She had her first baby at 49 but couldn’t wait to jump back into her career.
You’d probably know her best at the loud mouthed Effie on the popular late 80s sitcom, Acropolis Now.
But besides being a prominent Australian comedian, Mary Coustas, 50, is also mum to her baby daughter Jamie Betsis, 1, who she welcomed in late 2013 with her husband George Betsis.
Mary and George were previously very open about the struggles they faced in the quest to become parents before successfully falling pregnant with Jamie. Mary had endured almost 20 separate IVF treatments and numerous miscarriages in her earlier attempts to fall pregnant.
Yet thankfully, Mary and her husband appear to be in a very good place right now, revealing that upon welcoming her daughter she couldn't wait to jump back into her career. An endeavor which she says she quickly included Jamie in.
“You’ve got to understand that for 10 years, my work life was hamstrung by a greater dream, a greater challenge,” she tells The Daily Telegraph of her focus on becoming a mother.
But Mary was keen to get back to her roots as the character Effie, who she often refers to as her alter ego. “The minute my daughter was born, and I knew everything was fine, I remember thinking, ‘it’s so good, I can go back to work and resume that part of me that had been laying dormant for a very long time,'" Mary explained.
With her character being a mum herself, Mary felt a connection with the role she has played for much of her life. “Effie is a virgin, so she had to have an immaculate conception. I milked it as much as I could, comically. And now Effie has had a child, Aphrodite (Affie and Effie)."
"I put a baby bouffhead wig on Jamie, with a sequinned onesie. She sees the video now and says, ‘Mummy, mummy’, and I think, ‘yeah, and that’s you!’. I hope she grows up with a sense of humour about that," Mary jokes.
With a mum like Mary, we're sure that little Jamie will be cracking her own jokes in no time at all.
SCROLL THROUGH the gallery to see more photos of Mary and her friends and family...
Like this? Try these:
Mary Coustas introduces her beautiful baby girl to the world.
