 1981 Carnival Knowledge Melbourne Comedy Cafe 1986 Faking It Presenter Living Arts Centre, Adelaide for Adelaide Fringe Festival 1986 Faking It 2 Presenter The Last Laugh, Melbourne 1987 No Trouble Universal Theatre, Melbourne 1992 Mary Lives! Mary Malthouse Theatre, Geelong Arts Centre, Monash University with Playbox Theatre Company 1992 A Night of Infectious Laughter Melbourne Athenaeum 1993 Humorists Read the Humorists Canberra Theatre with Comedy Summit 1993 The Grand Finale Galah Canberra Theatre with Comedy Summit

As writer Year Title Role Venue / Company 1987 Duck Writer Le Joke, Melbourne with Handspan Theatre

References

External links

Number 8 on the ARIA chart, 1988. Interview of Mary-Anne Fahey and Mark Mitchell, by George Negus. broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation at 6.30 pm on 26 September 2002. Book Review of I, Nigel Dorking by Sue Bursztynski (januarymagazine.com) Humorous author's bio for Mary-Anne Fahey (Penguin Books (Australia) website) Ask an Author: Mary-Anne Fahey (Fahey responds to questions from readers about her new book. The Age newspaper online, 7 May 2007. Accessed 11 August 2007. Includes current picture of Fahey.