Vanessa Downing

Vanessa Downing (born 5 May 1958) is an Australian actress, singer, voice artist, and lawyer. Downing gained fame for her role as Pippa Fletcher, the matriarch foster mother, in the TV series Home and Away. Aside from her television and film work, she is also a highly regarded stage actress, having appeared in numerous productions. Downing is a graduate of the University of Sydney, where she earned a master's degree in English Literature before training in drama at the Australian Theatre for Young People. In addition to her acting career, she also practices law at the firm Craddock Murray Neumann. Downing's early theatrical roles include Three a Penny, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and King Lear.