Mary Coustas

Mary Coustas (born 16 September 1964) 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. She completed a Bachelor of Arts at Deakin University in Melbourne, majoring in performing arts and sub-majoring in journalism.

Coustas won the Logie Award for Most Popular Comedy Personality in 1993.

Theatre Coustas' initial claim to fame came from the comedy stage show Wogs Out of Work alongside Nick Giannopoulos, George Kapiniaris and Simon Palomares.

In 2019, Coustas joined the Shooshi Mango boys and Giannopoulos on stage in a show named Fifty Shades of Ethnic.

2024 sees Mary Coustas return to a stage tour with Effie: Up Yourselfness.

Television career Coustas appeared on the popular television sitcom Acropolis Now, from 1989 until 1992, in the role of Effie Stephanidis.

Since then she has appeared as Effie in other television shows and commercials. Effie also appeared in the interview show Effie, Just Quietly in 2001 and hosted her own short-lived talk show called Greeks on the Roof in 2003.

Coustas played straight dramatic roles in two police series: Skirts in 1990 and Wildside in 1998. Other roles include Grass Roots, The Secret Life of Us and Good Guys Bad Guys. Her voice-over work includes The Magic Pudding, Hercules Returns and Always Greener. She also appeared as a guest on comedy game show Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation in 2012, and had a guest role in the drama Rake.

In May 2023, it was announced that Coustas would be participating in the twentieth series of Dancing with the Stars. She was paired with Aric Yegudkin.

Books and music In 1992 Effie released a novelty single: a duet with another fictional character, Garry McDonald's Norman Gunston. The recording was their version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Amigos Para Siempre. Coustas's book Effie's Guide to Being Up Yourself was published in 2003.

In her 2013 memoir All I Know: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Life, Coustas looked back over her career, and reflected on the lives and deaths of her father, grandmother and daughter.

She co-starred in two comedic, mock music video entries for Eurovision, "Electronik Supersonik" (2004) and "I Am the Anti-Pope" (2006) starring Australian comedian Santo Cilauro as a pop star character named Zladko “ZLAD!” Vladcik from the fictional eastern European country of Molvanîa. Cilauro, along with Rob Sitch and Tom Gleisner, created the “ZLAD!” character to accompany their book, the parody Jetlag Travel Guide to Molvanîa. Cilauro, Sitch and Gleisner would later co-author of similar parody travel guides for Phaic Tăn (in south-east Asia) and San Sombrèro (in Latin America).

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Type 1988 Mull aka 'Mullaway' Helen Feature film 1989 Blowing Hot and Cold Jenny Feature film 1990 Nirvana Street Murder Helen Feature film 1993 Hercules Returns Lisa Feature film 2000 The Magic Pudding Ginger (voice) Animated feature film

Television Year Title Role Type 1989-1992 Acropolis Now Efthimia Francesca 'Effie' Stephanidis TV series, 40 episodes 1990 Skirts Constable Julie Makris TV series, 40 episodes 1998 Wildside Louise Arden TV series, 10 episodes Good Guys Bad Guys Madonna Kapello TV series, 1 episode 2000 Water Rats Hilary Kernaghan TV series, 1 episode 2001 Effie, Just Quietly Host (as Effie) TV series, 6 episodes 2002 The Secret Life of Us Peace Picabo TV series, 4 episodes Always Greener Cher the Chicken TV series, 1 episode 2003 Greeks on the Roof Host (as Effie) TV series, 11 episodes Grass Roots Ava Strick TV series, 9 episodes 2012 Rake Judge Ben TV series, season 2, episode 5: "R v Turner" 2015 About Tonight Guest (as Effie) TV series, 1 episode Stop Laughing...This Is Serious Guest TV series, 5 episodes 2023 Dancing with the Stars Contestant TV series, season 20 (paired with Aric Yegudkin) 2025 A Bite to Eat With Alice Herself TV series, 1 episode Strife Sylvie TV series, 8 episodes Sunny Nights Hazel TV series, 1 episode

Theatre Year Title Role Type 1987 Wogs Out of Work Melbourne International Comedy Festival

Personal life In 1964, Coustas was born in the Melbourne suburb of Collingwood. Her parents in 1960 married in East Melbourne and both originate from Florina.

Coustas married George Betsis in 2005. After six years of in vitro fertilisation, their first child was stillborn at 22 weeks. In August 2013, Coustas and her husband announced in an interview with 60 Minutes that she was 22 weeks pregnant and expecting their second child in early December 2013. Their daughter Jamie was born on 28 November 2013.