Beth Buchanan

Buchanan was born in Sydney, the daughter of musician Tony Buchanan (formerly of Crossfire) and teacher Jo Buchanan. She is the youngest of three children; her brother Miles and sister Simone are also actors.

Buchanan's television work includes appearances in Secret Valley, Runaway Island, Island Trader, Pirates Island, A Country Practice, Home and Away, Stingers, Hey Dad..! (where her older sister Simone starred as Debbie Kelly) and The Brittas Empire. Her longest-running part was the recurring role of Susan Croydon, the daughter of Tom Croydon, in the popular series Blue Heelers, which she played from 1994 to 2006. Major storylines included becoming a school teacher; attempting to take the blame when drugs were planted in her and Tom's home; and losing her baby as a result of a hit-and-run targeted at her father. Buchanan played Rita Heywood in both series of ABC1's journalism-orientated comedy Lowdown.

Film roles have included Newsfront, Fluteman, A Good Thing Going, Fortress (1986) – based on the Faraday School kidnapping – The Rogue Stallion and The King. Buchanan also played the title character in Peter Long's short A Telephone Call for Genevieve Snow (2000). Adapted from the story by Carmel Bird, it won the Silver Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival in 2000.^[2]

Buchanan has also worked alongside her former partner, Raimondo Cortese, performing in numerous stage plays he has written, both in Australia and internationally.^[3]

Buchanan has three sons (Cinto, born 2004; Cesare, born 2007; and Tancredi, born 2010) with her ex partner, playwright Raimondo Cortese. She is a Social Worker with a Master of Social Work (RMIT), has an Arts Diploma in Professional Writing and Editing (RMIT) and an Honours Degree in Performance Writing (Victoria University).^[1][8][9]