Norman Coburn

 ( 1937 Births ) 

Norman Coburn (born 6 March 1937) is an Australian former actor, playwright and writer best known for his television serial and soap opera roles. He started his early career in theatre, film and television in the United Kingdom in the mid-1950s.

Coburn became famous as High School English teacher and Deputy/headmaster Donald Fisher in the early years of the soap opera Home and Away. As one of 16 original cast members, he appeared from the pilot episode in 1988 until 2003, and reprised the character in brief sporadic returns between 2004 and 2007. Coburn retired from the industry in 2008, with the exception of a TV series guest appearance in 2019.

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Early life Coburn was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and trained with the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in North Sydney, Australia, before travelling to Britain in the 1950s to pursue an acting career. He appeared briefly in iconic British TV shows such as Dixon of Dock Green and Coronation Street. He quit acting for a time and worked as a restaurateur in London before moving to Cornwall in the south west of the country. Here he owned a vineyard and was involved in converting BBC ventriloquist and artist Francis Coudrill studio in St Ives into The Mermaid Seafood Restaurant. After being in Cornwall for a number of years in the 1970s, he returned to Australia in the early 1980s and decided to take on acting roles again, one of which, would be the role of Donald Fisher in soap opera Home and Away.

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Career Coburn is best known for his portrayal of Donald Fisher, the principal of Summer Bay High School, in the Australian soap opera Home and Away. He appeared from the show's pilot episode in 1988 until 2003. Coburn was featured in the Guinness World Records as the longest serving actor in an Australian serial, along with co-stars Ray Meagher and Kate Ritchie. Since his departure from Home and Away, he has returned in consecutive guest appearances, the last being in 2007.

In 2014, 11 years after leaving Home and Away, he was featured in a photo shoot for New Idea, in a reunion with former cast members Nicolle Dickson who played his daughter Bobby, Ross Newton, who played Greg and Ryan Clark who played his adoptive grandson.

Coburn has also appeared briefly in guest roles in soap opera including The Young Doctors, A Country Practice, Sons and Daughters, Special Squad, The Hollowmen and Rosehaven.

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Personal life

Coburn originally resided in Perth, and later Brisbane, Queensland. He currently resides on Bruny Island, located off the south-eastern coast of Tasmania, Australia. His daughter Nana Coburn, (born 28 September 1971) is an actress best known for her two roles as Vicki Baxter and Lisa Matthews on Home and Away.

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Filmography

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Film

1960	Circle of Deception	Carter (uncredited)	Feature film
1961	On the Fiddle	Uncredited
1962	Carry On Cruising	Wireless Operator (uncredited)
	The Ghost Sonata	Coffin Bearer	TV film
1963	Tomorrow at Ten	Desk Man	Feature film
1981	A Step in the Right Direction		TV film
1983		Walter Williams	Feature film

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Television

1958, 1963	Dixon of Dock Green	Jimmy / Wedding Guest (uncredited)	Season 5, episode 3 Season 9 episode 17
1960	Coronation Street	Labourer (uncredited)	1 episode
1961	Maigret	Extra (uncredited)
1962	Suspense	2nd Ambulance Man	Season 1, episode 1
	The Andromeda Breakthrough	Crowd Extra	Season 1, episode 2
	Compact	James Crown	Episodes 73-75
1982	A Country Practice	Neville Roebuck	Season 2, episodes 1-2
	1915	English P.O.W.	Miniseries, episode 7
1983	Five Mile Creek	Stage Coach Passenger	Season 1, episode 1
1984	Special Squad	Griffin	Season 1, episode 5
1986	Sons and Daughters	Fred Sykes	Season 5, episode 42
1987	Rafferty's Rules	Const. Skeggs / Doug	2 episodes
1988-2003, 2004-05, 2007	Home and Away	Donald Fisher	Seasons 1-16 (main; 1,489 episodes) Seasons 17-18, 20 (recurring; 36 episodes)
2008	The Hollowmen	Jeff	Season 2, episode 6
2019	Rosehaven	Gareth	Season 3, episode 2

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Theatre

sourced from AusStage

Happy Returns	1955/1956
Twelfth Night	1956
The Rivals	1956
Blood Orange	1956
Hamlet	1957
The Relapse	1957
White Nancy	1982
A Night in the Arms of Raeleen	1982
Once in a Blue Moon	1983
Quartermaines Terms	1983
Hanging Together	1984
Visitor from Mamaronick	1985
Whose Life Is It Anyway?	1987
D Week	1987
The Diary of Anne Frank	1987
Married Together	1992
Humble Boy	2004
Retreat From Moscow	2005
Death of a Salesman	2008

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External links

Categories: 1937 Births, Australian Male Soap Opera Actors, Living People, Male Actors From Sydney, 20th-century Australian Male Actors

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