Belinda Emmett

Emmett was born in Gosford to Michael and Laraine Emmett and grew up in Umina Beach, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. She had three siblings named Matthew, Shane and Lesley. Emmett went to school at St John's at Woy Woy, St Joseph's at Gosford and Corpus Christi College.

Emmett worked at the local Coast Rock FM radio station and sang lead vocals in the band Big Baby Jam. In 1994, she gained her first major role on Australian television as Tracy Russell in the sitcom Hey Dad..!. In 1995 she joined Home and Away, playing Gail, a local fishermans daughter, who fell for Travis Nash, played by Nic Testoni. In 1996 she became the third actress to play Rebecca Fisher, where she portrayed the daughter of school headmaster Donald Fisher and later wife of Travis Nash. This role earned her nominations for Silver Logie for Most Popular Actress in 1998 and 1999, as well as a Gold Logie nomination in 1999. She posed naked in the special "Angels and Devils" edition of the Australian nude celebrity art magazine Black+White.

From 2000 to 2001, Emmett played Jodi Horner the Ward Clerk, in the medical drama All Saints.

Emmett was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998, aged 24. She took a break from her role as Rebecca Fisher/Nash on Home and Away (during which time the part was played by Megan Connolly) and underwent surgery to remove a malignant tumour, followed by six weeks of radiotherapy. She left the cast of Home and Away the following year and went on to appear in nine episodes of All Saints as Jodi Horner between 2000 and 2001.

In September 2001, on the set of the Australian film The Nugget in which she co-starred as Cheryl with Eric Bana, Emmett began to experience intense back pain. Further tests revealed that the cancer had spread to her bones.

In 2002, she told The Australian Women's Weekly that "It wasn't a matter of if, it was a matter of when. The little bastards were going to get me. It was a weird sensation, almost an out-of-body experience. I don't think I'll ever be able to explain it."[1] In an interview with Charles Wooley on 60 Minutes that same year, she said:

"I think people underestimate the power that they have within themselves, I really do, and I think these kinds of challenges, they force you to look that little bit deeper and see what you're really made of. I always knew I was pretty strong. I've always been pretty gutsy and pretty ballsy, but I think I surprised myself this time around."[2]

In 1998, Emmett released a cover of Michael Jackson's "Off the Wall". She also recorded a duet with Marcia Hines, a cover of the James Taylor hit "Shower the People" (on which Carly Simon sang backing vocals), which appeared on Hines' 2004 album Hinesight – Songs From the Journey. Emmett's first album, So I Am, was released after her death and debuted at number 10 on the ARIA Charts. It featured 12 songs co-written by Emmett and longtime collaborators Phill Buckle, Andrew Furze and others.

On 11 November 2006, Emmett died from cancer at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, at the age of 32. She had been there since reportedly suffering "stroke-like symptoms" the previous Monday.[5][6]

Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, said he and Mrs Howard were saddened by Emmett's death. "She fought a very courageous battle against cancer", Howard said. "On behalf of Janette and myself, I extend my deepest sympathies to her husband, Rove McManus, and her family and friends."[5] Opposition Leader Kim Beazley also passed on his sympathies, but infamously mistook McManus for American presidential advisor Karl Rove when he did so.[7] "This is truly sad news which I think will affect all Australians", Beazley said. "The tenderness and care in their relationship (Rove and Belinda) through their adversity, I think, has been an inspiration to many, many Australians."[5]

Emmett's funeral was held at 11am on 17 November 2006 in Sydney's Mary Immaculate Church, the place where she married Rove McManus 18 months before. She was privately cremated.[8]