# Annette Andre
**Annette Andre** (born 24 June 1939 in Sydney, Australia; birth name Annette Christine Andreallo) is an Australian actress best known for her work in British television through the 1960s and 1970s, especially her longest-running role as Jeannie Hopkirk in the series *Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)* (1969–70).[1](https://annetteandreofficial.wordpress.com/2018/06/18/welcome/) • [2](https://renownfilms.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/RenownNewsletter-Apr-May-2023-spreads.pdf) • [3](https://www.themoviedb.org/person/84334-annette-andre)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 24 June 1939, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; birth name Annette Christine Andreallo[1](https://annetteandreofficial.wordpress.com/2018/06/18/welcome/) |
| Signature role | Jeannie Hopkirk, Marty Hopkirk's widow, in *Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)* (1969–70), her longest-running television role[2](https://renownfilms.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/RenownNewsletter-Apr-May-2023-spreads.pdf) |
| Early training | Ballet from age four at the academy linked to the Australian Ballet Company; at 15 the youngest student offered a full-time place, but labor laws barred full-time work under 16[1](https://annetteandreofficial.wordpress.com/2018/06/18/welcome/) |
| Break to Britain | A cameo in *Panic Button* (1964) for director George Sherman gained her an English agent and a West End role[1](https://annetteandreofficial.wordpress.com/2018/06/18/welcome/) |
| Film | *A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum* (1966) as Philia, with Zero Mostel, Buster Keaton, and Phil Silvers[2](https://renownfilms.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/RenownNewsletter-Apr-May-2023-spreads.pdf) |
| 1980s Australian television | Jennifer Brent in *Taurus Rising* (21 episodes), Camilla Wells in *Prisoner* (4 episodes), and roles across 31 episodes of *Cop Shop*[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0028130/) |
| Memoir | *Where Have I Been All My Life?*, available in hardback and Kindle[5](https://www.filmink.com.au/annette-andre/) • [6](https://annetteandreofficial.wordpress.com/) |
## Early life and ballet
Andre was born and raised in Sydney. Diagnosed with a serious lung condition at age three, she was enrolled by her mother in the training academy run by the Australian Ballet Company, which was affiliated with London's Sadler's Wells; twelve years later, at 15, she was the youngest student ever offered a full-time place in the company.[1](https://annetteandreofficial.wordpress.com/2018/06/18/welcome/) Australian labor law denied full-time employment to anyone under 16, and no exception was granted, so she would have had to wait a year. She gave up ballet instead and, against the advice of the company's directors, her teachers, and her mother, moved into radio, stage, and television.[1](https://annetteandreofficial.wordpress.com/2018/06/18/welcome/)
## Australian radio and television, 1957–1962
Her first radio role was in the long-running serial *Kid Grayson Rides the Range* (also cited as *Grayson Rides the Range*), which led to an agent and a lead role in *If It's a Rose*, described in one interview as the first live hour-long drama on Australian television, a two-hander produced at the ABC by Ray Menmuir from a play by the Italian writer Dario Niccodemi.[7](https://annetteandreofficial.wordpress.com/2018/06/20/interviews/) • [2](https://renownfilms.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/RenownNewsletter-Apr-May-2023-spreads.pdf) The ABC News history of Australian television drama dates her appearance in *If It's a Rose*, with actor Don Pascoe, to 1958 and quotes her memory of a costume mishap mid-performance.[8](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-01/history-of-abc-television-drama-bellbird-purple-alvin/101174928?sfmc_id=169412164)
She also worked in variety, winning a contest that made her a co-host on an early evening show and appearing with visiting comedians; she first met [Benny Hill](https://www.edgepedia.org/benny-hill) this way and worked with performers including [Bob Crosby](https://www.edgepedia.org/bob-crosby), Bobby Limb, Digby Wolfe, and a teenage [Liza Minnelli](https://www.edgepedia.org/liza-minnelli), then a dancer.[5](https://www.filmink.com.au/annette-andre/)
## Move to Britain and the 1960s
A guest-starring role in *Whiplash*, an American television co-production starring [Peter Graves](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-graves), took her to Italy in 1961 and to a small role in the [Richard Burton](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-burton) and [Elizabeth Taylor](https://www.edgepedia.org/elizabeth-taylor) film *Cleopatra*, which ended up on the cutting room floor.[1](https://annetteandreofficial.wordpress.com/2018/06/18/welcome/) • [2](https://renownfilms.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/RenownNewsletter-Apr-May-2023-spreads.pdf) While in Rome she met the director George Sherman, who cast her in a cameo in *Panic Button* (1964) starring Maurice Chevalier; the role gained her an English agent and a part in a West End musical production of *Vanity Fair*.[1](https://annetteandreofficial.wordpress.com/2018/06/18/welcome/) Andre moved to England in 1962 and was soon busy in plays, films, and television.[5](https://www.filmink.com.au/annette-andre/)
Her films of the mid-1960s included *This Is My Street* (1964) with [Ian Hendry](https://www.edgepedia.org/ian-hendry) and June Ritchie, *The Heroes of Telemark* (1965), *He Who Rides a Tiger* (1965), *Up Jumped a Swagman* (1965) with Australian singer [Frank Ifield](https://www.edgepedia.org/frank-ifield), and the [Charlie Drake](https://www.edgepedia.org/charlie-drake) comedy *Mister Ten Per Cent* (1967).[2](https://renownfilms.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/RenownNewsletter-Apr-May-2023-spreads.pdf) In 1966 she was cast as Philia in the film of the stage hit *A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum*, working under director Dick Lester alongside Zero Mostel, Buster Keaton, Phil Silvers, Michael Crawford, and Michael Hordern; she has described performing her own stunts, including being hoisted more than 100 feet by rope with no safety harness.[1](https://annetteandreofficial.wordpress.com/2018/06/18/welcome/) • [2](https://renownfilms.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/RenownNewsletter-Apr-May-2023-spreads.pdf)
On television she became a regular guest in the popular series of the decade, with multiple appearances in *The Saint*, *The Avengers*, *The Prisoner*, *The Persuaders!*, *The Baron*, *The Brothers*, and *Crossroads*, among others.[1](https://annetteandreofficial.wordpress.com/2018/06/18/welcome/) • [2](https://renownfilms.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/RenownNewsletter-Apr-May-2023-spreads.pdf) In 1967 she and her friend [Sue Lloyd](https://www.edgepedia.org/sue-lloyd) were among six women from the coffee-table book *Birds of Britain* who toured the United States promoting the book and British fashions, appearing live on *The Ed Sullivan Show*.[1](https://annetteandreofficial.wordpress.com/2018/06/18/welcome/)
## Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
Her longest-running role was Jeannie Hopkirk, the widow of Marty Hopkirk, in *Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)* (1969–70), the cult detective series in which the murdered partner returns as a ghost.[2](https://renownfilms.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/RenownNewsletter-Apr-May-2023-spreads.pdf) Andre has written that with every rerun the series gains a new, younger audience while retaining older fans.[1](https://annetteandreofficial.wordpress.com/2018/06/18/welcome/)
## Later career
The 1970s brought more guest roles, in *The Persuaders!*, *Man at the Top*, *The Brothers*, *The Rough with the Smooth*, *The New Avengers*, and *Return of the Saint*, alongside West End and touring theater including *The Collector*, *A Streetcar Named Desire*, *Come Blow Your Horn*, *Suddenly At Home*, and *There Goes The Bride*.[2](https://renownfilms.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/RenownNewsletter-Apr-May-2023-spreads.pdf) • [1](https://annetteandreofficial.wordpress.com/2018/06/18/welcome/) In 1979 her daughter Anouska was born, and a family visit to Sydney turned into working television seasons in Melbourne and Sydney.[1](https://annetteandreofficial.wordpress.com/2018/06/18/welcome/)
In the 1980s she appeared in the soap *Crossroads* (two episodes, 1984–85, as [Sarah Alexander](https://www.edgepedia.org/sarah-alexander)) and returned to Australia for the Dynasty-style series *Taurus Rising* as Jennifer Brent (21 episodes, 1982) and *Prisoner*, known in the US and UK as *Prisoner: Cell Block H*, as Camilla Wells (4 episodes, 1984); she also appeared in 31 episodes of the police drama *Cop Shop* (1981–82).[2](https://renownfilms.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/RenownNewsletter-Apr-May-2023-spreads.pdf) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0028130/) She played the West End in *The Business of Murder* during 1985 and 1986.[2](https://renownfilms.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/RenownNewsletter-Apr-May-2023-spreads.pdf) In 1987 American producer Arthur Weingarten cast her in the 1988 television film *Maigret* starring [Richard Harris](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-harris).[2](https://renownfilms.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/RenownNewsletter-Apr-May-2023-spreads.pdf)
## Personal life
Andre married Arthur Weingarten in 1989; he died on 30 October 2021.[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0028130/) She and Weingarten, both animal lovers, volunteered for many years with [Bill Travers](https://www.edgepedia.org/bill-travers) and [Virginia McKenna](https://www.edgepedia.org/virginia-mckenna)'s Born Free Foundation, and life in New York's Hudson Valley led her back to painting, which she now sells in the US and abroad.[1](https://annetteandreofficial.wordpress.com/2018/06/18/welcome/) She now lives in southern California, where she paints and works for animal welfare charities.[9](https://annetteandreofficial.wordpress.com/interviews/) Her memoir, *Where Have I Been All My Life?*, covers her career and her encounters with figures including Richard Burton, Tony Curtis, Cary Grant, Maurice Chevalier, and [Roger Moore](https://www.edgepedia.org/roger-moore).[5](https://www.filmink.com.au/annette-andre/) • [9](https://annetteandreofficial.wordpress.com/interviews/)
## References
1. [Biography, The Official Annette Andre Website](https://annetteandreofficial.wordpress.com/2018/06/18/welcome/)
2. [Annette André: A Brief Biography, Renown Films Newsletter, April–May 2023](https://renownfilms.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/RenownNewsletter-Apr-May-2023-spreads.pdf)
3. [Annette Andre, The Movie Database](https://www.themoviedb.org/person/84334-annette-andre)
4. [Annette Andre, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0028130/)
5. [Annette Andre: My Brilliant Early Australian Career, by Stephen Vagg, FilmInk](https://www.filmink.com.au/annette-andre/)
6. [The Official Annette Andre Website](https://annetteandreofficial.wordpress.com/)
7. [My First Job – 'I didn't get stage fright on radio', The Stage, via the Official Annette Andre Website](https://annetteandreofficial.wordpress.com/2018/06/20/interviews/)
8. [Australian TV drama has a rich history of live risk-taking, cultural cringe hurdles and shows 'for all', ABC News, 1 July 2022](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-01/history-of-abc-television-drama-bellbird-purple-alvin/101174928?sfmc_id=169412164)
9. [Magazine Interviews, The Official Annette Andre Website](https://annetteandreofficial.wordpress.com/interviews/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › Australian actors › Surnames A to D*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license