This month, Belinda Emmett should have been celebrating her 50th birthday – and what a party it would have been! An inspiration to everyone she met, the late actress filled her far-too-short life with love, laughter and compassion.
WATCH: Channel Seven shares touching tribute for Belinda Emmett
Cancer robbed the beautiful, blonde-haired former Home and Away star of that special milestone almost 18 years ago, leaving her family, friends and fans devastated at the loss of such a shining light. She was just 32.
Sources say Belinda’s family will likely mark her 50th on April 12 the same way they have every birthday since her death – by visiting her memorial park bench down near Ettalong, on New South Wales’ Central Coast, with flowers and cake.
And while Belinda only had the occasional wine, there could be some bubbly for a special toast.
The Emmetts – dad Michael, mum Laraine, older sister Lesley and younger brothers Shane and Matthew – installed the bench shortly after they lost their darling ‘Belle’.
Belinda used to love swimming and jogging along the peaceful stretch of coastline the bench overlooks. A plaque reads: “Belinda Jane Emmett-McManus: I choose to be happy, so I am. Her grace, courage and talent are an inspiration to all.”
Belinda was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998, after finding a lump. She initially told friend and fellow Home and Away star Lynne McGranger she thought it would turn out to be a harmless cyst.
Tragically it was malignant. The then 24-year-old Belinda had a partial mastectomy and radiation treatment before returning to Home and Away, determined to get on with her life.
The following year she met and fell head over heels for TV presenter and “kindred soul” Rove McManus. He says they were “inseparable” after their first fateful meeting at the opening of Fox Studios in Sydney in 1999.
Belinda and Rove found out her cancer had returned in 2001. This time it was secondary bone cancer in her spine, a diagnosis that would mean Belinda could never have children and may only live another one to 10 years.
It was devastating by any measure, but it only gave Belinda an even greater zest for life, and she set about fulfilling two huge dreams.
First, she married her soulmate Rove in 2005, and then recorded an album So I Am, which was released after her death. While she was famous for her acting work in Hey Dad..!, Home and Away and All Saints, music had always been Belinda’s first love.
On November 11, 2006, Belinda passed away at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital. Her funeral was held at Mary Immaculate Church, the same place she and Rove had wed just 18 months earlier.
Belinda’s death at such a young age shattered her loved ones, and left millions of fans reeling with grief. Then-prime minister John Howard even paid tribute to her “very courageous battle against cancer”.
“People really gravitated towards her,” brother Shane shared with us on the 15-year anniversary of Belinda’s death in 2021. “She was effervescent, so much fun to be around. I love how much other people love her too.”
