Amanda Lillian Muggleton (born 12 October 1951) is an English Australian theatre, television and film actress. She is best known for her supporting television role in soap opera Prisoner as inmate Chrissie Latham, with appearances between 1979 and 1983.
Her stage work in Australia includes the title roles in both Shirley Valentine and Educating Rita, and as Maria Callas in Master Class, for which she won the 2002 Helpmann Award for Best Actress in a Play. She won a second Helpmann Award in 2005, for her role as Mercedes Cortez in the musical Eureka!.
Early life and education Amanda Lillian Muggleton was born on 12 October 1951 in Stepney, London, England,"Muggleton, Amanda, 1951-" . National Library of Australia. Retrieved 11 January 2021.Mayo, Douglas (7 July 2016). "Prisoner Cell Block H Star Brings One Woman Show To King's Head". BritishTheatre.com. Retrieved 11 January 2021. and emigrated to Australia in 1974.Cerabona, Ron (30 July 2014). "Amanda Muggleton: The Men Who Got Away - Thank God!". Canberra Times. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
She attended Sydenham School and left just before taking A-levels to go to drama school. She trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Royal Academy of Dance in London.
Career
Television and film Muggleton's most widely known television role is perhaps that of Chrissie Latham in the Australian soap opera Prisoner. She also played the lead role of Connie Ryan in short lives soap opera Richmond Hill, and has had guest roles in television series including A Country Practice, Cop Shop, HeadLand, City Homicide as well as British series Hollyoaks and the telemovie Sara Dane. Her film credits include Mad Max, Thirst, Street Hero, Queen of the Road, Mr. Reliable, Feeling Sexy, Idiot Box and Matching Jack.
In 2008, Muggleton's role of Kathy Booth in drama series City Homicide earned her a nomination for the AACTA Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actress in a Television Drama. In 2010, she appeared in two episodes of the ABC comedy series The Librarians. In March 2012, Muggleton went to Queensland for a role in Fatal Honeymoon, a made-for-television film based on the death of Alabama woman Tina Watson on her Great Barrier Reef diving trip in 2003, shot for the American cable channel Lifetime.
In 2016, Muggleton featured in the second episode of Channel 7’s The Secret Daughter, followed by a brief appearance in the UK Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks as Dr. Barton, which she filmed in October whilst she was in London performing The Book Club at King's Head Theatre.
In June 2019, it was announced that Muggleton would begin appearing in the Seven Network soap opera Home and Away as recurring character Wendy Shaw, the mother of Ryan ‘Robbo’ Shaw (Jake Ryan). She made her first appearance on 27 June 2019 and her final appearance on 30 July 2020.
Theatre Muggleton has appeared with all the state and commercial theatre companies. On stage, her performances with state theatre companies include Privates on Parade, The Matchmaker, The Seagull and Shirley Valentine (with MTC), Master Class, Nicholas Nickleby, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice and Soulmates (with STC), Duet for One, The Winter's Tale, Gigi and We Were Dancing (with QTC), Twelfth Night and Blithe Spirit (with SATC), Educating Rita, Medea and Shirley Valentine (with Hole in the Wall, Perth).
Muggleton's commercial credits include HMS Pinafore and Eureka! (with Essgee), Hello Dolly (with The Production Company), The Book Club and Master Class (with ICA), Annie (with GFO/SEL/Macks), the original Steaming (with Morley, Davis) and Losing Louis (with Ensemble Theatre).
Muggleton has won several very significant awards, for Shirley Valentine and The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (the Norman Kessell Award) and for Miss Hannigan in Annie (the Colleen Clifford Award). For her role as Maria Callas in Master Class, she won both a Green Room Award and a Helpmann Award for Best Actress in a Play. She won a second Helpmann Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for her role as Mercedes Cortez in the Australian musical, Eureka!
In 2003, Muggleton completed a highly successful national tour of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, playing the White Witch, with Dennis Olsen as The Professor. Together, Muggleton and Olsen also devised and co-produced Marvellous Party!, a production that celebrates the words and music of Noël Coward, and which had two sell-out shows at the Victorian Arts Centre, a highly successful Victorian tour and toured Melbourne, Perth, Mandurah and Canberra, from 2003 to 2004. She also appeared in her own solo cabaret show.
Out of Marvellous Party! came Darling It's Noel, produced by International Concert Attractions and directed by Rodney Fisher at the Sydney Opera House and His Majesty's Theatre, Perth in 2004.
In 2009, Muggleton appeared in the thirtieth anniversary of The Man From Mukinupin for Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney and in the roles of both Louis and Ethel Reid in The Ruby Sunrise for Ensemble Theatre, Sydney.
In 2010, Muggleton appeared as Bette Davis in the one-woman show Me & Jezebel at Mackay Entertainment Centre. One week after it finished, she began rehearsals for the role of Chris in Calendar Girls, which toured nationally, and took the role of Lillian in Madagascar for Black Swan Theatre Company in Perth.
In 2011, Muggleton started playing multiple roles in Love Loss & What I Wore at the Sydney Opera House alongside Magda Szubanski and Natalie Bassingthwaighte. Subsequently, she played the role of Susan in a one-woman comedy Just the Ticket for Ensemble Theatre, Sydney. After a short break, Muggleton took over the role of Mrs Peachum in The Threepenny Opera alongside Paul Capsis for the Sydney Theatre Company in September 2011, and then headed to Perth, where she played the role of Mrs Johnstone in Blood Brothers, from November to December 2011 – a role that she had longed to play.
In 2013, Muggleton starred in three different theatre productions. First she starred in a revival of Torch Song Trilogy for Gaiety Theatre Presents, from February to March at the Darlinghurst Theatre in Sydney. Following this, she took to the road for a six-month tour of The Book Club, which visited Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and many regional areas. Midway through the tour she took a break to reprise her role in Blood Brothers at Brisbane's Cremorne Theatre, QPAC for two weeks in August. In 2014 she returned to the role of Ms Hannigan in Annie (Sydney) as well as performing the cabaret show The Men Who Got Away – Thank God! in Canberra.
In 2015, Muggleton performed in Boston Marriage at QPAC in February and March and won the 2015 Norman Kessell Memorial Award for Best Actor (female) for her role in The Book Club at the Glug Awards in Sydney.
Muggleton returned to the stage in 2016 to play Velma Von Tussle in Hairspray in Brisbane (April) and Newcastle (July) just before The Book Club returned to Melbourne's Southbank Theatre in July.
In 2017, Muggleton played the role of Helena Rubinstein in Lip Service"AMANDA MUGGLETON TALKS LIP SERVICE" . Theatrepeople.com.au. 16 June 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2021. for Ensemble Theatre in Sydney, and reprised her award-winning role as Maria Callas in Master Class in Perth, which continued in Melbourne in January 2018.
Other In 2009, Muggleton and her business partner Bernadette Eichner founded Scene & Heard, a new acting school based in Sydney's Lane Cove. Within its first year, the business became so successful that they had to relocate it to new, bigger premises.
Muggleton is qualified as a speech and drama teacher. She is also a public speaker and can pilot single-engine planes.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Type1979 Mad Max Biker's Moll (uncredited) Feature film Thirst Martha Feature film 1982 A Slice of Life Eva Feature film 1984 Street Hero Miss Reagan Feature film1996 Idiot Box Mum Feature film Mr. Reliable Mrs. Morgan Feature film 1999 Feeling Sexy Vicki's Mum Feature film 2006 Vermin Esmerelda Short film 2008 Your Turn Esther Short film2010 Don't Ya Wanna Dance? The Mother Short film Matching Jack Home Nurse Feature film
Television Year Title Role Type 1975–1976 The Caricacture Theatre UK series 1975 Panache UK series1978; 1982 Cop Shop Ann Walker / Bikie's girlfriend TV series, 2 episodes 1979–1983 Prisoner Chrissie Latham Supporting role, seasons 1–5 (108 episodes)1981 Holiday Island Ruth Faraday Episode 21: "Public Hero" Women of the Sun Secretary Miniseries, episode 4: "Lo-arna" 1982 Sara Dane Nell Finnigan Miniseries, 2 episodes 1983 A Country Practice Karen Murdoch Episode: "Truth and Consequences"1984 Queen of the Road Gayle O' Reagan TV film A Country Practice Ros Henkle Episode: "Horse of a Different Colour" 1984 Sweet and Sour Pat Mason 2 episodes 1987 A Country Practice Jill Rice Episode: "Birds of Prey" 1987 Rafferty's Rules 1 episode 1988 Richmond Hill Connie Ryan Lead role 1988 Touch the Sun: Peter & Pompey Miria Malloy TV film 1997 H.M.S. Pinafore Little Buttercup TV film 2006 HeadLand Geraldine Pye Season 1, episodes 38 & 44 2007 City Homicide Cathy Booth Episode: "Lie Down with Dogs" 2012 Fatal Honeymoon Glenda Watson TV film 2013 The Librarians Rose McConnichie Season 3, episodes: "Dark Before Dawn", "Pearl of Wisdom" 2016 The Secret Daughter Connie Di Maria 2 episodes Hollyoaks Dr. Barton 1 episode 2019–2021 Home and Away Wendy Shaw Recurring role, seasons 32-332025Do Not Watch This ShowRonda Ringo (voice)1 episode (Getting Older)
Theatre