Deidre Rubenstein (born 1948) is an Australian screen and theatre actress, dramatist and playwright, well known for her performance in Australian soap operas and main stage dramatic roles.
Early life Rubenstein, who is Jewish, graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in 1967.
Career
Television and film Rubenstein has worked in television comedies, drama, mini-series and TV movies. In 1970 she appeared in an episode of Homicide. She played a recurring guest role in Prisoner (1979–80), as terrorist Janet Dominguez.
She had leading roles in 1990 film Breaking Through and 1985 miniseries Palace of Dreams, the latter for which she won an Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress.
In 2004 Rubenstein played the scheming Svetlanka Ristic for twelve episodes of the soap opera Neighbours.
She has appeared in further guest roles in 1980 miniseries Water Under The Bridge, medical dramas G.P. and MDA, Mercury, comedy series Introducing Gary Petty, The Secret Life of Us, Kick and police dramas Blue Heelers and City Homicide.
Rubenstein also has appeared in Australian feature films Siam Sunset (1999), Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueberger alongside Keisha Castle-Hughes and Essie Davis (2008), Salvation with Wendy Hughes (2008) and Force of Destiny alongside David Wenham (2015).
Theatre Rubenstein's career in the theatre includes work with several major Australian companies, including the Nimrod Theatre Company and Melbourne Theatre Company.
In 1993, she had a solo show called What's a Girl to Do?, where she performed poems written by contemporary Australian female poets. It was later performed by Rubenstein at The Stables Theatre in Sydney (1994) and at the 1995 Edinburgh Festival.Rubenstein (1998). p.iv
This show inspired her to do another solo show using work commissioned for her, work that was written to be performed live. She was awarded a Victorian Government Women Artist's Grant and commission contemporary writers to produce the performance pieces that were later produced in a book called Confidentially Yours. The first performance was in the Playbox Theatre Centre, C.U.B Malthouse, Melbourne on 11 February 1998. The writers commissioned to produce the work that became Confidentially Yours were Janis Balodis, Andrew Bovell, Nick Enright, Michael Gurr, Daniel Keene, Joanna Murray-Smith and Debra Oswald. Andrew Bovell wrote a pair of stories for the show that he later used in the script for the film Lantana.
In 2005, Rubenstein performed in Menopause the Musical, a comedy breaking down the taboos about menopause. with Caroline Gillmer, Susan-Ann Walker and Jane Clifton. Rubenstein as 'The Dubbo Housewife', explored the stereotypes and madness of that time in a woman's life.
In 2015, she played Gertrude Stein in the musical Loving Repeating - a Musical of Gertrude Stein in Melbourne.
Audiobooks Rubenstein has produced a significant body of work as a narrator of audio books and has won several awards in this field.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Type 1990 Breaking Through Ann Film 1991 The Girl Who Came Late (aka Daydream Believer) Trish Schultz Feature film 1996 Inner Sanctuary Peggy Feature film 1999 Siam Sunset Celia Droon Feature film 2000 The Calling Martha O’Connor Short film 2001 Like Mother Like Son: The Strange Story of Sante and Kenny Kimes Las Vegas Judge TV film 2002 Secret Bridesmaids' Business Ruth TV film 2004 Josh Jarman Theatre Actress Feature film 2008 Salvation Gloria’s Coach Feature film 2008 Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger Mrs Fleisher Feature film 2011 Underbelly Files: The Man Who Got Away Uncredited TV film 2015 Force of Destiny Miriam Feature film 2023 The Rooster Mrs Poulson Feature film
Television Year Title Role Type 1970 Homicide Jane TV series, 1 episode 1978–1980 Prisoner Janet Dominguez TV series, 5 episodes 1980 Water Under the Bridge Lainey TV series, 3 episodes 1982 The Mike Walsh Show Guest (with Tony Taylor) TV series, 1 episode 1985 Palace of Dreams Chana Mendel Miniseries, 10 episodes 1988 Australians Nance Miniseries, 1 episode 1988 Rafferty's Rules Peggy Guest TV series, 1 episode 1988 A Country Practice Helen Morris TV series, 2 episodes 1989 E Street Louise Baker TV series, 1 episode 1989 G.P. Iris Grimshaw TV series, 3 episodes 1996 Mercury Steffi Petrakis Miniseries, 2 episodes 1997–2003 Blue Heelers Helen Delaney / Magda Lapenscu TV series, 2 episodes 2000 Introducing Gary Petty Nancy TV series, 6 episodes 2001–2002 BackBerner Psychologist TV series, 2 episodes 2002 The Secret Life of Us Nathan’s Mum TV series, 2 episodes 2002 MDA Dr Fallows TV series, 1 episode 2004 Neighbours Svetlanka Ristic TV series, 12 episodes 2007 Kick Reva Feinmann Miniseries, 1 episode 2008 Saddle Club Rosemary Cross TV series, 1 episode 2008 City Homicide Cheridah Lapstone TV series, 1 episode 2021 Superwog Agnes YouTube series, 1 episode 2024 White Fever Grandma Coral TV series, 1 episode
Theatre
As actor