Fiona Spence
| Fiona Spence | |
|---|---|
| Born |
10 October 1948 Kent, England, UK |
| Occupation | Stage and television actress |
| Years active | 1978-present |
| Partner(s) | Unnamed fiance (1968) Unnamed fiance (1978) Denise Morgan (1979–2011) |
Fiona Spence (born 10 October 1948, Kent, England), is a British-born stage and television actress and drama teacher. One of the most recognisable Australian television stars during the early 1980s, she is best known for her small screen roles as Gestapo-like prison officer Vera Bennett in the Australian television series Prisoner and the unlucky in love spinster Celia Stewart in Home and Away. She has had a successful and long running career in the theatre both in Australia and the UK.
Spence was born in Kent, England to an Irish mother and an Australian-born father serving with the British Army. When her father finally left the service, Spence and her family (including her sister-in-law, casting director Kerry Spence) moved to Australia in the late 1950s. After leaving school, she was trained as a secretary and later traveled to Montreal where she was a hostess for the Australia Pavilion (Expo 67) at the Canadian Expo.
After living in Canada for a year, she left for England and lived in London for a time working as a saleswoman for Fortnum & Mason. It was while seeing several plays in London's West End, she became interested in acting. She was engaged when she was 22, but broke it off.
She eventually returned to Australia and joined the Independent Theatre School where she trained for three years, before she began acting professionally during the late 1970s. She became engaged a second time, but again the relationship ended around 1978. While living in Sydney, she appeared in her first television role in the teen drama Glenview High in 1977.
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