Gina Riley

Gina Riley
Riley in character as Kim Craig at the Kath & Kimderella film premiere in August 2012
Born	(1961-05-06) 6 May 1961 (age 63) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Occupation(s)	Actress Writer Comedian Singer
Years active	1983–2022
Spouse	Rick McKenna
Children	1

Gina Riley (born 6 May 1961) is a retired Australian actress, writer, singer and comedian, known for portraying Kim Craig in the television series Kath & Kim, and for her work in musical theatre.

Television and film

Riley became a popular television performer in the sketch shows Fast Forward, its successor Full Frontal, Big Girl's Blouse and Something Stupid.^[1] In the latter she was also a producer and writer. On Fast Forward, Gina Riley sent-up such singers as Tina Arena, Paula Abdul, Bette Midler, Sinéad O'Connor and Dannii Minogue as well as Australian personalities Kerri-Anne Kennerley and Jacki MacDonald. She later appeared in The Games, a spoof behind-the-scenes look at the organising committee of the Sydney Olympics.^[2]

She has enjoyed great success as Kim Craig in Kath & Kim, written and created by Riley and her long-time writing partner and friend Jane Turner. Riley also works frequently with Magda Szubanski.^[3]

Riley starred as Kim in the Kath and Kim feature film Kath & Kimderella. The film opened in Australia on 6 September 2012 and despite negative reviews from critics it was a box office success having grossed $6,150,771.

In 2015, Riley appeared in an episode of Please Like Me.

Stage

In 1987, she played the part of 'Chrissie' (loosely based on rock singer Chrissy Amphlett) in Phil Motherwell's musical play Fitzroy Crossing which enjoyed successful seasons and rave reviews at LaMama Theatre, in Carlton, Victoria. The music for the play was composed by Joe Dolce.^{[citation needed]}

Riley also had roles in musical theatre.^[4] In 1992 and 1993, she appeared on stage as Janet in The New Rocky Horror Show; she is included on the cast album. In 1994, she played Trina in Sydney Theatre Company's production of Falsettos, winning a Green Room Award for its Melbourne season. In 1998, she played The Baker's Wife in a Melbourne Theatre Company production of Into the Woods. In 2009, she played Matron "Mama" Morton in a production of Chicago.^[5]

In 2019, Riley starred as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street opposite Anthony Warlow.^[6]

Personal life

Riley is married to Rick McKenna. They are parents to Max McKenna (born 1996) a singer and actor who portrayed Muriel in the original Sydney production of Muriel's Wedding in 2017 and starred as Zoe Murphy in the Dear Evan Hansen US National Tour in 2018.^[7] Max identifies as trans non-binary.^[8]

In March 2013 Riley revealed she was being treated for breast cancer. It was later reported that she has since made a full recovery.^[9][10]

Riley makes relatively few public appearances as herself. One notable exception was on Enough Rope with Andrew Denton, where she and Turner both appeared as themselves.^[11]

Filmography

(as performer)

Title	Year	Role
The Sullivans (TV series)	1983	Elsie
Six of the Best (TV series)	1984	Sal
While You're Down There (TV series)	1986	Various
Just Us	1986	Cathy
100% Wool	1986	Therese
Acropolis Now (TV series)	1990	Demi Cashimedes
Fast Forward	1990-1992	Various
Bligh (TV series)	1992	Elizabeth Macarthur
A Royal Commission into the Australian Economy (TV movie)	1992	Peter Harvey
Full Frontal (TV series)	1993	Guest performer
The Making of Nothing (TV movie)	1993	Lyndall Roberts
Big Girl's Blouse (TV series)	1994	Various
Something Stupid (TV series)	1998	Various
The Games (TV series)	1998-2000	Gina
The Bob Downe Show	2000-2003	Coralee Hollow
Kath & Kim (TV series)	2002-2007	Kimberly "Kim" Day Craig/Trude/Robyn Nevinish
Bad Eggs	2003	AMW Host
Da Kath & Kim Code (TV movie)	2005	Kim Craig/Trude
Little Britain: Down Under (TV movie documentary)	2007	Kim Day Craig
Kath & Kimderella (feature film)	2012	Kim Craig (nee Day)/Trude
Kath & Kim Kountdown	2013	Kim Craig
Holding the Man	2015	Popcorn seller (uncredited)
Open Slather (TV series)	2015	Various
The Beautiful Lie (TV miniseries)	2015	Catherine Ballantyne
Please Like Me (TV series)	2015-2016	Donna
How to Life (TV series)	2017	Charlotte Shelton
Our Effluent Life: Kath and Kim (TV miniseries)	2022	Kim Craig

References

1. Turner, Tonya: Gina Riley leaves Kim for a spell in Chicago, The Courier-Mail, 5 December 2008.
2. The Games: Complete Series, The Games (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).
3. Quinn, Karl: The Magda carta, The Age, 14 September 2003.
4. AusStage - Gina Riley AusStage. Retrieved 22 February 2015
5. "Gina Riley leaves Kim for a spell in Chicago". news.com.au.
6. "TEG Life Like Company – Sweeney Todd starring Anthony Warlow & Gina Riley". Retrieved 22 June 2019.
7. "Australia's Maggie McKenna Completes Cast of DEAR EVAN HANSEN Tour Taking on the Role of Zoe".
8. "Melbourne's most well-known nepo babies".
9. "Kath & Kim star battling cancer". 3 News NZ. 19 March 2013. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
10. Coster, Alice (28 December 2020). "Jane Turner jumps to it for Melbourne Theatre Company". Herald Sun.
11. Jane Turner and Gina Riley (Kath and Kim), Enough Rope with Andrew Denton, ABC TV, 28 July 2003.

External links

• Gina Riley at IMDb
• Look at moi: The many faces of Gina Riley Archived 30 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine (photo gallery), The Sydney Morning Herald