Soap legend, 80, has very different career 25 years after being killed off and returning as a ghost

Scottish Sun

02-05-2025

THIS soap legend proved there is life after Home and Away and has gone on to have very different career 25 years after leaving the show.
The actress, now 80, was killed off the Australian soap in 2000, but later appeared in the show as a ghost.
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Do you remember this soap legend from Home and Away?
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Now 80, this former actress has a completely different career
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Home and Away fans will remember Judy Nunn who played Ailsa Stewart
Credit: Network 7
The soap star in question is Judy Nunn, who played diner owner Ailsa Stewart.
Her character was married to the legendary Alf Stewart (Ray Meagher).
Judy was on the soap from the very first episode in 1988, until she was killed off in 2000.
Viewers were left in shock when Ailsa died in the arms of her beloved husband Alf, after having a heart attack.
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However fans of the show were even more shocked when the character returned as a ghost in 2003, when Alf was suffering from a brain tumor.
However, after leaving Summer Bay for good she has switched jobs and now has a completely different career.
The former actress is now a successful novelist and has written several books.
Judy previously revealed on Australian TV that she actually started writing when she was on the Home and Away set.
"It sounds gorgeous, doesn't it?" Judy told The Morning Show, when asked about how she had time to write while shooting the soap.
"When, for instance, we're burying somebody or when were marrying somebody…if you're one of the general collectives, you've got to smile and nod a lot and at the funeral you've got to cry a lot but basically you're an extra.
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"Sitting around I found that very boring so that's when I'd write a book."
Judy published her first children's book The Riddle of the Trumpalar in 1981.
Ten years later she moved into adult fiction, and released The Glitter Game.
Since then, Judy has published 19 books, all of which have been best sellers.
As well as Home and Away, she also starred in Sons and Daughters, Prisoner, and A Country Practice.
However she will always be best known for playing Ailsa, and was on our screens for a whopping 1313 episodes.
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Judy's character was married to Alf Stewart
Credit: Network 7