Lucinda Cowden (born 24 April 1965) is an Australian actress, known for her role as Melanie Pearson in the soap opera Neighbours from 1987 until 1991. She also appeared in The Power, The Passion, presented children's television series Parallel 9 and was a voice actress on The Koala Brothers. She reprised her role as Melanie in Neighbours in 2021 and remained until 2024.

Early life Cowden was born on 24 April 1965 in Ballarat, Victoria. She has a sister. Cowden knew she wanted to be an actor from a young age and appeared on stage when she was five years old.

Career Cowden had a small guest role as Melanie Pearson in the soap opera Neighbours in 1987. She went on to play Danielle Edmonds in the short-lived 1989 soap The Power, The Passion. Two years after her guest appearance, Cowden was asked to return to Neighbours and was signed up for an initial six-month stint. She remained with Neighbours until 1991, with a cameo appearance in the 20th anniversary episode in 2005. Cowden left Neighbours in 1991, and later admitted that she did not want to be typecast.

After leaving Neighbours, Cowden went to the United Kingdom in 1993, where she did various acting jobs, presenting and stand-up comedy. She appeared as Aladdin at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury. She also embarked on a 12-week tour of the UK as Peter Pan. Cowden presented the second and third seasons of the BBC children's television series, Parallel 9. In 1996, she presented comic sketch show Highly Sprung! with Rick Adams. This was followed by a presenting role on the soap opera themed television show Soap Fever in 2000. In April 2000, Cowden starred in a production of Tony McNamara's black comedy play The John Wayne Principle at the Pleasance Theatre. She was a voice actress on the children's show The Koala Brothers.

Cowden returned to Neighbours in 2020. Cowden also reprised the role again in 2023 after the series was picked up by Amazon Freevee. On 29 October 2024, Cowden confirmed her exit from the show, Cowden said that she knew of her character's departure in December just days after co-star Ryan Moloney found out about his contract ending, Moloney had announced his exit from the show in June 2024. Cowden also confirmed the decision to leave the show was not hers as the contracts for cast came up all at once. Cowden revealed that when she was filming her final scene she had broken her nose after falling on set.

Personal life Cowden was married to comedian David Cotter. They married in Sydney in April 1990. Cotter appeared in a 1990 episode of Neighbours as Dr Barclay, but his and Cowden's characters did not interact.

Filmography

Film 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 Segment "M" for Mutant" Feature film 2016 Lost Soul Mother Short film 2018 Just Between Us Mum Feature film

Television

Year Title Role Notes 1985 Winners Jenny Foster Episode: "Just Friends" 1985 Handle with Care Sarah TV film 1985 Prisoner Receptionist Guest role 1986 Prisoner Mandy Guest role 1987–1991, 2005, 2021–2024 Neighbours Melanie Pearson Regular role 1989 The Power, The Passion Danni Edmonds Regular role 1992 The Late Show Constantly upstaged actress Guest role 1993–1994 Parallel 9 Herself – Presenter TV series UK, 44 episodes 1996 Highly Sprung! Herself – Presenter 2003–2007 The Koala Brothers Mitzi, Alice and Lolly (Voice) Regular role 2004 The Basil Brush Show Marion Guest role 2006 Making Children Smile Herself (Voice) Video UK 2007 Doctors Clare O'Grady Guest role 2015 Neighbours 30th: The Stars Reunite Herself TV Special Documentary 2017 Gocsy's Classics Guest role: Gloria TV series, 1 episode

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