Australian screen and stage actor Janet Andrewartha has died aged 72.

Well-known for long-running roles on Australian TV programs including Prisoner between 1984 and 1986 and Neighbours from 2009 to 2019, Andrewartha appeared more recently in the streaming drama Fake (currently showing on Paramount+) and SBS’s 2023 series, Safe Home.

She is remembered as a committed and talented actor, and a kind friend possessed of a dry sense of humour.

Andrewartha was born in the US on 16 September 1952, later moving to Australia with her family.

She initially worked as a secondary school music teacher, but after being asked to direct a student production, discovered a love of drama, which led to her resigning from teaching and enrolling as a student at The National Theatre Drama School (now known as The National Drama School).

Andrewartha graduated from The National in 1979 and made her first regular television appearance, in the ABC TV series Patrol Boat, that same year.

She returned to The National in 1996 to run the Drama School temporarily after then Director of Drama, Joan Harris, had a heart attack, and also made time to direct a number of student productions at the school between her television engagements.

In addition to her better-known television roles, Andrewartha also appeared in programs such as Blue Heelers, A Country Practice and Carson’s Law, as well as the 1998 US mini-series Moby Dick (which was shot in Melbourne and starred Patrick Stewart as the monomaniacal Captain Ahab) and the 2017 mini-series Seven Types of Ambiguity, based on the novel of the same name by Melbourne writer Elliot Perlman.

Andrewartha also performed regularly on stage, including Green Room Award-winning roles in the Melbourne Theatre Company’s 1986 production Tom & Viv (Michael Hastings’ drama about the lives of T S Eliot and his wife Vivienne Haigh-Wood, directed by the late Ray Lawler) and Shakespeare’s Othello, directed by Roger Hodgman for the MTC in 1992.

‘Vale, Janet Andrewartha,’ the Company shared. ‘Although widely known for her television roles in Neighbours and Prisoner, Janet graced the Melbourne Theatre Company stage many times in her career. Loved by staff and audiences alike, we are deeply saddened by her passing this week. We will remember Janet’s powerful performance in Joanna Murray-Smith’s play Honour (2004) and her role of Margie in Music (2012), among many career highlights.’

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Andrewartha also worked with the Playbox Theatre Company (now Malthouse Theatre), appearing in the likes of Stephen Sewell’s 1993 comedy The Garden of Granddaughters and Nick Enright’s Good Works in 1995, as well as with Queensland Theatre Company (now Queensland Theatre) and in co-productions with Black Swan and Sydney Theatre Company.  

Fellow Neighbours actor Jackie Woodburne paid tribute to Andrewartha in an Instagram post, saying, ‘Janet was one of the finest actors of her generation, but more than that, she was an extraordinary woman. Passionate, political, curious, delightfully eccentric, generous and fun. To me she was a steadfast friend for over 45 years. I will miss her every day.’

Andrewartha died peacefully at home, surrounded by family, on Friday 26 July.

This article was originally published at ArtsHub and was updated after publication to include additional photographs of Janet Andrewartha and a statement provided by the MTC.