She is best known for her involvement in several high-profile beauty contests in the early 1970s, and for her role in the cult 1972 horror film Dr. Phibes Rises Again, in which she appeared opposite Vincent Price as the murderous doctor's silent assistant and accomplice, Vulnavia.
Kemp, who had become interested in art while still a young child in Africa, left school at the age of fourteen and gained a position with Berlei Ltd, a prominent and long-established Australian firm of brassiere and corset manufacturers, where she worked on poster design and window dressing.
[2] Kemp was later discovered by the publishers of the Australasian Post, an enduring and popular illustrated magazine, on which she appeared as a cover girl on no fewer than 27 occasions.
[3] Her fame began to spread outside Australia as early as December 1969, when a revealing photograph of Kemp in a bikini ("in an old-fashioned check with braids and frills") was published in an Ohio newspaper.
In July of that year, she was photographed on the arm of TV personality Graham Kennedy, attending a special a gala performance of the musical Hair, to celebrate the first anniversary of the show's Sydney premiere.
Kemp was described in the press as "a stunning gypsy in a black dress with embroidered bodice and belt, set off with a brilliant scarf, hoop earrings and shiny red boots".
[2] Kemp's experience as a model allowed her to break into other media, and in addition to her numerous commercials, she obtained small roles in episodes of several Australian TV series including Riptide and You Can't See 'Round Corners (both 1969).
In April of that year, it was reported that she had been signed to appear in the new James Bond film, Diamonds Are Forever, opposite Sean Connery and Jill St.
[8] By her own account, Kemp also "amassed dozens of TV commercials" during this period, notably spots for Revlon and Lamb's Navy Rum.
[11] Notwithstanding the failure of the proposed Dr. Phibes franchise, she went on take small roles in several other films, including Rollerball (1975) and The Great Muppet Caper (1981), in which she appeared as a model.
[1] Amongst her celebrity clients were singer Des O'Connor, comedians Mike & Bernie Winters, musical entrepreneur Gordon Mills and TV presenter Michael Parkinson.
[16] In August 1973, Kemp married Robert Winsor, 32-year-old businessman who owned a point-of-sale company[17] and who had been introduced to her only a few months earlier by actor Richard Johnson.