Madeleine West

Madeleine West (born 26 July 1980) is an Australian actress from Melbourne, Australia. Known for her TV roles, having played Dee Bliss on the Australian soap opera Neighbours from 2000–2003, high-class escort Mel on Satisfaction from 2007 to 2010, and as Dimity on House Husbands since 2012.

Early life

Born Melanie Ann Weston on 26 July 1980, West was raised in Woodend. She attended Woodend Primary School and eight high schools because her family followed her stepfather's engineering work around the country. West began performing in front of family and friends at an early age. In 1992, she entered the New South Wales Talented Child Drama Ensemble and later studied at Swinburne University of Technology, Tamworth Conservatorium of Music, and Riverina Drama Ensemble.

Career

After commencing a degree in Law at Deakin University, West deferred her studies indefinitely to turn to acting. In 1999, West was awarded the 'Be Your Best' Performance Scholarship from the Australian Drug Foundation. West's amateur theatre credits include Arsenic and Old Lace, Night Reflections, Theatre in the Raw, Bye Bye Birdie, and Snow Queen.

Ryan Moloney

Ryan Moloney (born 24 November 1979) is an Australian actor best known for his long-running portrayal of the fictional character Jarrod "Toadfish" Rebecchi in the Australian soap opera Neighbours.

Career

Moloney's first acting experience was with the Merilyn Brend Children's Teenagers and Adults Theatre Company in outer-eastern Melbourne when he was ten years old. He starred in their youth repertory production of The Purple Pumpernickel. His first role in a feature film was playing a thug in Say a Little Prayer (1993), based on the Robin Klein novel Came Back to Show You I Could Fly.

Moloney initially auditioned for the role of Brett Stark in Neighbours. He did not get the role but later appeared as a one off-character named Cyborg in 1994. He was later recalled to play Jarrod "Toadfish" Rebecchi, brother of established character Kevin "Stonefish" Rebecchi. This was a one-scene role, which aired on 8 February 1995. This became a recurring guest role, and as the character proved popular it became a regular role in 1996. In April 2004 he was nominated for a Golden Rose of Montreux award for Best Actor in a Soap for his work in Neighbours.

West

West is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. West is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points. It is the opposite of east and is perpendicular to north and south.

Etymology

The word "West" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance languages (ouest in French, oest in Catalan, ovest in Italian, oeste in Spanish and Portuguese). As is apparent in the Gothic term vasi (Visigoths), it stems from the same Indo-European root that gave the Sanskrit vas-ati (night) and vesper (evening) in Latin.

Navigation

To go west using a compass for navigation, one needs to set a bearing or azimuth of 270°.

West is the direction opposite that of the Earth's rotation on its axis, and is therefore the general direction towards which the Sun appears to constantly progress and eventually set.

Moving continuously west is following a circle of latitude.

Cultural

The phrase "the West" is often spoken in reference to the Western world, which includes Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the European Union, and the United States of America.

Neighbours

Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera. It was first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, who proposed the idea of making a show that focused on realistic stories and portrayed adults and teenagers who talk openly and solve their problems together. Seven decided to commission the show following the success of Watson's Sons and Daughters, which aired on the network. Although successful in Melbourne, Neighbours underperformed in the Sydney market and struggled for months before Seven cancelled it. The show was immediately bought by rival network Ten. After taking over production of the show, the new network had to build replica sets because Seven destroyed the originals to prevent its rival from obtaining them. Ten began screening Neighbours on 20 January 1986, taking off where the previous series left off and commencing with episode 171. Neighbours has since become the longest running drama series in Australian television and in 2005, it was inducted collectively into the Logie Hall of Fame. On 11 January 2011, Neighbours moved to Ten's digital channel, Eleven.

Toadfish Rebecchi

Jarrod Vincenzo Rebecchi (commonly known as "Toadfish" or "Toadie") is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Ryan Moloney. He made his first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 23 January 1995. Toadie was created by writer Elizabeth Packett. Moloney had previously auditioned for another role in the show and had played a minor character, before being cast as Toadie. The actor was originally scheduled to play Toadie in one scene, but he went on to become a recurring cast member. When Toadie became popular with viewers, Moloney was promoted to the regular cast. In 2015, Moloney celebrated his 20th anniversary with Neighbours.

Toadie was initially portrayed as a troubled teenager and a "class clown". After qualifying as a lawyer, Toadie matured and became a responsible member of the community. Despite being labelled "unlucky in love", Toadie has had several love interests and has been married three times. Toadie has received mostly positive attention from television critics and viewers. For his portrayal of Toadie, Moloney earned a nomination for Best Actor in a Soap at the 2004 Rose d'Or Awards. In 2010, Moloney won the very first Best Daytime Star award at the Inside Soap Awards. He went on to win the award for a second and third time in 2011 and 2012.