Mary Coustas
Acting
Biography
Mary Coustas is an Australian actress, comedian and television personality and writer. Originally from Melbourne, Coustas often performs as the character "Effie", a stereotypical second-generation Greek Australian prone to malapropisms.
Born: September 16, 1964
Place of Birth: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Known For
Rove
Rove, formerly Rove Live, was an Australian television variety show which premiered on the Nine Network on 22 September 1999, before moving to Network Ten which aired the program from 2000 until November, 2009. The show was hosted by comedian Rove McManus, and featured an ensemble cast, who presented various segments throughout the course of the show. The show won the Logie Award for "Most Popular Light Entertainment Program" five times.
Hercules Returns
When Brad gets fired from his job, he goes to reopen an old cinema, he enlists his frends to help him show the last film the cinema aired before it closed... Only they don't know, the film is in Italian. With everyone sitting ready they begin to dub the movie... on the fly!
Good Guys, Bad Guys
Good Guys, Bad Guys was an Australian crime TV series that screened on the Nine Network between 1997 and 1998, with a telemovie and twenty-six episodes produced. A comedy/drama set in Melbourne. The program was written for, and starred, Marcus Graham as Elvis Maginnis. A disgraced former cop, tainted by his criminal family and framed for corruption, Elvis owns "K for Kleen" drycleaning, managed by the eminently more sensible Stella Kinsella and sweetheart Reuben Zeus who has Tourette syndrome. Elvis's attempts at a straight life are constantly compromised by the demands of his eccentric family, while Stella's attempts at making "K-for-Kleen" turn a profit are frustrated by Elvis's penchant for damsels in distress and a hard-luck story. He may not have a white stallion, but Elvis has a beautiful Charger. The program was filmed in Melbourne, predominantly around the inner-city "bohemian" suburbs of St. Kilda, Fitzroy and Carlton. The film style incorporated local colour - Melbourne trams, landmarks like Smith Street's Cobra cane furniture shop, and the Builder's Arms Hotel as Elvis's local - and a soundtrack of the then-latest Australian music, matched to the action. The Good Guys, Bad Guys soundtrack CD features Regurgitator, The Fauves, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Whitlams, The Avalanches, Spiderbait, The Cruel Sea and The Mavis's among others.
Nirvana Street Murder
Two brothers become conflicted after one goes on the run and the other has an affair with a Greek woman and takes care of an old rich lady who could be their way out.
Water Rats
Water Rats is an Australian TV police procedural broadcast on the Nine Network from 1996 to 2001.
Sunny Nights
A brother and sister venture from the US to Sydney, determined to grow their new spray tan business Tansform, but when they get caught up in the city's criminal underworld, they must figure out how to stay alive, out of prison, and in the black.
The Magic Pudding
Meet Albert, The Magic Pudding, Bunyip Bluegum, a splendid young koala and his seafaring friends Bill Barnacle and Sam Sawnoff. Together they fight off the bungled attempts of pudding thieves, Possum and Wombat, and try to solve the mystery of Bunyip's parents' disappearance.
Acropolis Now
Acropolis Now was an Australian sitcom set in a Greek cafe in Melbourne of the same name that ran for 63 episodes from 1989 to 1992 on the Seven Network. It was created by Nick Giannopoulos, George Kapiniaris and Simon Palomares, who also starred in the series. They were already quite well known for their comedy stage show, Wogs out of Work. The title is a play on the film Apocalypse Now. Each episode was 30 minutes in length and filmed in front of a live audience. Jim's father asks him to run the family business, the Acropolis café, when he suddenly leaves Australia to return to his homeland Greece. The series centres around the activities of the cafe staff. Greek Jim Stephanidis, is the immature owner and his best friend, Spaniard Ricky Martinez is the sensible manager. Memo is the traditional Greek waiter, Liz is the liberated Australian waitress. Skip is the naïve new cook from the bush and Manolis is the stubborn cook from the old cafe. 'Hilarity' prevails from the clash of cultures and beliefs. Jim's hairdresser cousin Effie, played by Mary Coustas, became a hugely popular and enduring character during the run of the show. Coustas later reprised the role for several TV specials and series including Effie, Just Quietly, an SBS comedy / interview show, and Greeks on the Roof, a short-lived Greek-Australian version of the British talk show The Kumars at No. 42.
Wildside
Wildside is an Australian police procedural television series broadcast on the ABC from 1997 to 1999. The show consisted of a one hour format that followed police interactions in inner Sydney. It starred Rachael Blake, Tony Martin, Richard Carter and Alex Dimitriades. Mary Coustas joined the series in a regular role late in its run, appearing in the last ten episodes. The series was filmed in Sydney. It was characterised by its use of ad lib dialogue and hand held camera work. It won several Logie Awards, including Silver Logies for outstanding work by Rachael Blake and Tony Martin for acting, as well as the Most Outstanding Miniseries Logie in 1998. It was also nominated for several Australian Film Institute Awards. A rerun of the series began in Australia on ABC1 in the early hours of Friday mornings, starting in September 2008.
Mull
A teenage girl has to terms with her family and herself when her mother falls critically ill. She decides to leave school to look after her family, which turns outto be an enormous challenge, as she has to deal with her father’s fanatical religion, her brother’s experimentation with drugs and homosexuality, her desire for the wrong boy, and her younger brother and sister’s inability to cope with the family’s instability.
Filmography
as Hazel
as Self
as Chicken (Voice)
as Ginger (voice)
as Self
as Louise Arden
as Madonna Kapello
as Hilary Kernaghan
as Lisa
as Helen
as Effie
as Jenny
as Helen