Australian actress
Louise Siversen is an Australian actress. She is known for her television roles, including Lou Kelly in Prisoner (1984–1986), Debbie in The Flying Doctors (1988–1990), and 2012-2017 Heather Looby in House Husbands. She has also appeared on stage and in film.
Born in Melbourne, Siversen began acting as a child after her parents sent her to dance and drama classes to help her overcome her shyness. Siversen began to enjoy acting and went on to perform with St Martins Youth Theatre, appearing in many productions.[1][failed verification] Siversen was to study law, but decided to stick with acting after attending a Career Day at university.
Siversen has also trained in jazz dance and ballet.
Siversen is best known for her portrayal of nasty Louise 'Lou' Kelly in the Network Ten series Prisoner. Siversen had done several bit-parts in the series and at the time the character of Lou was devised, and had been a regular extra for several months, playing one of the prisoners. Siversen auditioned, and got the part. Lou quickly became one of the main characters of the series and had a run of three years.
Her other TV credits include The Flying Doctors, Halifax f.p., 'Sugar and Spice, BackBerner, MDA, All Saints, Janus, Rush, Special Squad and House Husbands.
Siversen in 2021 gave an in depth interview about her time on Prisoner on the podcast series Talking Prisoner,[2] where she talked about her career, her hobbies and voice acting.
She appeared in the 1989 Australianhorror filmHouseboat Horror.
Siversen appeared in several productions for the Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne and the Melbourne Theatre Company. She also wrote her one-woman show Coming to My Senses in 1993. In 2017 she played Dotty/Mrs Clacket in Michael Frayn's Noises Off for the Melbourne Theatre Company and Queensland Theatre.[3]
She teaches drama at the Victorian College of Arts.
| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981-1984; 1984-1986 | Prisoner | Nurse / Tammy Fisher / Shop Assistant | TV series |
| 1984 | Carson's Law | Nurse #1 / Prostitute | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1984 | Special Squad | Laura | TV series, episode 4: "Easy Street" |
| 1984-1986 | Prisoner | Lou Kelly / Louise | TV series, 151 episodes |
| 1988 | The Bartons | Angela | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1988; 2001 | Neighbours | Carol Barker | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1988 | House Rules | Elsa Nixon | TV series |
| 1988 | Sugar and Spice | Mrs Beatrice Robertson | TV series |
| 1988-1990 | The Flying Doctors[5] | Debbie O'Brien | TV series, 14 episodes |
| 1991 | Chances | Cheryl Richards | TV series, 10 episodes |
| 1992 | Kelly | Glennis | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1994-1995 | Janus[6] | Judge Glenda De Bono | TV series, 18 episodes |
| 1994 | The Damnation of Harvey McHugh | Annette | TV series, 3 episodes |
| 1995; 2000 | Halifax f.p. | Linda Quinn / Beth Hartley | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1996; 1999 | Blue Heelers | Louise Fordham / Nola Tully | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1996 | Law of the Land | Lynne Raynor | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1997 | The Adventures of Lano and Woodley | Doctor | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1998 | Good Guys Bad Guys | Shannon Blightie | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1998 | The Games | Jasmine Holt | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1998 | Driven Crazy | Daisy | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1998 | State Coroner | Cheryl Norton | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1999; 2002 | Stingers | Olwyn O'Neill / Detective Rawlins | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1999 | Crash Zone | Zoe Hansen | TV series, 4 episodes |
| 1999 | High Flyers | Nola | TV series, 26 episodes |
| 1999-2002 | BackBerner | Various characters | TV series, 128 episodes |
| 2000 | Eugenie Sandler PI | Winsome Bedford | TV series, 5 episodes |
| 2000 | Lost | Psychologist | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2001 | Neighbours | Angela Patrick | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 2002 | Short Cuts | Mrs. Bartlett | TV series, 9 episodes |
| 2002 | Bootleg | Mrs. Spring | TV miniseries, 3 episodes |
| 2005 | The Secret Life of Us | Marg | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2005 | MDA | Meg Morrison | TV series, 4 episodes |
| 2006 | Wicked Science | Elsa Bailey | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2007 | City Homicide | Janice Quinn | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2008 | All Saints | Tamara Pederson | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2008 | Rush | Raelene | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2012-2017 | House Husbands | Miss Heather Looby | TV series, 36 episodes |
| 2013 | The Doctor Blake Mysteries | Rosemary Morrisey | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2015 | Utopia | Linda Hillier | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2016 | Rake | Shirl | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 2017 | Ronny Chieng: International Student | Joy-Anne | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2017 | True Story with Hamish & Andy | Shop Lady | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2020 | The Gloaming | Minister Leonie Patrick | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2020 | Rosehaven | Kerry | TV series, season 4, 1 episode |
| 2021 | Celebration Nation | Paula | TV series, 3 episodes |
| 2021 | Five Bedrooms | Karen Stefiary | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2021 | Love Me | Judith | TV miniseries, 2 episodes |
| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | In Melbourne Today | Guest | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1991 | In Sydney Today | Guest | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1995; 1997 | Good Morning Australia | Guest | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 2001 | People Dimensions | Guest | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2021 | Talking Prisoner[7] | Guest | Podcast series, 2 episodes |
| 2023 | You Don't Have to Hate the Movie People Forever - Interview with Louise Siversen | Herself | DVD/Video |
| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Morning Sacrifice | La Mama, Melbourne | |
| 1989 | The Misery of Beauty | Various roles | Theatre Works, Melbourne |
| 1991 | The Girl Who Saw Everything | Carol Edge | Russell Street Theatre, Melbourne with MTC |
| 1993 | Barmaids | Nancy | Peacock Theatre, Hobart with Zootango Theatre Company |
| 1993 | Coming to My Senses | One-woman show | Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne |
| 1998 | Dark: The Diane Arbus Story | Various roles | Melbourne Festival |
| 1999 | Wonderful Ward | Bernadette / PA | Melbourne International Comedy Festival |
| 2000 | Art and Soul | Various roles | Fairfax Studio, Melbourne with MTC |
| 2004 | The Memory of Water | Teresa | Space 28, Southbank, Melbourne with MTC |
| 2007 | Dimboola | Florence McAdam | Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne |
| 2007-2008 | The Glory | Elizabeth | Fairfax Studio, Melbourne, The Butter Factory Theatre, Wodonga with HotHouse Theatre |
| 2008 | Mum's the Word 2: Teenagers | Deborah | Playhouse, Brisbane, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, Theatre Royal, Sydney, Burswood Theatre, Perth with Dainty Productions |
| 2009 | Master of the Revels | Judy Forrister | Southbank Theatre, Melbourne with MTC |
| 2010 | All About My Mother | Sister Rosa’s Mother / Matron | Southbank Theatre, Melbourne with MTC |
| 2011 | The Joy of Text | Diane | Fairfax Studio, Melbourne with MTC |
| 2013 | True Minds | Vivienne Reynolds | Southbank Theatre with MTC |
| 2016 | The Last Ten Minutes of History | Courthouse Theatre | |
| 2016 | I Can't Even... | One-woman show | Malthouse Theatre |
| 2017 | Noises Off | Dotty Otley / Mrs Clackett | Playhouse, Brisbane with Queensland Theatre, Playhouse, Melbourne with MTC |
| 2019 | Playlist | Trades Hall, Melbourne | |
| 2020; 2022 | The Heartbreak Choir | Totty | Southbank Theatre, Melbourne & online with MTC |
| 2021 | Birthday Cake | One-woman show | Geelong Arts Centre with The Space Company & online - Australia |
| 2023 | Croydon | Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne | |
| 2023 | A Very Jewish Christmas Carol | Carol / Rein-Dybbuk / Ensemble | Southbank Theatre, Melbourne with MTC |
| 2023 | Underneath Ms Archer | Kelly Archer (also co-writer) | St Martins Theatre, Fortyfivedownstairs |
| 2023 | Hell's Gates | Various roles | Geelong Arts Centre with The Space Company |
| 2024 | Birthday Cake | One-woman show | Geelong Arts Centre |
[8][9]
Siversen is married to Theo Siversen. They live in Melbourne.
Siversen has been an Iyengar Yoga student for over 15 years, and is also an avid walker, having walked the Camino Frances, an 800 kilometre walk across Northern Spain, in 2009.