Nadine Garner

Nadine Lynette Garner (born 14 December 1970) is an Australian actress, known for her roles as Tamara in The Henderson Kids, Detective Senior Constable Jennifer Mapplethorpe in City Homicide, and Jean Beazley in The Doctor Blake Mysteries. She made her feature film debut in The Still Point and received an AFI nomination for Best Actress in a Lead Role for her role in Mull (1988). Garner has worked extensively in film, theatre and TV (both in Australia and the UK) and received awards and nominations for performances in each field.

Career Garner's first major role was in 1985 at age 15 as Tamara Henderson in The Henderson Kids, for which she won critical acclaim and several awards, including the Logie Award for Best Performance by a Juvenile. This was followed by a role in the soap opera Neighbours as Rachel Burns, and guest appearances in Prisoner and Prime Time.

Garner appeared in the 1987 Australian film Bushfire Moon, followed by Mull (1988) for which she won Best Actress at the 1988 Australian Film Institute Awards. and Fresh Air (1999).

Garner has appeared in a series of minor and guest roles in multiple Australian and British television series, including The Bill, Shadows of the Heart miniseries, G.P., Twisted Tales, Good Guys Bad Guys, Raw FM, Tribe miniseries, Class Act, Heroes' Mountain telemovie, Young Lions, The Secret Life of Us, Stingers, My Life Is Murder and Through My Eyes miniseries.

Also interested in writing, she wrote and performed in the stage work Birds Eye View in Sydney in 2002. Garner has worked with most state theatre companies in a wide variety of roles in works by Shakespeare, Molière, Sheridan, Ibsen, Ziegler, Chekhov, Orton, Shaffer, Lawler and Elton. She also played the role of Desire in the highly controversial Australian musical Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom.

In 2002–03, Garner played in a national tour of the musical Cabaret She also appeared in feature films The Book of Revelation (2006), and Razzle Dazzle: A Journey into Dance (2007).

Garner played the regular role of Detective Senior Constable Jennifer Mapplethorpe in the police drama series City Homicide, from 2007 to 2011. In 2010, she returned to film, appearing in The Wedding Party.

Starting in February 2013, she starred as housekeeper Jean Beazley in The Doctor Blake Mysteries opposite Craig McLachlan. In September 2013, Garner appeared as Eve in episode four of the ABC1 television comedy series It's a Date.

On 13 January 2026, Garner was cast in the second season of High Country.

Personal life Garner grew up in the Melbourne suburb of Knoxfield. She was married to Director of Photography Cameron Barnett, and they have one son and a daughter. her partner (since 2019) is a designer and academic in Melbourne.

Filmography

Television

Film

Music video Year Title Role Notes 1998 You Am I: What I Don't Know 'Bout You Partygoer 4 minutes

Awards and nominations Year Association Category Work Result 1985 Television Society of Australia Penguin: Certificate of Special Recognition for Performance by an Actress in a Mini-series The Henderson Kids 1986 Logie Award Best Performance by a Juvenile The Henderson Kids 1987 Television Society of Australia Best Actress in a Lead Role The Henderson Kids II 1988 AFI Best Actress in a Lead Role The Mull 1995 AFI Award Best Actress in a Supporting Role Metal Skins FCCA (Film Critics Circle of Australia) Best Actress in a Supporting Role 1997 AFI Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a TV Drama Raw FM 2003 Australian Dance Awards Outstanding Performance in a Stage MusicalCabaret Mo AwardsBest Supporting Actress in a Musical Melbourne Green Room Award Best Supporting Actress in a Musical Helpmann Award Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical