Biography
Robina Beard is an English-born Australian actress, dancer and choreographer. Born in Twickenham in 1938, she migrated to Sydney with her family in 1949 and began her professional career in 1955 dancing in the J. C. Williamson production of the musical Can-Can.
She is best known for playing Madge the manicurist in long-running Australian and New Zealand television advertisements for Palmolive dishwashing liquid from 1968. Beard has appeared in numerous stage productions and Australian television series, including Number 96, G.P., Home and Away and All Saints. In 2026 she played Edna in the film Insidious: Out of the Further.
In 2011 she received the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the arts, particularly through dance, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Australian Dance Awards.
