Rhonda Burchmore

Rhonda Suzanne Burchmore OAM (born 15 May 1960) is an Australian entertainer.

Rhonda Burchmore

OAM
Burchmore at the 2015 Helpmann Awards
Born
Rhonda Suzanne Burchmore

(1960-05-15) May 15, 1960
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
NationalityAustralian
OccupationEntertainer, actor
Years active1982–present
Websiterhondaburchmore.com

Career

Burchmore appeared as Kate in the 1982 film, The Pirate Movie. Burchmore gave her first Australian theatre performance in the 1988 production of Sugar Babies opposite Garry McDonald and Broadway performer Eddie Bracken. Later that year, she had a role in the West End production of Sugar Babies opposite Mickey Rooney and Ann Miller. Whilst in the U.K, Burchmore was cast in the revival of Stop the World – I Want to Get Off as well as a role in Hot Shoe Shuffle.

In 1997, Burchmore opened Melbourne's Crown Casino starring in Red Hot & Rhonda.

Burchmore had a role of Nadine Hale in Tommy Tune's stage version of Irving Berlin's Easter Parade, slated for Broadway[1] but eventually the project stalled.[2] Burchmore later appeared in another show, Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods with the Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC).

Burchmore released her first album in 1998, the self-titled Rhonda Burchmore. Further albums include Midnight Rendezvous, Live At The Melbourne Concert Hall, Pure Imagination, and a recording of her stage show, Cry Me a River – The World of Julie London.

In 1999, Burchmore played the lead role in The Production Company's first show, Mame. She also played the roles in The Boyfriend Jerry's Girls & La Cage Aux Folles for The Production Company, and later returned in a new production of Mame in 2008.

Further roles followed, including Adelaide in an Australian revival of Guys and Dolls, Tanya in the successful Mamma Mia!, Urinetown The Musical, Tom Foolery, Respect: A Musical Journey of Women, and her own productions; Rhonda Burchmore Sings 'n Swings, My Funny Valentines and Fever.

In 2013, she performed in Trevor Ashley's musical comedy Little Orphan trAshley with Gary Sweet.[3]

Other Australian stage credits include The Drowsy Chaperone in 2010 with Geoffrey Rush for the MTC, Song and Dance, They're Playing Our Song – as one of the alter egos, and Diana in Lend Me a Tenor. With the Victorian Opera Burchmore performed as Queen of the Fairies in Iolanthe, as Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus with Joan Carden, in Ruddigore and An Evening with Sondheim.

Burchmore's television credits include regular appearances on Carols by Candlelight, in the variety show Hey Hey It's Saturday, the quiz show Spicks and Specks and also guest roles in the sitcom Kath & Kim and on the TV series Love Child.

In 2019, it was announced Burchmore had been cast in the role of Grandma Viv in new Seven Network sitcom, Fam Time.[4]

In 2020, Burchmore entered the Jungle to compete in the sixth season of the Australian version of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here![5] and was placed third.[6]

Honours

In the January 2014 Australia Day Honours List Burchmore was awarded a medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) "For service to the performing arts, and to the community."[7]

Personal life

Burchmore was born in Sydney, and attended Beverly Hills Girls High School. She gained a scholarship to the University of New England where she majored in Theatre Arts. Burchmore and her husband, Nick, a psychiatrist,[8] have one daughter, Lexie. In 2010 she published her autobiography, Legs 11: The Rhonda Burchmore Story,[9] named after the bingo-based popular epithet for her long-legged physique.

References
  1. "Tune's Easter May Parade Through Australia" by David Lefkowitz, Playbill, 18 August 1997
  2. "Tommy Tune's Easter Parade Now Targeting Fall '99 For B'way" by Peter Szatmary and David Lefkowitz, Playbill, 27 June 1998
  3. Bochenski, Natalie (11 July 2013). "Adults-only panto too funny for Sweet to miss out" Brisbane Times
  4. Knox, David (6 June 2019) Seven announces new sitcom, Fam Time, TV Tonight. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  5. Whitehead, Mat (5 January 2020). "I'm A Celebrity 2020: Meet The Celebs Heading Into The Jungle". 10 Daily. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  6. Whitehead, Mat (2 February 2020). "I'm A Celebrity 2020: Rhonda Burchmore The Twelfth Celeb To Leave The Jungle". 10 Daily. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  7. "Australia Day honours list 2014: in full". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. 26 January 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  8. Bannister, Brooke (31 May 2011). "Rhonda Burchmore's Legs 11", 720 ABC Perth. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  9. Burchmore, Rhonda (2010). Legs 11: The Rhonda Burchmore Story. New Holland Publishers. ISBN 9781742570112.
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