We loved her as Detective Constable Danni Francis and it appears Paula Duncan has nothing but fond memories of her time on Cop Shop.
Speaking exclusively to New Idea at the annual awards ceremony for the Focus On Ability Short Film Festival, the 74-year-old screen star spoke of her experience on the set of the police drama series that ran between 1977 and 1984.
“16 series, maybe, I don’t know seven films, so many stage plays!” Paula laughs of her illustrious career in entertainment, before remarking that Cop Shop was the opportunity of her lifetime and how it brought her and ex-husband John Orcsik together.
“I met the love of my life and had my baby on and off the set and married him on and off the set,” she tells us.
“Danni Francis was a great character too. Went on to do so many series after that, it would have to be Cop Shop I would say.”
Paula and John, who played Detective Mike Georgiou, married in 1982 and welcomed their daughter Jessica in 1984. The couple stayed together for 19 years, broke up, got back together, separated and divorced but despite their on-off relationship, remain “terrific friends”.
Despite facing personal struggles of her own, Paula tells us that philanthropy has pulled her out of her darkest moments.
The Logie Award winner has spoken openly about her battle with depression, losing her sister Carmen Duncan to cancer, and how she discovered that her second husband, Steve Mason, was having an affair with a woman he openly called the love of his life in the newspaper.
“I always tell people when they’re down and out, the first thing you do is go and do something for someone else,” she says.
As ambassador for the Focus On Ability Short Film Festival, Paula is in her 16th year and tells New Idea that it all started as she’s been working with people with disabilities since 1989.
“It’s a fabulous program,” she says.
“The films are focusing on the abilities of people with disabilities.
“They’re all different types; autobiographies, great stories, people trying to make a point, people trying to tell a story about how they’ve survived disabilities.
“So many different angles, so it’s amazing.”
