Dolores Brenda Harding (''née'' Mantey; 17 October 1936 – 30 November 2012), known professionally as Dolores Mantez, was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

television

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

of the 1960s and early 1970s, best known for her appearances in Gerry Anderson's science-fiction TV series '' UFO''.

Life and career

Dolores Brenda Mantey was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

to a

Ghanaian The Ghanaian people are a nation originating in the Gold Coast (region), Ghanaian Gold Coast. Ghanaians predominantly inhabit the Republic of Ghana and are the predominant cultural group and residents of Ghana, numbering 34 million people as of ...

father and an Irish mother. She changed her birth surname of "Mantey" by one letter and initially followed a career as a seamstress in a dress shop. She then started to sing semi-professionally, an occupation that became a full-time job when she joined a group that appeared in

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

. However, while she was visiting her agent, she happened to meet an actor's agent who believed that her exotic physical appearance was exactly what was needed for a role as a student in ''

Sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. The name ''sapphire ...

'' (1959), a film about the emerging

Afro-Caribbean Afro-Caribbean or African Caribbean people are Caribbean people who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of the modern Afro-Caribbean people descend from the Indigenous peoples of Africa, Africans (primarily fr ...

community in England. At the time, Mantez had no acting experience, but her work on the film resulted in a succession of parts in television series such as '' Shadow Squad'' and '' The Avengers''. She also played a small role as a nurse in the film '' The Angry Silence'' (1960) starring

Richard Attenborough Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, film director, and Film producer, producer. Attenborough was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Acade ...

. Mantez's acting career was boosted with a role as a nurse in the film '' Life for Ruth'' (1962), co-starring Patrick McGoohan. This in turn led to appearances in two episodes of the TV series ''

Danger Man ''Danger Man'' (retitled ''Secret Agent'' in the United States for the revived series, and ''Destination Danger'' and ''John Drake'' in other overseas markets) is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again ...

'', first as an agent working with John Drake in "Loyalty Always Pays", and then as a West Indian woman in "The Man on the Beach". She appeared as artist Rita Bell in an episode of the ABC series '' The Human Jungle'' ("The Twenty-Four Hour Man", 1964). Another of Mantez's roles was as Happy Lee, the girl suspected of Marty Hopkirk's murder in the pilot episode of the ITC series '' Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'' (" My Late Lamented Friend and Partner", 1969). During the 1960s, Mantez appeared in a number of

stage musical Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

s; these included '' Cowardy Custard'' (the Mermaid Theatre's tribute to

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...

), Monty Norman's ''The Perils of Scobie Prilt'', and the West End production of '' Every Other Evening'' (starring Margaret Lockwood). She toured Europe, once appearing in ''

Porgy And Bess ''Porgy and Bess'' ( ) is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play ''Porgy (play), ...

'' in

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

. She may be best known for her portrayal of Lieutenant Nina Barry (frequently sporting a purple wig, as did all female staff on Moonbase) in the science-fiction TV series '' UFO'', broadcast in 1970 and 1971. Her final acting role was as Indigo Jones, a mixed-race lady of means, in an episode of the

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series '' The Onedin Line'' ("Fetch and Carry", 1972).

Personal life

In the mid-1970s, Mantez met businessman Robert Harding in a pub. They married in 1976. After their son was born, Mantez gave up acting. She died on 30 November 2012 at age 76 following a short illness.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Lieutenant Nina Barry profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mantez, Dolores 1936 births 2012 deaths 20th-century English actresses 20th-century English singers Actresses from Liverpool English film actresses English musical theatre actresses English people of Ghanaian descent English people of Irish descent English television actresses Musicians from Liverpool 20th-century English women singers 20th-century British businesspeople