Robina Beard

Robina Beard OAM (born 1938) is an English-born Australian actress, dancer and choreographer. Beard has appeared in numerous stage and TV roles, but is best known as "Madge the Manicurist" in the Palmolive dishwashing liquid advertisements.

Early life

Born in Twickenham, London, England in 1938, Beard came to Australia with her family in 1949. Her education in dance began at age six and in Sydney she was trained in the Cecchetti method.

Career

Her professional career began in 1955 when she danced in the musical Can-Can for J. C. Williamson's. She performed in a number of musicals and plays at the Phillip Street Theatre including Alice in Wonderland in 1959 and The Boy Friend in 1968. She appeared as Dormouse in the 1962 teleplay of Alice in Wonderland, alongside Noel Ferrier (Humpty Dumpty) and Chips Rafferty (White Knight).

Beard joined GTV-9 in Melbourne in 1965, working first as their first weather girl and then appearing on In Melbourne Tonight. She also appeared in Barley Charlie, the first sitcom produced in Australia and shown across the Nine Network. She subsequently had roles in many well-known Australian series, including No. 96, G.P., Home and Away and All Saints.

Beard is best known as 'Madge', the manicurist in the Australian and New Zealand advertisements, for Palmolive dishwashing liquid from 1968, with the slogan, "You're soaking in it".

She adapted and directed a production of The Wizard of Oz which played at the Regent Theatre during the 1980 Festival of Sydney. In 1981 she directed Greg Millin's Robin Hood, which was described as "wonderful school holiday entertainment for the whole family". She re-staged Sesame Street Live at the Capitol Theatre for the 1982 Festival of Sydney, then toured the production on a 16-week tour of Australia followed by New Zealand and Asia.

In 2018 Playscript published her book, My Life – You're Soaking In It.

Beard first performed the role of Daisy Bates in the play, Tales of Kabbarli, by Geoffrey Sykes at 313 Theatre, Coniston, New South Wales in 2007. She is reprising the play in Sydney in 2023 at Actor's Pulse in Redfern.

Awards and recognition

Beard was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2011 Australia Day Honours for "service to the arts, particularly through dance". In July of the same year she received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Australian Dance Awards.

In 2026, she served as Australia Day Ambassador for Blayney Shire Council.

Filmography

Film

Television

External links

• at IMDb
• on YouTube