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Lucy Lawless: New Zealand
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As a college student, Lawless (born Lucy Ryan) decided she did not have the passion for opera she had thought and dropped out of school to travel throughout Europe. Joined by her high school sweetheart Garth Lawless, she landed in Australia where she found herself pregnant. After a hasty marriage, Lawless and the family (which now included a daughter) moved to British Columbia for a short spell so she could study acting. Returning to New Zealand, she landed bit parts in international co-productions. In 1994, Lawless made two guest appearances on the internationally syndicated series "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys", as a renegade Amazon lieutenant and an unrepentant villain who gives birth to a baby centaur. American actress Vanessa Angel had been cast as Xena, the female counterpart to Hercules, in three episodes of the series.
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Due to her character Xena's ambiguous sexuality, Lucy Lawless gained a large cult following in the lesbian community. A new term, dykon, was coined to describe her status as a gay icon. Although she is heterosexual, Lucy Lawless has enhanced this reputation by appearing at gay pride events such as the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
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Lucy was born Lucille Frances Ryan on March 29, 1968, in Mount Albert, Auckland, New Zealand; she was the 5th of 7 children, of Frank and Julie Ryan. Lucy enjoyed acting and appeared in many plays in high school. Later, she attended Auckland University and studied German, Italian and French for a year. As many young people from New Zealand do, she then headed for her O.E. (that's "Overseas Experience"). Lucy left college and headed for Europe where she and her boyfriend, Garth Lawless, traveled around Switzerland and Germany (to earn travel money, she picked grapes on the beautiful Rhine, "for about 3 seconds" she said later in a TV interview). Then Lucy and Garth headed to Australia to earn some more travel money; they found work with a gold mining company outside of Kalgoorlie, about 500 miles from Perth.
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New Zealand-born actress and singer Lucy Lawless first came to the attention of a worldwide audience with her appearances on the syndicated series Hercules on cable TV. Her varied characters were so popular on that series that a spinoff was created as a vehicle for her, and the character, Xena: Warrior Princess was introduced in 1995.
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New Weekly (Australia) : "Born to Shop: Xena star Lucy Lawless takes her new bub out for groceries", an article with photos on Lucy taking little Julian grocery shopping while in L.A. ( links directly to the article on MaryD's Australian Xena Information Page) (May 1, 2000)
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Lucy Lawless displays the Insignia of a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit at Government House in Auckland. Her citation reads: "For services to entertainment and the community. Lucy Lawless has had a long film, stage and television career in New Zealand, Canada and the Unites States.
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