Vale Wendy Hughes

The National Institute of Dramatic art is saddened to hear of the passing of celebrated Australian actress, Wendy Hughes.  

The award-winning performer graduated from NIDA in 1970 and went on to achieve an incredible career spanning four decades.  

NIDA Director and CEO, Lynne Williams said Hughes was one of Australia’s most diverse actresses whose performances had captivated audiences on stage and on screen.   

“From her early role in Homicide, to her turn as Mrs Higgins in the Sydney Theatre Company's 2012 production of Pygmalion, Wendy has been a familiar face for more than one generation of Australian audiences.”  

Hughes will also be remembered for her work on the long-running Network Ten series State Coroner, the iconic TV series Number 96, ABC's Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, and numerous film projects including My Brilliant Career and her AFI winning role in Careful, He Might Hear You.  

She was also a strong presence in Australia’s theatre scene, entrancing audiences as the sexy Mrs Robinson in The Graduate, and most recently appearing in Sydney Theatre Company’s Face to Face and Pygmalion.  

In a 2007 interview with ABC’s Talking Heads, Hughes said she knew from a young age that she wanted to be involved in theatre.  

"I started off doing a lot of classical ballet, which I was never very good at because I was just too big, too ungainly. So I thought maybe I'll try acting."  

Lynne Williams offered the sympathy of the NIDA community to Hughes’ family.