Lucinda Cowden

Lucinda Cowden
Born (1965-04-24) 24 April 1965 (age 59)
OccupationActor
Years active1985-present
Notable workNeighbours

Lucinda Cowden (born 24 April 1965) is an Australian actress.

Cowden was born in Ballarat, Victoria.[1] She played Melanie Pearson in the soap opera Neighbours from 1987 until 1991, with a cameo appearance in the 20th anniversary documentary in 2005. She reprised the role in January 2021.[2]

Cowden left Neighbours in 1991, and later admitted that she did not want to be typecast.[3] She then went to the United Kingdom and appeared as Aladdin at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury. She also embarked on a 12-week tour of the UK as Peter Pan.[3] Cowden presented the second and third seasons of the BBC children's television series, Parallel 9.[1] She was a voice actress on the children's show The Koala Brothers.[4]

Cowden returned to Neighbours in 2020.[5][6] Cowden also reprised the role again in 2023 after the series was picked up by Amazon Freevee.[7] On 29 October 2024, Cowden confirmed her exit from the show, Cowden said that she knew of her character's departure in December just days after co-star Ryan Moloney found out about his contract ending, Moloney had announced his exit from the show in June 2024.[8] Cowden also confirmed the decision to leave the show was not hers as the contracts for cast came up all at once. Cowden revealed that when she was filming her final scene she had broken her nose after falling on set.[8]

  1. ^ a b "Zap!". What's on TV. No. 34. (IPC Magazines). 21–27 August 1993. p. 56.
  2. ^ Lee, Jess (9 December 2020). "Neighbours announces Lucinda Cowden is returning as Melanie Pearson". Digital Spy. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Panto gives flight to a fancy". Evening Standard. 31 December 1992. Retrieved 7 December 2021 – via Newspapers.com.Free access icon
  4. ^ "Watch The Koala Brothers". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Exclusive: Neighbours' Lucinda Cowden discusses Melanie Pearson's return". Digital Spy. 30 January 2021.
  6. ^ "Lucinda Cowden returning as Neighbours' Melanie | TV Tonight". 10 December 2020.
  7. ^ "Neighbours secures Ramsay St location, Lucinda Cowden returns". 17 April 2023.
  8. ^ a b Alexander, Susannah (29 October 2024). "Neighbours star Lucinda Cowden announces exit from Melanie role". Digital Spy. Retrieved 29 October 2024.