Tasma Walton (born 19 August 1973)[1] is an Aboriginal Australian television and film actress.

Tasma Walton
Walton at the 2012 Samsung AACTA Awards
Born (1973-08-19) 19 August 1973 (age 51)
NationalityAustralian
OccupationActress
Years active1989–present
Spouse
(m. 2009)
Children1

Early life and education

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Tasma Walton was born on 19 August 1973 in Geraldton, Western Australia. She is of Boonwurrung descent through her mother.[2][3]

Acting career

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Walton joined local radio station 6GE and trained as a production assistant and copy writer in her home town. She was accepted into the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) but dropped out after two years. She joined a small Sydney theatre, and landed a role as the love interest of Ian Moss in the music video for Tucker's Daughter off his 1989 debut album Matchbook. In 1995, Walton played the recurring role of Rachel Watson in Home and Away.[4]

In 1996, Walton was cast as Dash McKinley in the police drama series Blue Heelers. Her character was introduced halfway through Season 3. She also played another character, Kim Trelor, in the same series.[5] To win the role of Dash, Walton auditioned three times. Her second one with William McInnes (Nick Schultz) gained her the role. In the audition Schultz yelled at Dash and while some of the other actresses burst into tears, Walton reacted by laughing. In the same year she made her film debut in Fistful of Flies. Her last episode of Blue Heelers ("The Full Circle") screened in mid-1999.

In 2009, Walton joined the cast of City Homicide in the semi-regular role of criminal profiler, Claudia Leigh.[6] On 27 July 2013, it was announced that Walton had rejoined the cast of Home and Away in the recurring role of Jade Montgomery. She was on the show for two seasons.[4]

In 2016, Walton appeared on three episodes of Rake. She also had a regular role on Cleverman (in 2016 and 2017). In 2018, she joined the cast of Mystery Road, reprising her role from the 2013 film of the same name. She returned to season two in 2020.

In 2023 Walton appeared in Channel Seven series The Claremont Murders[7] and Walton joined the second season of Foxtel series The Twelve.[8][9]

Other film and TV appearances include Water Rats, Sea Patrol, The Postcard Bandit, and Perdition. She also won recurring roles in White Collar Blue and BeastMaster.

Personal life

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Walton was in a relationship with Danny Roberts for seven and a half years until 2004.[10] She began dating Rove McManus in October 2007. They married in a private ceremony in Broome, Western Australia on 16 June 2009.[11] Walton and McManus announced have a daughter.[12][13]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1996 Fistful of Flies Maria "Mars" Lupi Feature film
1998 Cody: The Wrong Stuff TV film
1999 Airtight Virg TV film
2000 Virtual Nightmare Wendy TV film
2003 Subterano Stone Feature film
The Postcard Bandit Frankie TV film
2004 Roll Emma TV film
2005 Perdition Jo Short film
Little Oberon Georgie Green TV film
2006 Safety in Numbers Caroline
BlackJack: At the Gates Sylvia TV film
2009 Dreamland April Freeman
Blessed Gail Feature film
Together Alone Trish Short film
2013 Mystery Road Mary Swan Feature film
2015 Looking for Grace Sandra Feature film
2017 The Half Dead Julie Masden Post-production
2021 How to Please a Woman Monique Feature film
2022 Sweet As Mitch Feature film

Television

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Year Title Role Notes Ref
1995 Home and Away Rachel Watson TV series, season 8 (recurring role)
Echo Point Gina TV series
Blue Heelers Kim Treloar TV series, episode: "Salutary Lessons"
1996–99 Blue Heelers Const. Deirdre E. "Dash" McKinley TV series, 129 episodes
2000 Water Rats Belinda Harvey TV series, episode: "Able to Leap Tall Buildings"
2000–02 BeastMaster Caro TV series (recurring role)
2001 The Secret Life of Us Leah TV series (recurring role)
2003 White Collar Blue Gemma Mancuzzo TV series, episodes: 2.10, 2.11
2004 McLeod's Daughters Tracey Morrison TV series, season 4, episode 8: "Show of Love"
2006 Stupid, Stupid Man Janine Russell TV series, episode: "A Very, Very Private Function"
2009 Sea Patrol Jila TV series, season 3, episode: "Secret Cargo"
2009–10 City Homicide[14] Claudia Leigh TV series (regular role)
2013–14 Home and Away Jade Montgomery TV series, seasons 26-27 (recurring role)
2014 It's a Date Paulina TV series, episode: "Should You Date Outside Your Comfort Zone?"
2016 Rake Jack TV series, episodes: 4.6, 4.7, 4.8
2016–17 Cleverman Araluen TV series (regular role) [15]
2018–2020 Mystery Road Mary Swan TV series, episodes: 2, 3 & 4 [16][17]
2023 The Claremont Murders Karin Margolius TV series, 2 episodes
2024 The Twelve Thelma Connell TV series: 8 episodes
2025 Scrublands: Silver TBA TV series [18]

Music videos

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Year Title Artist
1989 Tucker's Daughter Ian Moss

Self appearances

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Year Title Role Notes Ref
2023 Great Australian Walks Self 1 episode [19]
2020 Whovians Herself TV series, 1 episode
2019 Show Me the Movie! Herself TV series, 1 episode [20]

Theatre

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Year Title Role Notes
1992 Summer of the Aliens Mrs Irvin / Japanese Woman UNSW Parade Theatre
1993 The Skin of Our Teeth UNSW Parade Theatre
1993 The Grace of Mary Traverse Mary Traverse / Hangman NIDA Theatre
1993 All's Well That Ends Well NIDA Theatre
1993 A House is Built Katie UNSW Parade Theatre
1994 Jigsaws New Theatre, Sydney
2001 The Vagina Monologues Ensemble Theatre
2001 Men of Honour Ensemble Theatre
2004 Live Acts on Stage Playhouse Theatre, Perth
2015 Dinner Heath Ledger Theatre, Perth
2019 Winyanboga Yurringa Belvoir Street Theatre

[21]

Books

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  • Heartless (Fiction) (Pub Date 28 September 2009)

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ "Panscript". Panscript. Archived from the original on 11 March 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
  2. ^ "Why Tasma Walton's Indigenous past was a mystery for years". 7 July 2024. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  3. ^ "Mystery Road star Tasma Walton on her hidden family history". Are Media. 19 June 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  4. ^ a b Schipp, Debbie (27 July 2013). "Underbelly: Squizzy and Ripper Street prove yet again that crime pays for free-to-air TV". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 28 July 2013. [dead link]
  5. ^ Browne, Rachel (27 April 1996). "Cop gives shop a break". The Sun-Herald. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  6. ^ Dennehy, Luke (1 February 2009). "Rove, Tasma in showdown". Herald Sun. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  7. ^ Knox, David (13 March 2023). "The Claremont Murders: trailer | TV Tonight". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  8. ^ Knox, David (31 August 2023). "Production underway on The Twelve S2 | TV Tonight". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  9. ^ Knox, David (8 July 2024). "The Twelve's jury duty, a front row to acting elite. | TV Tonight". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  10. ^ Keenan, Catherine (7 September 2009). "Who's that girl?". The Age. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  11. ^ "Romancing Rove: Tasma Walton Dishes on Proposing To Rove". Who. Pacific Magazines. 31 July 2009. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  12. ^ Hornery, Andrew (9 September 2013). "Rove McManus and wife Tasma Walton are expecting their first child". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  13. ^ Casamento, Jo (21 December 2013). "Early Christmas present for Rove and Tasma as baby Ruby arrives". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  14. ^ "Tasma joins City Homicide | TV Tonight". February 2009.
  15. ^ "Cleverman cast attend Berlinale premiere | TV Tonight". 17 February 2016.
  16. ^ Knox, David (10 March 2020). "Returning: Mystery Road | TV Tonight". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  17. ^ Knox, David (25 July 2019). "Cameras roll on Mystery Road season two | TV Tonight". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  18. ^ Knox, David (5 June 2024). "Filming underway on Scrublands: Silver | TV Tonight". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  19. ^ Knox, David (10 July 2023). "Airdate: Great Australian Walks with Julia Zemiro | TV Tonight". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  20. ^ "Show Me the Movie: Mar 7 | TV Tonight". 7 March 2019.
  21. ^ "AusStage".
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