Briony Behets

Briony Behets (born 1951)^[1] is an English-born Australian actress who found fame acting in television soap operas of the 1970s and 1980s. She is known for her early roles in Birds in the Bush, Number 96, The Box, Bellbird, and Class of '75. Behets was also a weather presenter on ATV-10 Melbourne's news bulletins during the mid-1970s. She received an AFI Award nomination for her role in The Trespassers (1976), and starred in telemovie Skin Deep in 1984. Later roles include Eve Cambridge in Possession, Amanda Harris in Neighbours, which she reprised in 2025, Margaret Bennett in E Street, Diana Stevens in British soap opera Families, and Elizabeth Regnery in The Saddle Club.

Behets was born in London, United Kingdom in 1951. Her father worked as a civil engineer, which took him around the world and as a result much of Behets' childhood was spent in Germany and Sierra Leone before returning to England. At age 17 she was accepted into the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, studying there for three years.^[2] After completing the course, she travelled to the United States as part of a student exchange project, working there as a nightclub dancer.

After moving to Australia, Behets lived in Melbourne. She was an experienced horsewoman and owned several horses in Mornington.^[2]

Behets made a few appearances in stage plays while she was in college. She came to Australia, aged 19, to travel around the country.^[2] She became a model, before securing a role in the comedy series Birds in the Bush in 1972.^[2] Behets subsequently enjoyed several high-profile television roles in Australia. She was an original cast member of soap opera Number 96, playing pregnant young wife Helen Eastwood in 1972. Behets felt she was "terrible" in the role, as she was inexperienced and did not know anything about having a baby.^[2]

She also appeared in a stage production of Don's Party as Sue,^[2] and a J. C. Williamson's production of Private Lives.^[3]

Behets was a member of the original cast of another adult soap The Box, as Judy Donovan, starting in 1974.^[2] The character was popular with viewers and Behets received a lot of fan mail from housewives and young men.^[2] After leaving The Box, she appeared for a short stint in Bellbird,^[2] before taking an ongoing role in the school-based teen soap Class of '75 as sports mistress Jorja Jones.^[4]

Behets was also a longtime weather presenter on ATV-10 Melbourne's news bulletins during the mid-1970s.

She had guest roles in numerous Australian drama series, including Homicide, Matlock Police, Bluey, Cop Shop, The Young Doctors,^[3] Boney,^[3] and Chopper Squad, also in the 1970s. In 1979, she portrayed Susan Rice, the unbalanced wife of a popular celebrity, in the women's prison soap opera Prisoner.^[3]

Behets' film roles include Night of Fear (1972), the joint lead with Judy Morris in The Trespassers (1976) for which she was nominated for the AFI Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role,^[3] Raw Deal (1977),^[3] Inside Looking Out (1977),^[3] and Long Weekend (1978).^[5] In 1984, she starred in the Nine Network telemovie Skin Deep,^[6] followed by a role in Cassandra in 1986.^[3]

Later TV guest roles included Prime Time,^[3] A Country Practice and The Flying Doctors in the 1980s. Later soap roles included appearances in Possession as the mother of a spoiled child actor, Neighbours as Amanda Harris, the mother of regular character Jane Harris (Annie Jones);^[7] and E Street as Margaret Bennett, Lisa Bennett's mother, for six months, in 1989.^[3]

Starting in 1990, Behets was a regular lead in the British Granada Television soap Families.^[3] She returned to Australia in 1992, to star in black comedy play It's Ralph at the Marian Street Theatre.^[3] She also had a guest lead in Chances as Dr Christine Marquette.^[8] In 1996, Behets guest starred in Season 12 of the American television series Murder, She Wrote, in an episode titled "Southern Double-Cross". The episode was set in Australia, but filmed in the United States.^[9]

In the 2000s, Behets guest starred in some US drama series such as JAG.^[10] She returned to Neighbours in July 2008, in another role as Kate Newton a romantic interest for Harold Bishop (Ian Smith).^[11] She had also appeared alongside Smith in Neighbours 21 years earlier in 1987, when she played Amanda Harris. She joined the regular cast of The Saddle Club during series three as the second actor to portray Mrs. Reg.^[12]

In April 2025, Behets reprised her role of Amanda Harris in Neighbours.^[11]

Behets was married to Australian writer and director Colin Eggleston. She starred in several of his movies including Long Weekend (1978) and Nightmares (1980).

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• Briony Behets at IMDb