Rebecca Gilling

Rebecca Gilling (born 3 November 1953) is an Australian former actress, and environmentalist, known for her roles in TV, soap operas and serials, most notably The Young Doctors and Return to Eden.

Early life

Gilling was born in 1953 in Castlecrag, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. Of British descent, she is from a family that were heavily involved in politics. Her mother was prominent feminist Bridget Gilling, who was also a social worker. Her father was WWI navy servicemen Douglas Chambers. Her grandmother was notable suffragist Cicely Corbett Fisher. Whilst her great-grandparents were politicians for the Liberal Party (UK), her great-grandfather was Charles Corbett, who was married to suffragist Marie Corbett. Her great-aunt was suffragist, liberal and feminist Dame Margery Corbet Ashby.

Career

Gilling made her theatre debut in 1972. She subsequently made her film debut in the 1974 outlaw biker Ozploitation classic Stone. She came to prominence the same year, in the Number 96 film (based on the series of the same name), as 'bad girl' flight attendant Diana Moore, even though she was not a member of the regular TV series cast. Her next acting role was in the Brian Trenchard-Smith action film The Man from Hong Kong (1975), which was released in the U.S. as The Dragon Flies.

Gilling went on to act in several television series. She played a regular role in Glenview High (1978–1979) as Robbie Dean and then appeared in The Young Doctors (1979–1981) as Liz Kennedy. Gilling later achieved international recognition in both the miniseries (1983) and subsequent series (1986) of Return to Eden, as protagonist Stephanie Harper.

She had smaller guest roles in the film The Naked Country (1985), TV series City West (1984), TV movies The Blue Lightning (1986), A Dangerous Life (1988) and Danger Down Under (1988), and miniseries The Paper Man (1990).

During the 1990s, she made a guest appearance on medical drama G.P. and was a presenter on the Nine Network lifestyle series Our House.

Gilling has been with the Australian not-for-profit environmental organisation, Planet Ark for over 20 years, and is a spokesperson for National Tree Day. She was appointed CEO of Planet Ark in 2022. Additionally, she has a Masters of Sustainability from Macquarie University and has studied horticulture.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

References and footnotes