Stephanie Bidmead (29 January 1929 – 22 September 1974) was a British stage and television actress.

Early life

She was born in

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it had ...

. She attended Kidderminster High School for Girls, a girls'

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

, now part of

King Charles I School King Charles I School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in the town of Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. Present day and Ofsted King Charles I School is a specialist science college, and renewed their specialist ...

since 1977.

Career

She was a member of the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

in the late 1950s, and played in

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Shak ...

's 1957 production of '' The Tempest'' and in 1959 played opposite

Charles Laughton Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future w ...

in ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...

'' and ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

''. She began to work in television during the 1960s, with credits in ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'', the final episode of

Maigret Jules Maigret (), or simply Maigret, is a fictional French police detective, a '' commissaire'' ("commissioner") of the Paris ''Brigade Criminelle'' ('' Direction Régionale de la Police Judiciaire de Paris:36, Quai des Orfèvres''), created b ...

and ''

Adam Adamant Lives! ''Adam Adamant Lives!'' is a British adventure television series that ran from 1966 to 1967 on BBC 1, starring Gerald Harper in the title role. The series was created and produced by several alumni from ''Doctor Who''. Proposing that an adventur ...

''. In the ''Doctor Who'' serial ''

Galaxy 4 ''Galaxy 4'' is the first serial of the third season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Written by William Emms and directed by Derek Martinus, the serial was broadcast on BBC1 in four weekly parts from 11 Septem ...

'' she played the Drahvin leader Maaga.''

Doctor Who Magazine ''Doctor Who Magazine'' (abbreviated as ''DWM'') is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Launched in 1979 as ''Doctor Who Weekly'', the magazine became a monthly publication the followi ...

'' - Issue 461 - June 2013 - Page 55 In 1972 she played the lead role of

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

Robert Bolt Robert Oxton Bolt (15 August 1924 – 20 February 1995) was an English playwright and a two-time Oscar-winning screenwriter, known for writing the screenplays for ''Lawrence of Arabia'', ''Doctor Zhivago'', and '' A Man for All Seasons'', ...

's play '' Vivat! Vivat Regina!'' in the

Birmingham Rep Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre c ...

production.

Personal life

She had two sons with Moravian theatre designer Henry Bardon.http://cuttingsarchive.org/images/5/56/1965-07-02_Lichfield_Mercury.jpg She was diagnosed with anterior horn cell

myelitis Myelitis is inflammation of the spinal cord which can disrupt the normal responses from the brain to the rest of the body, and from the rest of the body to the brain. Inflammation in the spinal cord, can cause the myelin and axon to be damaged re ...

and died on 22 September 1974 at the age of 45.

Filmography

Film

*1965: ''

Invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

'' - Elaine *1972: '' Running Scared'' - Mrs. Case

Television

*1960: ''

An Age of Kings ''An Age of Kings'' is a fifteen-part serial adaptation of the eight sequential history plays of William Shakespeare (''Richard II'', '' 1 Henry IV'', '' 2 Henry IV'', ''Henry V'', '' 1 Henry VI'', '' 2 Henry VI'', '' 3 Henry VI'' and ''Richar ...

'' (Episode: "

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...

") -

Queen of France This is a list of the women who were queens or empresses as wives of French monarchs from the 843 Treaty of Verdun, which gave rise to West Francia, until 1870, when the Third Republic was declared. Living wives of reigning monarchs technica ...

*1963: ''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...

'' - Leah *1963:

Maigret's Little Joke
Antoinette Videl *1964: '' R3'' (Episode: ""On the Spike") - Doris Haley *1964: '' Crane'' (Episode: "Knife in the Dark") - Annette Brillon *1964: ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

'' - Lily Haddon *1965: ''

The Mask of Janus ''The Mask of Janus'' is a British television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmis ...

'' (Episode: "And the Fish Are Biting") - Sylvie *1965: ''

'' (Episode: "

") - Maaga *1965: ''

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

'' (Episode: "Charles Augustus Milverton") - Lady Farmingham *1966: ''

'' (Episode: "Death Has a Thousand Faces") - Madame Delvario *1968: ''The Devil in the Fog'' - Lady Dexter *1971: ''

Public Eye Public Eye or The Public Eye may refer to: * ''Public Eye'' (TV series), a British television series that ran from 1965 to 1975 * ''The Public Eye'' (TV series), a Canadian television public affairs television series which aired on CBC Televisio ...

'' (Episode: "Ward of Court") - Ruth *1971: ''

Doomwatch ''Doomwatch'' is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC, which ran on BBC1 between 1970 and 1972. The series was set in the then present day, and dealt with a scientific government agency led by Doctor Spencer Quist ...

'' (Episode: "The Web of Fear") - Janine *1973: ''

The Onedin Line ''The Onedin Line'' is a BBC television drama series that ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham. The series is set in Liverpool from 1860 to 1886 and covers the rise of a fictional shipping company, the Onedin Line, nam ...

'' (Episode: "Law of the Fist") - Mrs Darling *1973: '' Bedtime Stories'' (Episode: "Jack and the Beanstalk") - Linda Weir (final appearance)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bidmead, Stephanie 1929 births 1974 deaths English stage actresses English television actresses 20th-century British actresses People from Kidderminster 20th-century English women 20th-century English people