Kate Kendall is an Australian actor and producer. She has portrayed Angie Piper on the long running Nine Network’s drama Stingers. She has also appeared in numerous television shows, including The Librarians, Rush, conspiracy theory 365 and The Odds. Kate is best known for her role as Lauren Turner in Neighbours. She became a favourite character of audiences in this sitcom because of her age, which makes her one of the older characters in this family of young favourites.
Kate was born in November of 1952 in Melbourne, Australia. She was the oldest of three children of Frank and Joanna van Heijen. Her parents were separated when she was young, and she spent much of her childhood living with her grandparents, where she also attended college. She has always maintained a relationship with her grandmother, despite their separation, and this has contributed to her appearance of elderly charm and appeal. Kate’s father worked in the construction industry, and she therefore was often left by her mother in the care of her grandmother and younger brother, David.
Kate’s professional acting career began after her grandmother died, and she began appearing in small theatre productions in Melbourne and Sydney. After a short stint in the television drama Doctor in command, she was cast as a spin doctor in the popular soap, before moving into playing the main role of Angie in Neighbours. Her height is likely a consequence of her having contracted melanoma, an aggressive skin cancer which generally affects people in their late thirties and early forties. The treatment for this is relatively extensive and will generally result in a person being at least five feet in height, although this does not mean that every person with this type of condition will have a normal and permanent height. In terms of nationality, Kate is Australian, though her English upbringing, combined with her American citizenship, would place her somewhere between British and Irish. Her middle name is unknown.