She made it into the book
Belinda
Emmett
1974 – 2006 · Gosford, New South Wales
Actor · Singer · Central Coast Girl
This book belongs to women over fifty — and to the rare few who never got there but showed the rest of us how to live. Belinda fought for eight years in full view of the country, and never once stopped being warm, funny and utterly herself. She was 32.
Her daisy holds this page
until her photo comes home
The things she loved
Singing
Lead vocals in Big Baby Jam before the acting ever started, and a duet with Marcia Hines — "Shower the People" — near the end.
The Central Coast
An Umina Beach girl who got her start at the local Coast Rock FM. The sea stayed in her voice.
Rove, her kindred spirit
Her word for them. He called her his "greatest reward." They married in January 2005 and meant every day of it.
Stevie Wonder
She walked down the aisle to "You Are the Sunshine of My Life." She was everyone's.
Her people
A big Central Coast family — and she left surrounded by them.
Straight talk
She faced the worst news with plain words and a wicked sense of humour — no self-pity, ever.
What she did
Born in Gosford, raised at Umina Beach — radio and a band before she'd finished being a teenager.
Tracy Russell, Hey Dad..! — her first big television role.
Rebecca Fisher, Home and Away — a household name, two Silver Logie nominations and a Gold Logie nomination.
Diagnosed at 23 with breast cancer — and chose to fight it in the open, changing how a generation of Australian women thought about early detection.
Jodie Horner, All Saints — back on screen through treatment and remission.
The Nugget, alongside Eric Bana — her feature film.
Married Rove McManus, 29 January, Mary Immaculate Church, Waverley.
Died 11 November, aged 32. Home and Away and All Saints dedicated episodes to her; days later her family released her song "Less Than Perfect."
What we remember
We remember that she never let the illness become the whole story. Eight years of it, lived in front of a country that adored her, and what Australia saw was warmth, work, a wedding, a laugh that kept arriving. Delta Goodrem wrote "Be Strong" for her; the truth is she showed everyone else how. Her openness sent countless women to check, to ask, to catch it early. Some of them are reading this page because she did.
Rest gently, Belinda. You made the book. Read her full story on the blog