Catherine Schell (born Katherina ''

Freiin (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...

'' Schell von Bauschlott, 17 July 1944) is a Hungarian-born actress who came to prominence in British film and television productions from the 1960s. Her notable roles include the

Bond girl A Bond girl is a character who is a love interest or female companion of James Bond in a novel, film or video game. Bond girls occasionally have names that are double entendres or puns, such as Pussy Galore, Plenty O'Toole, Xenia Onatopp, o ...

Nancy in ''

On Her Majesty's Secret Service On Her Majesty's Secret Service may refer to: * ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (novel), a 1963 novel by Ian Fleming * ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (film), a 1969 film adaptation of the novel ** ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (sou ...

'' (1969), Lady Claudine Litton in '' The Return of the Pink Panther'' (1975), Countess Scarlioni in the ''

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 ...

'' serial ''

City of Death ''City of Death'' is the second serial of the seventeenth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor. It was produced by the BBC ...

'' (1979), and a regular role as Maya in Series Two of the television series '' Space: 1999'' (1975).

Early life

Schell's father, Baron Paul Schell von Bauschlott, was a Hungarian diplomat of three-quarter Magyar ancestry; her mother was Countess Katharina Maria Etelka Georgina Elisabeth

Teleki Teleki is the name of an old Hungarian noble family whose members, for centuries, occupied many important positions in the Principality of Transylvania, in the Holy Roman Empire and later in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. History The family was or ...

de Szék. "Schell" is the

family name In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name, ...

, while "von Bauschlott" indicates the place in Germany where the Schell family owned its main estate. Fleeing

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

in advance of the Soviets and

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

, the family lived in poverty until 1948, finding

asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

: first in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, then in

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

. In 1950, the family emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, where Schell's father acquired

American citizenship Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

. Schell entered a

convent school Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syst ...

in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

borough of

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...

. In 1957, her father joined

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

and the family moved to

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

where Schell developed an interest in acting and attended the

Otto Falckenberg School of the Performing Arts The Otto Falckenberg Schule – Fachakademie für darstellende Kunst der Landeshauptstadt München, or Otto Falckenberg School of the Performing Arts, is a higher education academy in Munich training actors and directors, affiliated to the Mün ...

Career

Film

She acted under the alternate names "Catherine von Schell", "Catherina von Schell", and "Katherina von Schell" early in her career. Under the latter name, she made her film debut as the title character in the little-known German-language film ''

Lana, Queen of the Amazons ''Lana, Queen of the Amazons'' (German: ''Lana - Königin der Amazonen'') is a 1964 West German-Brazilian adventure film written and directed by Cyl Farney and Géza von Cziffra and starring Anton Diffring, Catherine Schell and Christian Wolff. ...

'' (1964). She appeared as

Nancy in the ''

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...

'' film ''

'' (1969), with

George Lazenby George Robert Lazenby (; born 5 September 1939) is an Australian actor. He was the second actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service' ...

in the lead. Around the same time, she appeared in

Hammer Films A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as wi ...

science-fiction thriller '' Moon Zero Two'' (also 1969) cast in the role of Clementine Taplin. She appeared with

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her p ...

, now credited as Catherine Schell, in ''

Madame Sin ''Madame Sin'' is a 1972 British thriller film directed by David Greene and starring Bette Davis, Robert Wagner, Denholm Elliott and Gordon Jackson. The screenplay was written by Greene and Barry Oringer. Plot summary The title character is ...

'' (1972), a

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

made by ITC which was released theatrically in some markets. Schell appeared opposite

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

in the comedy '' The Return of the Pink Panther'' (1975) as Lady Claudine Lytton. It is regularly claimed that her apparent tendency for uncontrollable laughter, or

corpsing In theatre (especially in the illusionistic Western tradition), breaking character occurs when an actor ceases to maintain the illusion that they are identical with the character they are portraying. This is a more acceptable occurrence while in ...

, at Sellers' antics as

Inspector Clouseau Inspector Jacques Clouseau (), later granted the rank of Chief Inspector, is a fictional character in Blake Edwards' farcical '' The Pink Panther'' series. He is portrayed by Peter Sellers in the original series, and also by Alan Arkin in ...

is an example of

breaking character In theatre (especially in the illusionistic Western tradition), breaking character occurs when an actor ceases to maintain the illusion that they are identical with the character they are portraying. This is a more acceptable occurrence while in ...

. Reputedly, the film shows Schell attempting to stifle laughter at Sellers's performance in a handful of scenes. Schell has maintained in interviews that she considered it in character for Lady Lytton to be amused by Clouseau, whom she does not see as a serious threat. Schell appeared with Sellers again in ''

The Prisoner of Zenda ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' is an 1894 adventure novel by Anthony Hope, in which the King of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus is unable to attend the ceremony. Political forces within the realm are such that, in orde ...

'' (1979), one of his last films.

Television

Schell's first TV credit was ''

Till Eulenspiegel Till Eulenspiegel (; nds, Dyl Ulenspegel ) is the protagonist of a German chapbook published in 1515 (a first edition of ca. 1510/12 is preserved fragmentarily) with a possible background in earlier Middle Low German folklore. Eulenspiegel is a ...

'' (1967), a West German comedy in which she played Nele and was billed as Katherina von Schell. Schell spent much of her career in British television, appearing in more than 47 series spanning a period of nearly 30 years. She played regular roles in series such as '' The Adventurer'', '' Looking For Clancy'', '' One by One'', '' Mog'' and ''

Wish Me Luck ''Wish Me Luck'' is a British television drama about the exploits of British women undercover agents during the Second World War. The series was made by London Weekend Television for the ITV network between 17 January 1988 and 25 February 199 ...

'', in addition to many guest appearances, including ''

The Persuaders! ''The Persuaders!'' is an action-comedy series starring Tony Curtis and Roger Moore, produced by ITC Entertainment, and initially broadcast on ITV and ABC in 1971. The show has been called 'the last major entry in the cycle of adventure ser ...

'' (starring alongside future James Bond actor

Roger Moore Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 1 ...

), ''

The Troubleshooters ''The Troubleshooters'' (titled ''Mogul'' for the first series) is a British television series made by the BBC between 1965 and 1972, created by John Elliot. It recounted events in an international oil company – the "Mogul" of the title. Th ...

'', '' Arthur of the Britons'', ''

Return of the Saint ''Return of the Saint'' is a British action-adventure television series that aired for one series in 1978 and 1979 in Britain on ITV, and was also broadcast on CBS in the United States. It was co-produced by ITC Entertainment and the Italian b ...

'', ''

The Sweeney ''The Sweeney'' is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London. It stars John Thaw as Detective Insp ...

'', ''

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, na ...

'', ''

The Gentle Touch ''The Gentle Touch'' is a British police drama television series made by London Weekend Television for ITV which began on 11 April 1980 and ran until 1984. The series is notable for being the first British series to feature a female police o ...

'', ''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 19 ...

'', '' Bergerac'', ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused o ...

'', '' Howards' Way'' and ''The Search for the Nile''. Schell appeared in the science-fiction series '' Space: 1999'' as a robotic servant ("

Guardian of Piri "Guardian of Piri" is the eighth episode of the first series of '' Space: 1999''. The screenplay was written by Christopher Penfold. Story Teaser The moon is in range of a planet but Computer has not offered any prediction as to whether it ...

", 1975), and returned to the series in its second season as the regular character

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a popul ...

, a shape-shifting " metamorph" from the planet Psychon. Schell appeared in another British science-fiction series, as Countess Scarlioni in the ''

'' serial ''

'' (1979).

Personal life

Family

Schell's brother, Paul Rudolf (born 1940), now known as Paul von Schell, has acted in German-language productions. A younger brother, Peter (1941–68), died young. Through a German great-grandfather, Schell is related to

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of ...

(1638–1715),

Philip II, Duke of Orléans Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

(1674–1723), Regent of France and

Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to: * Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407) * Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450 * Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547 * Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

(1708–65). She is not believed to be related to the

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports * Swiss Internation ...

actors Maximilian and

Maria Schell Maria Margarethe Anna Schell (15 January 1926 – 26 April 2005) was an Austrian-Swiss actress. She was one of the leading stars of German cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1954, she was awarded the Cannes Best Actress Award for her performance ...

Marriages

While filming ''

Amsterdam Affair ''Amsterdam Affair'' is a 1968 British crime film directed by Gerry O'Hara and starring Wolfgang Kieling, William Marlowe, Catherine Schell and Pamela Ann Davy. The plot is about Dutch policeman Van Der Valk, who investigates a novelist who is ...

'' in 1968, Schell met and married her first husband, British actor William Marlowe (1930–2003), and moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The marriage ended in divorce in 1977. Schell married director Bill Hays (1938–2006) in 1982. In 1984, they worked together for the first time as husband and wife on a TV production of

Ivan Turgenev Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (; rus, links=no, Ива́н Серге́евич Турге́невIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; 9 November 1818 – 3 September 1883 (Old Style dat ...

's play '' A Month in the Country''.

Retirement

Schell's career continued into the mid-1990s, after which she retired from acting and opened Chambre d'Hôtes Valentin, a small

guesthouse A guest house (also guesthouse) is a kind of lodging. In some parts of the world (such as the Caribbean), guest houses are a type of inexpensive hotel-like lodging. In others, it is a private home that has been converted for the exclusive use ...

in Bonneval,

Haute-Loire Haute-Loire (; oc, Naut Léger or ''Naut Leir''; English: Upper Loire) is a landlocked department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-central France. Named after the Loire River, it is surrounded by the departments of Loire, Ardèche, ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, which would become a popular destination for fans of '' Space: 1999''. She reportedly sold the inn after the death of her second husband in 2006. Schell made her first convention appearance at MainMission:2000, a celebration of the 25th anniversary of ''Space: 1999'' held in

. To date, she has appeared at only one other convention, mainly due to her second husband's declining health. Schell contributed a foreword to the ''Space: 1999'' novel ''Born for Adversity'', written by David McIntee and published by Powys Media in 2010. Schell's autobiography ''A Constant Alien'' was published in 2016. She subsequently came out of acting retirement to portray the Grand Duchess Valeria in the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

series ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taki ...

'', which aired in 2020.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schell, Catherine 1944 births Living people 20th-century British actresses 20th-century Hungarian actresses 21st-century British actresses Actresses from Budapest British film actresses British hoteliers British television actresses Hungarian emigrants to Austria Hungarian emigrants to the United Kingdom Hungarian emigrants to the United States Hungarian film actresses Hungarian nobility Hungarian people of French descent Hungarian people of German descent Hungarian refugees Hungarian television actresses British emigrants to France Hungarian emigrants to France Hungarian emigrants to Germany Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom British people of German descent British people of French descent