Justine Clarke is an Australian actress, singer, author and television host.
Clarke has been acting since the age of seven and has appeared in some of Australia's best-known TV shows. She is best-known for her portrayal as Roo Stewart on the soap opera Home and Away (1988–1989), as Ally Kovac on the drama series Tangle (2009–2012), and as a presenter on the Australian children's show Play School, a role which she has held since 1999. She is also a film and stage actor, and won the Best Actress Award at the Mar del Plata International Film Festival in Argentina in 2006 for her role in independent film Look Both Ways. She has won two ARIA Awards.
Early life and education
Justine Clarke was born in Sydney, New South Wales, to Beverly, an actress and singer and Len, a singer[1]
In 1987, Clarke began filming an eighteen months role on the soap opera, Home and Away, as one of 17 original cast members, playing the character of Ruth "Roo" Stewart. The character of Roo was reinstated in the cast list in 2010, portrayed by Georgie Parker, making the character of Roo one of only two remaining original characters in the series (along with Ray Meagher's character of Alf Stewart). Clarke was one of several Home and Away cast-members to star in an early stage musical about the soap, which toured the UK in 1991.[5]
Following her departure from Home and Away in 1989, Clarke appeared in the short-lived series Family and Friends before going on to act in several mini-series including Come In Spinner and Golden Fiddles.
Clarke's film Turning April in 1996 was followed by Blackrock in 1997, in which Heath Ledger played his first credited feature film role. More recently she has starred in the films Danny Deckchair and Look Both Ways. The role of Meryl Lee in Look Both Ways scored Clarke a nomination for an Australian Film Institute (AFI) Lead Actress award in 2005.[6]
In 1999, Clarke became a presenter on long-running ABC Kids television program, Play School.
The first time I stepped onto that set I felt like I was a child again and I had climbed into the television! I remember feeling slightly nervous about meeting old pros like Jemima and Big Ted, but they were very warm and welcoming and just the same as they are on the show.
— Justine Clarke, on becoming a Play School presenter[3]
After appearing in three episodes of the series Wildside, she played Dr Samantha O'Hara in 21 episodes of All Saints. She also played the leading role in the Australian medical drama The Surgeon and appeared in the third season of the critically acclaimed Australian TV drama series Love My Way, as Simone.
2009 saw Clarke star in the Showcase television series Tangle. In 2012, she appeared in Woodley. Other television appearances followed, including playing the role of Bernadette in The Time of Our Lives from 2013 to 2014;[7] Eve in House Husbands in 2016, and as Noelene Hogan in Hoges.
In 2010, Clarke starred in the short film Peekaboo.
Clarke created and starred in the popular children's television series The Justine Clarke Show!.
On September 19 2024, Clarke was announced as part of the cast for the ABC comedy series Fisk.[8]
In 2023 and 2024 she performed the almost-solo play Julia, about the life of Australian prime minister Julia Gillard, receiving high praise from critics.[11] On 25 September, it was announced that Clarke would again perform as Julia for the 2025 Queensland Theatre season.[12]
In the 1990s, Clarke performed in a number of bands with fellow Australian thespians, including Loene Carmen and Noah Taylor. These groups included the country and western combo The Honky Tonk Angels; punk band The White Trash Mamas; and the avant-garde Cardboard Box Man.[13] In the late '90s she was a backing vocalist in the Sydney band Automatic Cherry, which also featured The Cruel Sea guitarist James Cruickshank. The band released the album Slow Burner in 1997.
In 2016, Clarke collaborated with singer-songwriter Josh Pyke on 'Words Make The World Go Around', a song to celebrate, promote and raise funds for the work of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.[16]
Clarke's first-ever, career-spanning greatest hits collection, Everybody Roar! The Best of Justine Clarke, was released in November 2019. In 2019, she released her first ever original Christmas song, "Here Comes a Merry Christmas", written with longtime collaborators Peter Dasent and Arthur Baysting.[17]
Clarke is also a jazz vocalist and cabaret singer, popular on the Sydney club circuit.[2]
