VANESSA DOWNING

Vanessa stepped into the pivotal role of foster mother Pippa at short notice in 1988.

She left the show almost as suddenly in 1990 because she missed working with actor Roger Oakley, who had played her husband Tom until scriptwriters gave him a fatal heart attack while driving the family car. After her stint on Home And

Away, Vanessa returned to her first love, the theatre, but graduated as a lawyer in 2006.

Now living and working in Melbourne, the busy 62-year-old happily juggles both roles.