Vivean Gray

Born: 1924-07-20

Vivean Gray (born Jean Vivra Gray on 20 July 1924-29 July 2016) is an English actress, who found her niche playing gossipy characters in Australian television series. In her early life, she lived in England but moved to Australia after she had trouble finding any acting opportunities. She portrayed mathematics teacher Miss McGraw in Peter Weir's film adaptation of Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975). She played two long-running characters in Australian soap operas, Mrs Ida Jessup in The Sullivans for its entire run, and Mrs Nell Mangel in Neighbours. She appeared in Prisoner as genteel poisoner Edna Pearson in 1984. After the initial showing of her episodes in Australia, a woman claimed the story was based on her real life experience of being accused of poisoning her husband and threatened to sue the producers,Grundy Television. As a result any material that coincided with the woman's story was removed for subsequent episode screenings,including the full Australian DVD release of Prisoner. In 2010 a special DVD release of the full uncut 'Edna' story was released but only in the UK. Gray left her role of Mrs Mangel after receiving abuse from Neighbours fans who could not distinguish fact from fiction. In the story Mrs Mangel moved to St Albans, England. Gray returned to England, and has since retired and leads a very private life.


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Picnic at Hanging Rock

as Miss Greta McCraw
Released: 1975-09-02

In the early 1900s, Miranda attends a girls boarding school in Australia. One Valentine's Day,...

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The Last Wave

as Dr. Whitburn
Released: 1977-12-15

Australian lawyer David Burton agrees with reluctance to defend a group of Aboriginal people...

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Libido

as Elderly Nun (segment "The Priest")
Released: 1973-04-06

Scripted by four of Australia’s greatest authors (David Williamson, Thomas Keneally, Hal Porter...

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Neighbours 30th: The Stars Reunite

as Nell Mangel (archive footage)
Released: 2015-03-16

The stars of Neighbours, past and present, reminisce about their time on the show, plus a...

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A City's Child

as First Neighbor
Released: 1971-11-08

To escape her demanding, sick mother and her suburban loneliness, a middle-aged woman slides...

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The Great MacArthy

as Mrs. Thompson
Released: 1975-08-04

Macarthy is a country town football champ who is kidnapped in a neon lit helicopter by tyrant...

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The Sullivans

as Ida Jessup
First aired: 1976-11-15

The Sullivans is an Australian drama television series produced by Crawford Productions which...

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