Rebecca Gibney
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:Infobox person
Rebecca Catherine Gibney (born December 14, 1964) is a New Zealand actor known for her roles on Australian television in The Flying Doctors, Halifax f.p., Packed to the Rafters, Winter and Wanted. She has also featured in a number of Australian films, including Mental and The Dressmaker. She is a Gold Logie winner.<ref name="Logie"/><ref name="NZOS"/>
Early life and education
Rebecca Catherine Gibney was born in Levin, New Zealand<ref name="RGM">Template:Cite web</ref> and attended Wellington Girls' College, where she admits to having been a rebellious teenager.<ref name="school">Template:Cite web</ref>
While working as a receptionist at a Wellington jeweller, Gibney undertook part-time modelling work.<ref name="NZOS">Template:Cite web</ref>
Career
Gibney's modelling work led to parts in television advertisements and bit parts in New Zealand TV series' Pioneer Women and Inside Straight.<ref name="NZOS"/><ref name="PW">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="IS">Template:Cite web</ref>
Her first main role was in TV film Among the Cinders, but after bypassing cinemas, it did not screen on New Zealand television until four years later, in 1987.<ref name="NZOS"/> She spent two months on the series Sea Urchins, before relocating to Melbourne, Australia at the age of 19<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> to star as Julie Davis in the Australian children's series Zoo Family.<ref name="RGM"/> Roles in 1985 TV film I Live with Me Dad and 1986 crime miniseries The Great Bookie Robbery followed.<ref name="RGM"/>
She went on to star as mechanic Emma Plimpton in the popular drama series The Flying Doctors.<ref name="RGM"/> In 1990, she had a lead role in the film Jigsaw, and then played Guinea Malone in miniseries Come in Spinner. The role won her an Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Miniseries and a Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Actress.<ref name="RGM"/> That same year she also appeared in 1990 miniseries Ring of Scorpio.<ref name="RGM"/>
In the early 1990s, when Gibney had established a fan base and gained confidence, she travelled to Los Angeles to explore the idea of furthering her career in the US, but after a few weeks, she found Hollywood to be inauthentic, and after asking herself why she would abandon her successful career in Australia, she returned home.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1991, Gibney starred in the Channel Nine sitcom All Together Now opposite Jon English, staying with the series until 1993. The role earned her two Logie nominations.<ref name="RGM"/> After her departure, she starred in the miniseries Snowy.<ref name="RGM"/> Channel 9 were so impressed with Gibney, that they had the producers of the series create a role especially for her – the title character of Dr. Jane Halifax in Halifax f.p..<ref name="RGM"/> The series debuted in 1994 with the episode "Acts of Betrayal",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and continued with a further 20 telemovies up until 2002.<ref name="RGM"/> She was nominated for six Silver Logie Awards and two AFI Awards for her role.<ref name="RGM"/>
Gibney starred in 1994 film Lucky Break (aka Paperback Romance), opposite Anthony LaPaglia, for which she was nominated for an AFI Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.<ref name="RGM"/><ref name="NZOS"/> She appeared in 1997 children's film Joey, and the miniseries' Kangaroo Palace (1997), and The Day of the Roses (1998),<ref name="RGM"/> and was nominated for Most Outstanding Actress at the 1999 Logie Awards for her role in the latter,<ref name="NZOS"/> a drama based on the 1977 Grenville rail disaster. She also starred in 1998 horror mystery TV film 13 Gantry Row, alongside John Adam, Nicholas Hammond, Marshall Napier and Michael Caton.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
From 2002 to 2003, Gibney had a role in police procedural crime drama Stingers and from 2003 to 2006, she co-starred with Claudia Karvan in the telemovie trilogy Small Claims, as Chrissy, earning her a Silver Logie nomination for Most Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series.<ref name="RGM"/> She appeared in the movie adaptation of Stephen King's novel Salem's Lot in 2004,<ref name="RGM"/> followed by King's 2006 anthology series Nightmares and Dreamscapes.<ref name="RGM"/> In 2006, she played the role of Lydia, a hippie restaurant owner and operator in the Network Ten drama series Tripping Over.<ref name="RGM"/>
In 2007, Gibney had a small role in the film Clubland, starring Brenda Blethyn,<ref name="RGM"/> and directed by Cherie Nowlan (known as Introducing the Dwights in the United States).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
A series of Australian television advertisements for Advil in 2006/2007 featured Gibney and her family.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A new television advertisement with only Gibney appeared in October 2007.
Gibney hosted four seasons of a documentary series produced by Television New Zealand called Sensing Murder (2006–2010),<ref name="RGM"/> in which unsolved cases of New Zealand murders or missing persons are probed by psychic investigators from both New Zealand and Australia. Gibney was executive producer. While there, she also starred in 2008 New Zealand feature film The Map Reader, alongside Michael Hurst, playing Amelia, mother of Michael, the map reader of the title.<ref name="NZOS"/> Gibney then took a hiatus from acting after the birth of her son.<ref name="NZOS"/>
From August 2008 until its conclusion in 2013, Gibney played the female lead of Julie Rafter on the Seven Network's Packed to the Rafters.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Her role in the series proved popular, winning her the Gold Logie in 2009.<ref name="Logie" /> She also won two Silver Logies, and earned a further seven Logie Award nominations, an AFI Award nomination for Best Lead Actress and a 2011 AACTA Audience Choice Award nomination.<ref name="RGM"/> In 2009, she appeared in the true crime movie In Her Skin (aka I Am You), based on the Rachel Barber case, alongside Guy Pearce, Sam Neill and Miranda Otto.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2010, Gibney played the lead role on Channel Ten’s telemovie Wicked Love: The Maria Korp Story, opposite Vince Colosimo.<ref name="RGM"/> She then starred as Shirley Moochmore in the 2012 P. J. Hogan film Mental alongside Toni Collette<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Anthony LaPaglia, gaining 13 kg for the role.<ref name="NZOS"/> The role saw her nominated for an AACTA Award, an Australian Film Critics Association Award and a Film Critics Circle of Australia Award.<ref name="RGM"/>
In 2014, Gibney co-produced and starred in a new TV film crime drama, The Killing Field. She played a detective tasked with solving the murder of a teenage girl in a small town.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2014, she returned to New Zealand for an episode of SBS series Who Do You Think You Are?, exploring her own real life family background with the help of ancestry and genealogy experts.<ref name="NZOS"/> Winter, a follow-up series to The Killing Field, screened in 2015.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> That same year she appeared in the TV biopic Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door,<ref name="RGM"/> with Sigrid Thornton, and feature film The Dressmaker, alongside Kate Winslet, Judy Davis, Hugo Weaving and Liam Hemsworth.<ref name="RGM"/>
Gibney then co-created, produced (together with her partner Richard Bell) and starred in three seasons of drama Wanted, beginning in 2016.<ref name="NZOS"/> The series was nominated for a 2017 International Emmy Award for Best Drama Series.<ref name="RGM"/> In 2017, she appeared in the web documentary series The Circle, developed for the real estate company Domain. The series, also featuring Richard Roxburgh and Dan Wyllie, saw two couples trading their small urban apartments in Sydney and Melbourne for a more affordable life on the Sunshine Coast.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2019 she played a crime boss in New Zealand film Lowdown Dirty Criminals, a departure from her protagonist roles.<ref name="NZOS"/>
In 2020, Gibney reprised the role of Dr. Jane Halifax for Halifax: Retribution,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> which earned her an AACTA Award nomination for Best Lead Actress.<ref name="RGM"/>
In 2021, Gibney also reprised her role as Julie Rafter from Packed to the Rafters in the Amazon Prime miniseries Back to the Rafters.<ref name="RGM"/> That same year, she joined the cast of Under the Vines.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> which she also executive produced.<ref name="RGM"/> That same year, she appeared as a contestant on the second season of Celebrity MasterChef Australia, competing opposite TV personality Chrissie Swan, comedian Dilruk Jayasinha and footballer Archie Thompson, fashion designer Collette Dinnigan, singer Dami Im, ex-Olympian Ian Thorpe and actor Matthew Le Nevez. AFL player Nick Riewoldt won the series and Tilly Ramsay (Gordon Ramsay's daughter was runner-up.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2024, Gibney appeared in the Stan series Prosper.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In November of that year, she began appearing in the New Zealand-Australian crime drama series A Remarkable Place to Die. The Queenstown-set series is a co-production between TVNZ and Australia's Nine Network.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>The many mysteries of A Remarkable Place to Die The Spinoff. 8 November 2024</ref><ref>A Remarkable Place To Die: new crime drama on 9 Screen Hub. 31 October 2024</ref> In December 2024, it was announced that Gibney was cast as lead for New Zealand series Happiness.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Gibney was inducted into the Logie Hall of Fame at the 2024 TV WEEK Logie Awards.<ref name="Mama"/> She was the fourth woman ever to be inducted, after Ruth Cracknell, Noni Hazlehurst and Kerri-Anne Kennerley.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During the presentation, her son Zachary gave a heartfelt speech, expressing pride in her as both an actor and a parent.<ref name="Mama"/>
Gibney most recently competed on the 2025 season of Dancing with the Stars. She was eliminated in episode 5.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In July 2025, she began performing in the Sydney Theatre Company season for the play Circle Mirror Transformation, marking her return to theatre for the first time in almost 20 years and her debut with the STC.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In September 2025, Gibney was announced as host on the game show reboot Millionaire Hot Seat for Network 10, replacing Eddie McGuire formally on Nine.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Personal life
Gibney dated television presenter Richard Wilkins in the late 1980s, when she was 22. She lived in Melbourne and Wilkins was based in Sydney. They broke up when she discovered that Wilkins was cheating on her with a flight attendant, who he subsequently ended up marrying. Despite this, she holds no hard feelings towards Wilkins.<ref name="Mama">Template:Cite web</ref>
Gibney was married to Irwin Thomas (Template:Aka Jack Jones, former lead singer of Southern Sons), from 1992 to 1995. They divorced three years later.<ref name="Mama"/>
She met production designer Richard Bell in 1999 on the set of Halifax f.p. when she was 35. They got together in 2000, were married in November 2001 and moved to Tasmania, before going on to have their son, Zachary.<ref name="Mama"/><ref name="Clarke">Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2017, Gibney temporarily moved to Dunedin, New Zealand with her family, while filming the TV series Under the Vines. When her son Zachary moved to Wellington in 2022 to study acting at Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School, they initially stayed in Dunedin, but eventually sold their home in 2024, to move 'north' and be nearer to Zachary, who is now studying in Sydney.<ref name="OneRoof">Template:Cite web</ref>
Gibney holds dual New Zealand and Australian citizenship.<ref name="WW">Template:Cite web</ref> Her mother, Shirley lives in Brisbane.<ref name="NTL"/> In 2014, while investigating her family history for the series Who Do You Think You Are?, Gibney discovered that her great great grandfather was part of the military invasion of Parihaka.<ref name="NZOS"/>
Gibney has spoken about her struggles with anxiety and panic attacks, and the horrific sexual abuse her mother suffered as a child, at the hands of her own alcoholic father.<ref name="NTL">Template:Cite web</ref>
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Among the Cinders | Sally | Feature film |
| 1984 | Mr. Wrong | Clive's Secretary | Feature film |
| 1985 | I Live with Me Dad | Jill Harkness | Feature film |
| 1989 | Jigsaw | Virginia York | Feature film |
| 1994 | Lucky Break (aka Paperback Romance) | Gloria Wrightman | Feature film |
| 1997 | Joey | Penny McGregor | Feature film |
| 2006 | Lost and Found | Mac's Mum | Feature film |
| 2007 | Clubland (aka Introducing the Dwights) | Lana | Feature film |
| 2008 | The Map Reader | Amelia Rosemont | Feature film |
| 2009 | In Her Skin | Gail | Feature film |
| 2011 | Seek | Mummy | Short film |
| 2012 | Mental | Shirley Moochmore | Feature film |
| 2014 | The Killing Field | Detective Sergeant Eve Winter | TV movie |
| 2015 | The Dressmaker | Muriel Pratt | Feature film |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Pioneer Women | <ref name="NZOS"/><ref name="PW"/> | |
| 1984 | Inside Straight | <ref name="NZOS"/><ref name="IS"/> | |
| 1984 | Sea Urchins | Karen | |
| 1985 | Zoo Family | Julie Davis | 26 episodes |
| 1986 | The Great Bookie Robbery | Bonnie | Miniseries, 2 episodes |
| The Anniversary | Jilly | TV movie | |
| 1986–1990; 1991 | The Flying Doctors | Emma Plimpton Patterson | 119 episodes |
| 1990 | Come in Spinner | Guinea Malone | Miniseries, 4 episodes |
| Acropolis Now | Bank manager / Mrs. Spiro Strangulator | Episode: "Cappuccino Catastrophe" | |
| Ring of Scorpio | Judith | Miniseries, 4 episodes | |
| 1991–1993 | All Together Now | Tracy Lawson | 86 episodes |
| 1993 | Snowy | Lilian Anderson | 13 episodes |
| 1994 | Time Trax | Dr. Maria Mills | Episode: "The Cure" |
| 1994–2002 | Halifax f.p. | Jane Halifax | 21 episodes |
| 1995 | G.P. | Larissa Schuller | Episode: "Still Life" |
| 1997 | Kangaroo Palace | Heather Randall | Miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 1998 | The Silver Brumby | Boon Boon (voice) | Episode: "Getting Together" |
| 13 Gantry Row | Julie | TV movie | |
| The Day of the Roses | Sister Margaret Warby | Miniseries, 2 episodes | |
| 1999 | Sabrina Down Under | Hilary Hexton, the Cat and Woman | TV movie |
| Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World | Lady Cassandra Yorkton | Episode: "Cave of Fear" | |
| Error 2000 (aka The Millennium Disaster: Computer Crash 2000) | Nicole | TV movie | |
| 2001 | Ihaka: Blunt Instrument | Kirsty Finn | TV movie |
| Finding Hope | Hope Fox | TV movie | |
| Farscape | Rinic Sarova | Episode: "Thanks for Sharing" | |
| 2002–2003 | Stingers | Criminal Barrister Ingrid Burton | 13 episodes |
| 2003 | Sensing Murder: Easy Street | Host | TV movie |
| 2004 | Salem's Lot | Marjorie Glick | Miniseries, 2 episodes |
| Small Claims | Chrissy Hindmarsh | TV movie | |
| 2005 | Small Claims: White Wedding | TV movie | |
| 2006 | Small Claims: The Reunion | TV movie | |
| Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King | India Fornoy | Episode: "The End of the Whole Mess" | |
| Tripping Over | Lydia | Miniseries, 6 episodes | |
| 2004–2010 | Sensing Murder | Narrator | Seasons 1–4, 20 episodes |
| 2008–2013 | Packed to the Rafters | Julie Rafter | 122 episodes |
| 2010 | Wicked Love: The Maria Korp Story | Maria Korp | TV movie |
| 2014 | Who Do You Think You Are?: Rebecca Gibney | Herself | 1 episode |
| The Killing Field | Det. Sgt. Eve Winter | TV movie | |
| 2015 | Winter | Miniseries, 6 episodes | |
| Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door | Marion Woolnough | Miniseries, 2 episodes | |
| 2016–2018 | Wanted | Lola Buckley | Seasons 1–3, 18 episodes |
| 2017 | The Circle | Web miniseries | |
| Million Dollar Cold Case | Narrator | Documentary series | |
| 2019 | A Peace of Nourishment | Host | Documentary |
| 2020 | Halifax: Retribution | Jane Halifax | Miniseries, 7 episodes |
| 2021 | Back to the Rafters | Julie Rafter | Miniseries, 6 episodes |
| Celebrity MasterChef Australia | Contestant | Season 2 | |
| 2021–2024 | Under the Vines | Daisy Monroe | Miniseries, seasons 1–3, 18 episodes |
| 2022 | This Is Your Life: Rebecca Gibney | Herself | 1 episode |
| 2023 | Luxury Escapes: The World’s Best Holidays | ||
| The Brokenwood Mysteries | Tabatha Shepherd | 1 episode | |
| 2024 | Prosper | Abi Quinn | 8 episodes |
| 2024–present | A Remarkable Place to Die | Veronica Mallory | 4 episodes |
| 2025 | Happiness | Gaye | 1 episode |
| Dancing with the Stars | Contestant | 4 episodes | |
| TBA | Millionaire Hot Seat | Host | Game show |
TVC
| Year | Client |
|---|---|
| 1990 | Lux Soap |
| 1996 | World Vision Australia |
| 2006–2007 | Advil Liquid Capsules |
Theatre
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Happy Days - The Arena Mega Musical | Miss Frost | Sydney Superdome, Melbourne Park, Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne with Paul Dainty Productions<ref name="GCM"/> |
| 2008 | Mum's the Word 2: Teenagers | Alison | Comedy Theatre, Melbourne with Dainty Consolidated Entertainment<ref name="GCM">Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 2025 | Circle Mirror Transformation | Marty | Wharf Theatre, Sydney with STC<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
<ref name="AusStage">Template:Cite web</ref>
Awards and honours
Gibney has been honoured by her birthtown of Levin, New Zealand in their Walk of Fame (which commenced in 2021) and is run by Heritage Horowhenua Charitable Trust. Along with a biographical recognition on their website, there is a named commemorative plaque for her in Oxford Street, Levin.<ref name="HCCT">Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2024, Gibney was inducted into the Logie Hall of Fame.<ref name="LHF">Template:Cite web</ref>