Deborah Makepeace (1 November 1957 – 2 February 1999) was a British television, theatre, and voiceover actress.

Biography

Prior to her acting career, she originally aspired to become a ballerina and trained at Elmhurst Ballet School in Surrey. Before to her breakout in 1973, she also auditioned for the film '' Nicholas and Alexandra'' (1971) as one of the Grand Duchesses, as well as the title role of Alice in ''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

'' (1972). At 14, Makepeace's debut role was as Sara Crewe in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television remake of '' A Little Princess'' (1973). She was selected out of over 200 girls for this part, which was originally played by

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple; April 23, 1928 – February 10, 2014) was an American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat, who was Hollywood's number-one box-office draw as a child actress from 1934 to 1938. Later, she was na ...

in 1939. The following year she landed a minor role playing the younger

Janet Suzman Dame Janet Suzman (born 9 February 1939) is a South African-born British actress who had a successful early career in the Royal Shakespeare Company, later replaying many Shakespearean roles on television. In her first film, '' Nicholas and Alexa ...

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during th ...

in the television film ''Miss Nightingale'' (1974), which was followed by the leading role in the BBC six-part children's adventure series, '' The Chinese Puzzle'' (1974). By 1975, she was starring in bit parts and reoccurring roles in various television productions. She played

Nigel Davenport Arthur Nigel Davenport (23 May 1928 – 25 October 2013) was an English stage, television and film actor, best known as the Duke of Norfolk and Lord Birkenhead in the Academy Award-winning films '' A Man for All Seasons'' and ''Chariots of Fir ...

’s daughter on an adaptation of the 1928 play '' The Apple Cart'' for BBC Play of the Month, which also starred a young

Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (; born Ilyena Lydia Vasilievna Mironov; 26 July 1945) is an English actor. With a career spanning over six decades of Helen Mirren on screen and stage, screen and stage, List of awards and nominations received by Helen Mirre ...

. Makepeace also landed a reoccurring role as a student nurse on the hit BBC television series, ''

Angels An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

''. She then appeared as

Princess Helena of the United Kingdom Princess Helena (Helena Augusta Victoria; 25 May 1846 – 9 June 1923), later Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, was the third daughter and fifth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Helena was educated by private tutors chosen ...

in three episodes of the Emmy and BAFTA winning ATV costume drama series, '' Edward the Seventh'' (1975). Other television credits include '' Just William'' (1977), ''Penmarric'' (1979), ''Byron: A Personal Tour'' (1981), and '' Sorry'' (1987). She appeared in rep at Pitlochry Festival Theatre in the 1978 season

She had roles in ''The Tempest, While the Sun Shines'' and ''The Chalk Garden.'' In 1984, she received critical acclaim for her portrayal of Bianca in a stage production of ''The Taming of the Shrew''. Makepeace made her

voice acting Voice acting is the art of performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animated, off-stage, off-sc ...

debut in 1993 for the English dub of the

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

'' The Heroic Legend of Arislan'' as Elam. She would also provide voices for the English dub of '' Rumic World: Fire Tripper,'' where she provided the voice of Suzuko (credited as Cynthia Meade), and the English dub of ''Seiden RG Vega'', which would ultimately be her final known credit. She died from cancer on 2 February 1999. Her funeral services were held on Friday February 11, 1999 at South London Crematorium, and she was interred in Hailsham Cemetery in Hailsham, Wealden District, East Sussex, England.

Filmography

Theatre roles

External links

* 1957 births 1999 deaths Deaths from cancer in England British television actresses Actresses from North Yorkshire 20th-century English actresses 20th-century British businesspeople {{UK-tv-actor-1950s-stub