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Marta Dusseldorp
Australian actress and producer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Marta Dusseldorp is an Australian stage, film and theatre actress. Her television credits include BlackJack, Crownies (and its spin-off Janet King), Jack Irish and A Place to Call Home.
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She is also a producer, as co-founder and co-owner with her husband Ben Winspear of Archipelago Productions in Hobart, Tasmania.
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Early life and education
Dusseldorp is the granddaughter of Dutch-born engineer Dick Dusseldorp, the founder of Lendlease.[1] Her maternal grandfather was Sandy Robertson, a Sydney paediatrician,[2] whose forebears were also medical doctors. Her great-grandfather was one of seven brothers in a family from Dumbarton, on the west coast of Scotland, in which eight of ten sons studied medicine at the University of Glasgow. Dusseldorp was the subject of an episode of the television genealogical documentary series Who Do You Think You Are? that first screened on SBS on 14 May 2019.[3][4]
She attended Ascham School and then Geelong Grammar School, graduating in 1990, and the University of New South Wales, where she majored in theatre and film for two years. She then went on to study at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne.[5]
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Career
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Stage
Dusseldorp started her career on the stage, performing in productions of The Lost Echo, The War of the Roses (Shakespeare), and The Bourgeois Gentleman.[6] She has worked with Sydney Theatre Company, Belvoir, Griffin, The Ensemble, Bell Shakespeare, and Melbourne Theatre Company.[7]
She returned to the stage in 2016 in the premiere of Benedict Andrews' play Gloria with the Griffin Theatre Company.[8] In November 2017, Dusseldorp and her husband Ben Winspear played the couple in Joanna Murray-Smith's stage adaptation of Scenes from a Marriage for the Queensland Theatre Company.[9]
In 2020, Dusseldorp played the role of Mum in Angus Cerini's The Bleeding Tree at Hobart's Theatre Royal, directed by Ben Winspear.[10][11]
In 2021, Dusseldorp and Essie Davis played sisters as Solange and Claire, with Stephanie Jack as Mistress, in The Maids by Jean Genet as translated by Martin Crimp. It was directed by Ben Winspear and performed at The Playhouse Theatre in Hobart, opening on 30 October 2021.[12][13]
In a new production of Euripides’ timeless play Women of Troy, Dusseldorp played Andromache, Wife of Hector in March 2023. It was staged at Tasmania's Ten Days on the Island arts festival, at Hobart's Theatre Royal, directed by Ben Winspear. The production, by Dusseldorp and Winspear's company Archipelago Productions, was based on Tom Wright’s adaptation. The production included an original score by composer Katie Noonan, who set to music poems by Kurdish-Iranian journalist Behrouz Boochani performed by a community chorus of women and children.[14][15]
Television and Film
Dusseldorp played Sam Lawson in the telemovie series BlackJack (2003–2007). In 2011 she played the character of Janet King in the 2011 ABC1 drama series Crownies, her breakout role, which she regarded as "a gift". She reprised the role in the 2014 spin-off Janet King. She played Linda Hillier opposite Guy Pearce in all of the Jack Irish TV series, which ran from 2012[6] to 2021.[16]
She played Sarah Adams in the series A Place to Call Home,[7][17] which was the most-watched drama series in 2013,[6] and ran until 2018.[18]
In 2020, Dusseldorp was announced to appear in Foxtel drama Wentworth in the role of Shelia Bausch.[19]
In 2020, she played the role of Erica Bowden in the film version of the romantic comedy Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt), which the author, Monica Zanetti, wrote based on her own stage play.[20]
Dusseldorp is co-creator and producer of the 2023 comedy series Bay of Fires, after she pitched the idea to writers and co-creators Andrew Knight and Max Dann.[21] Dusseldorp's company (with her husband) Archipelago Productions, partnered with Fremantle Australia to produce Bay of Fires.[22] Dusseldorp plays a lead role as a wealthy businesswoman, along with a number of other prominent actresses, such as Kerry Fox, Pamela Rabe, and Yael Stone.[23] Bay of Fires was renewed for a second series in 2024.[24] Season 2 debuts on 15 June 2025 in Australia on ABC iview and ABC TV.[25]
Dusseldorp plays Sharon in and executive produced[26] the film With or Without You, directed by Kelly Schilling and also starring Melina Vidler and Albert Mwangi, which premiered at the 2024 Adelaide Film Festival.[27] The film, which was made in South Australia,[28] was released in Australian cinemas in May 2025.[29]
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Recognition and awards
Dusseldorp won the award for Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama for Janet King in the 2015 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards.
Dusseldorp won the award for Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play in the 2009 Helpmann Awards for her performance as Queen Margaret in Benedict Andrews' The War of the Roses with the Sydney Theatre Company.[30][7]
Other activities
Dusseldorp and husband Ben Winspear set up their own stage and screen company, Archipelago Productions, after moving to Hobart, Tasmania, in 2018.[31] Archipelago produces films, stage productions, art installations, and music.[32]
In 2022 Düsseldorp was named as a member of the Screen Australia board and its campaign of 'Make It Australian'.[33]
As of 2023[update], Dusseldorp is an ambassador for Save the Children Australia, in which role she has visited remote Aboriginal settlements in the Northern Territory.[7] and an advocate for refugees as Australian representative in Australia for UNHCR.[31]
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Personal life
Dusseldorp is married to fellow actor Ben Winspear,[34] and they have two children.[35] Winspear, a NIDA-trained actor, has had a significant career in the theatre, including a stint as resident director of Sydney Theatre Company. Winspear was born in Wagga Wagga but raised in Hobart, and the whole family relocated to Hobart, Tasmania from Sydney in 2018. Winspear was a stay-at-home parent in 2020.[31]
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Filmography
Films
Television
Production
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References
External links
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