Background
Candy Devine (real name Faye Guivarra) was born in Cairns to a sugar-farming family.
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Candy Devine
Edit ProfileActor musician radio broadcaster singer
Education
She was educated at Innisfail Boarding School from 1948 and later at Brisbane"s Lourdes Hill College in the early 50s.
Career
She was a radio broadcaster and singer in Northern Ireland for many decades. She is from a multicultural family, with Sri Lankan, Filipino, Spanish, Danish and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds. Her parents were co-founders of the Cairns multicultural music group, the Tropical Troubadours and would later establish the city’s Coloured Social Club.
She developed a keen interest in music while at college.
Later she studied piano and cello at Queensland Conservatorium before taking to the stage in Sydney. Her appearances in Australian television include the series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo (1968) and fronting for American Broadcasting Company"s In Key.
Devine travelled to Ireland in 1969 on what was intended to be a short visit. She was hired for a cabaret slot at the Talk of the Town club in Belfast.
They lived briefly in the Republic and moved to Belfast in Northern Ireland in 1975.
She began a long career with Downtown Radio the following year. They had four children, including Brisbane based celebrity chef Alastair McLeod,
Candy Devine became a recipient of an Administration Member of the Order of the British Empire on The Queen"s 2014 honours list. Her award was for "Services to Broadcasting and to the Community in Northern Ireland".
She now lives in Brisbane.
