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Vanessa Downing
Vanessa Downing
Born	5 May 1958 (age 66); Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Other names	Vanessa Ryan
Alma mater	University of Sydney
Occupations	Actress (stage, television and film); singer; recording artist; voice artist; lawyer;
Years active	1977–present
Known for	Home and Away as Pippa Fletcher (1988–1990)
Spouse	Rodney Fischer (Director/writer)

Vanessa Downing (born 5 May 1958) also known as Vanessa Ryan, is an Australian actress and singer, voice artist and lawyer

Downing was appearing with singing group The Madrigals, an acapella group who were performing at the Sydney Opera House, when she was given the role of matriarch foster mother Pippa Fletcher in Home and Away.^[1]

Downing other than her TV and film roles, is also a prominent actor in theatre, who has appeared in numerous productions.

She is also a lawyer with law firm Craddock Murray Neumann, a role she juggles alongside her acting career.^[2]

Career

After leaving school, Downing attended the University of Sydney, and attained her master's degree in English Literature. She subsequently trained in drama at the Australian Theatre for Young People.

Her early roles were in theatre starting from 1977, and roles include Three a Penny, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and King Lear. She is a well-known and prominent stage actress and has featured in many productions^[3]

Television roles starting from the early 1980s include classic '80s soap opera Sons and Daughters, G.P., Water Rats, HeadLand,,All Saints and Packed to the Rafters. She had a role in the Kingswood Country re-boot series Bullpitt!, and has appeared in numerous miniseries and made-for-TV films.

Home and Away

Downing is best known for her regular role as an original cast member of the television soap opera Home and Away playing a role many years her senior as foster mother Pippa Fletcher, replacing Carole Willesee, the wife of newsreader Mike Willesee, at short notice. The casting news hit the headlines at the publicity launch of the soap. The role had been auditioned for by future Neighbours star Jackie Woodburne.

When Downing left the series in 1990, the part was recast, and taken over at short notice by Debra Lawrance who went on to play the character from 1990 to 1998, with subsequent guest appearances. After Lawrance took over the role, the character remarried to Michael Ross (played by Lawrance's husband Dennis Coard) and now known as Pippa Ross, was awarded a fictitious OAM for her services as a foster parent.

Post-Home and Away

Post-Home and Away, Downing has continued to work extensively in theatre, though she has continued to appear on TV. She had guest roles in Water Rats, All Saints, Big Sky, G.P., A Country Practice, Bullpitt!, Funeral Going, Double Sculls, Melba and Packed to the Rafters.

Downing also studied law, becoming a part-time lawyer in 2006. She specialised in immigration law for many years and worked for a law firm in Sydney.^[4]

Vanessa appeared in several shorts during 2020 and 2022, the most recent being Voice Activated. In October 2022, Vanessa was a guest on Ray Meagher's This is Your Life episode^[5] where she appeared alongside fellow ”Early Years" cast members Roger Oakley (Tom), Alex Papps (Frank) and Sharyn Hodgson (Carly).

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	The Boy Who Had Everything	College Girl singer	Feature film
1986	Funeral Going	Patricia	Film short
1987	The Everlasting Secret Family	Woman Judge	Feature film
1993	The Nostradamus Kid	'General Booth Enters Heaven' Strolling Players	Feature film
1994	Mary	Flora MacKillop	Feature film documentary
1998	Reflections	Mrs. O'Brien	Feature film
2008	Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger	Music Teacher	Feature film
2013	Felony	Manny Summer	Feature film
2015	Stationery	Penny Wilkins	Film short
2022	The Immortal	Lucy (age 50)	Film short
2021	Shark	Jack’s Mum	Film short
2022	Voice Activated	Hazel	Film short

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	The Restless Years	Georgie Lane (as Vanessa Ryan)	TV series
1982	Sons and Daughters	Cheryl Ryan (as Vanessa Ryan)	TV series, 2 episodes: "1.44", "1.60"
1983	The Disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain	Mrs. Lowe	TV film
1985	I Can't Get Started	Check-out Girl	TV film
1985	Double Sculls	Sister Cathy	TV film
1987	Melba	Evie Doyle	TV miniseries, 2 episodes
1988–90	Home and Away	Pippa Fletcher	TV series, 361 episodes
1990	Motormouth	Guest	TV series, 1 episode
1990	TV Celebrity Dance Party	Herself (as The Madrigirls)	TV special
1991	A Country Practice	Fiona Farrell	TV series, 1 episode: "For the Good Times: Part 1"
1993	Good Morning Australia	Guest	TV series, 1 episode
1993	The Midday Show	Guest	TV series, 1 episode
1993	G.P.	Pam Preston	TV series, 1 episode: "Close to Her Chest"
1997	Water Rats	Margaret Hobbs	TV series, 1 episode: "The Messenger"
1997	Big Sky	Danielle Morgan	TV series, 1 episode: "The Right Thing"
1997–98	Bullpitt!	Muriel Johnstone	TV series
1998, 2002	All Saints	Helen Lancaster / Claire Hobson	TV series, 3 episodes: "Live Now, Pay Later", "Slings and Arrows"
2006	HeadLand	Pamela Martin	TV series, 3 episodes: "1.50", "1.51", "1.52"
2006	Where Are They Now?	Herself (with Home and Away cast)	TV series, 1 episode
2008	Packed to the Rafters	Shirley	TV series, 1 episode: "Removing the Block"
2012	Rake	Judge	TV series, 1 episode
2014	The Moodys	Robin Benson	TV series, 1 episode: "Australia Day"
2019	Mr Inbetween	Lorraine	TV series, 1 episode: "I Came from Your Balls?"
2020	Black Comedy		TV series, 1 episode
2022	This Is Your Life: Ray Meagher	Herself (with Roger Oakley, Alex Papps & Sharyn Hodgson)	TV series, 1 episode

Theatre

Source: AusStage

Year	Production	Details
1977	Twenty Six Efforts at Pornography	1 show (NSW)
1977	The Sunny South	1 show (NSW)
1977	Narrow Road to the Deep North	1 show
1980	The Ship’s Whistle	1 show (South Australia)
1980	Pericles, Prince of Tyre	1 show (South Australia)
1980	Traitors	1 show (South Australia)
1980	A Month in the Country	1 show (South Australia)
1980	The Ship’s Whistle	1 show (South Australia)
1981	Upstairs Down at the Bottom of the World	1 show (South Australia)
1981	Buckleys!	1 show (South Australia)
1981	Kangaroos in the Top Paddock	1 show (South Australia)
1981	As You Like It	2 shows (South Australia)
1981	The Threepenny Opera	1 show
1982	Charley’s Opera	23 shows (NSW)
1983	Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You	1 show (NSW)
1983	The Actor's Nightmare	1 show (NSW)
1984	Gentlemen Prefer Blondes	4 shows
1984	Key Largo	4 shows
1984	Don's Party	4 shows (Queensland)
1984	Beach Blanket Tempest	7 shows (national tour - QLD, SA, ACT)
1984	Private Lives	2 shows
1985	Steaming	2 shows (NSW, ACT)
1986	Away	1 show (NSW)
1986	The Madras House
1986	Measure for Measure	1 show (NSW)
1987	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	4 shows (South Australia)
1988	The 16th Australian National Playwrights Conference	1 show (NSW)
1989	Ring Round the Moon	1 show (South Australia)
1990	The Increased Difficulty of Concentration	1 show (NSW)
1990	Season’s Greetings	1 show (Queensland)
1992	St James Infirmary Blues	1 show (NSW)
1992	The Heiress	1 show
1993	Daylight Saving	1 show (NSW)
1993	Wet and Dry	1 show (NSW)
1994	Composing Venus	1 show (Queensland)
1994	Goodworks	1 show (NSW)
1995	Falling from Grace	ACT
1995	Three Birds Alighting on a Field	1 show (South Australia)
1995	How the Other Half Lives	1 show (NSW)
1996	Live Stages on Stage	1 show (NSW)
1996	Good Works	2 shows (SA, NSW)
1998	Chasing the Drama	1 show (NSW)
1991	Macbeth	NSW
2000	A Cheery Soul	1 show (NSW)
2001	Love Bites	1 show (NSW)
2001	Morning Sacrifice	1 show (NSW)
2002	The Lady in the Van	1 show (NSW)
2002	Hello, Dolly!	1 show (Victoria)
2003	Mother and Child	1 show (NSW)
2003	Howard Katz	1 show (NSW)
2004	Afterplay / The Yalta Game	1 show (NSW)
	Influence	4 shows (national tour)
2006	Bone	1 show (NSW)
2007	King Lear	7 shows (NSW)
2008	The Busy World is Hushed	1 show (NSW)
2009	The Taming of the Shrew	9 shows
2011–12	Faustus	2 shows (NSW)
2012	Pygmalion.	1 show (NSW)
2013	The Glass Menagerie	2 shows (NSW)
2013–14	Much Ado About Nothing	3 shows (NSW)
2013–14	Cyrano de Bergerac	2 shows (NSW)
2018–20	Black is the New White	8 shows (national tour)
2020	Wicked Sisters	1 show (NSW)