Stephanie Beacham

Stephanie Beacham (born 28 February 1947) is an English television, radio, film and theatre actress. She is known for her television roles in the BBC drama Tenko (1981–82), the ITV drama Connie (1985), and for playing Sable Colby in the ABC soap operas The Colbys (1985–87) and Dynasty (1988–89). Her film appearances include Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972), Schizo (1976) and Troop Beverly Hills (1989).
Beacham began appearing on British television in 1967 and made her big screen debut in the 1970 film The Games, before starring opposite Marlon Brando in the 1971 film The Nightcomers. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her role in the NBC sitcom Sister Kate (1989–90). Her other television roles include Phyl Oswyn in the ITV prison-based drama series Bad Girls (2003–06), Martha Fraser in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street (2009), and Lorraine in the Sky One sitcom Trollied (2012). On stage, she starred as Maria Callas in a 2010 UK touring production of the play Master Class.
== Early life ==
Beacham, one of four siblings, was born in Barnet, Hertfordshire, England,[2] the daughter of Joan, a housewife, and a father who was an insurance executive and the managing director of the Grosvenor estate.[3] She attended Barnet's Queen Elizabeth's Girls' Grammar School and later travelled to Boulogne-Billancourt in Paris, France, to study mime with Étienne Decroux, before attending Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London.[4]
== Career ==
Her initial goal was to teach dance movement to deaf children, but she began a career in modelling and then began acting in television. Her first screen role was in the BBC series The Queen's Traitor in 1967, in which she played Mary, Queen of Scots. During an interview, thinking Barnet sounded uninteresting, she told a reporter from the Northern Echo she was born in Casablanca, where her favourite Bogart/Bergman film was set.[2]
After many further guest appearances in television series such as The Saint, Callan, and UFO, Beacham's first film roles were in The Games directed by Michael Winner, and Tam Lin directed by Roddy McDowall, both released in 1970. She would work with Winner again in 1971's The Nightcomers, in which she starred opposite Marlon Brando. Beacham appeared nude in one scene, during the filming of which Brando wore Y-fronts and wellington boots under the bed clothes to ensure Winner did not film anything lower than was necessary.[5]Horror would be a genre that Beacham appeared in often during this period, and she was subsequently cast as Jessica Van Helsing in Hammer's Dracula A.D. 1972 alongside Peter Cushing.
Beacham continued to appear in film, television and on stage. Her next role was as a repertory player with the Nottingham Playhouse, where she played several lead and feature roles, including the role of Nora in the Henrik Ibsen play A Doll's House. In 1973, she played Georgina Layton in Thames Television's daytime drama Marked Personal. The same year, she made an Italian film, Si può essere più bastardi dell'ispettore Cliff? The film was released in the US in 1977 as Mafia Junction and in the UK as Blue Movie Blackmail. It was later released on home video, now retitled as Super Bitch as the producers of the film attempted to capitalise on the success of the Joan Collins film The Bitch. Beacham also continued to work in horror films, including And Now the Screaming Starts (1973), House of Mortal Sin (1975), Schizo (1976) and Inseminoid (1981) – a film she admits taking for the fee.[6]
From 1981 to 1982, Beacham featured as a member of the ensemble cast of the BBC series Tenko, about a group of women prisoners of war held captive by the Japanese after their invasion of Singapore in 1942. Following this, she continued working in theatre and television before landing the lead role in the 13-part ITV drama series Connie (1985). Her roles in Tenko and Connie helped to springboard her into one of her most well-remembered roles, that of the devious matriarch Sable Colby on the television series The Colbys (1985–87). The Colbys was a spin-off of the opulent prime-time soap Dynasty which had been the highest rating programme in the USA that year. Beacham was cast opposite Charlton Heston as the tent-pole couple of the new show. The Colbys never experienced the success of its parent show and was cancelled after two seasons, though in 1988, Beacham was invited to reprise the role of Sable on Dynasty, playing opposite Joan Collins in a season-long "battle of the bitches" scenario.[1]
After Dynasty was cancelled in 1989, Beacham landed the lead role in the children's fantasy film The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, playing an evil governess. She was then cast in the US sitcom Sister Kate, taking the lead role as a nun taking care of children in an orphanage. The series lasted for one season and was cancelled in 1990, though she earned a Golden Globenomination for the role. She then returned to Britain to play Mrs. Peacock in an ITV game show version of the board game Cluedo (1990). Reuniting with Dynasty producer Aaron Spelling, Beacham also had a recurring guest role in the popular teen drama Beverly Hills, 90210, playing Iris McKay, the estranged mother of Luke Perry's character Dylan. Beacham appeared in six different television series produced by Spelling, including Dynasty, The Colbys, The Love Boat, Beverly Hills, 90210, Burke's Law, and Charmed. In 1993, Beacham signed on to play Dr. Kristin Westphalen in the NBC science fiction series seaQuest DSV, produced by Steven Spielberg. Her character was the chief oceanographer and medical doctor for the submarine seaQuest, however Beacham left the programme after its first season. Throughout the 1990s, she continued to make guest appearances on television programmes, working in both the UK and the US. In 1996, she starred in the BBC drama No Bananas which was set during the war years.
In 2003, Beacham returned to the UK to take a role in the ITV prison drama Bad Girls. She played inmate Phyllida "Phyl" Oswyn for four years, partnered with Beverly "Bev" Tull (played by Amanda Barrie) as the "Costa Cons". She remained with the series to the end in 2006. She also appeared in the 2006 movie Love and Other Disasters. She returned to stage work and toured the UK in 2007 as a lead in the Noël Coward play Hay Fever. Later that year, she competed in the 2007 series of the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing with professional partner Vincent Simone, though she was eliminated early in the competition (the second of fourteen celebrities) on 14 October 2007.
On 27 November 2008, it was announced that Beacham had joined the cast of ITV's Coronation Street portraying Martha Fraser, a love interest for Ken Barlow(played by William Roache).[7][8] She made her first appearance on 26 January 2009 and her last on 4 May 2009.
On 17 February 2010, Beacham appeared in the final episode of the BBC series Material Girl. On 3 April 2010, she made a guest appearance in the long-running BBC hospital drama series Casualty.[9]
In October 2011, Beacham released her autobiography Many Lives in which she discusses her life and career. The book includes a foreword written by her Coronation Street co-star William Roache.[10]
In 2012, Beacham reunited with her Dynasty co-star Joan Collins in a UK television advert for Snickers, however the ad was later re-edited and Beacham's appearance cut. She also appeared as store manager Lorraine Chain in Sky1's supermarket-based sitcom Trollied for eight episodes between August 2012 and October 2012. The same year, she also appeared in three episodes of Sky Living's Mount Pleasant as Aunty Pam.
In January 2013, Beacham was a guest on ITV's daytime chat show Loose Women to promote her appearance on the first episode of the second series of Death in Paradise which aired on 8 January 2013.
In recent years, Beacham has appeared in Christmas pantomime. In 2006, she played the Wicked Witch in a production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarvesin Guildford. She appeared there again the following year in a production of Jack and the Beanstalk.[11]
On 3 January 2010, Beacham entered Channel 4's seventh and final series of Celebrity Big Brother as a housemate; she was the only female to make it to the final and finished in fifth place on 29 January 2010.
Beacham was involved in launching the Sense-National Deafblind and Rubella Association Fill in the Gaps campaign[12] which aims to give the elderly the support they need to maintain a good quality of life. She also attended the Parliamentary launch of the campaign in June 2006.
In September 2016 Beacham was a guest on BBC Radio 2's Graham Norton Show and discussed her forthcoming role as Princess Margaret.[13] The new play, A Princess Undone by Richard Stirling, will premiere at the Cambridge Arts Theatre in October and is "set to scandalise admirers of the Royal family".[14]
== Personal life ==
Beacham is partially deaf, having been born with no hearing in her right ear and 80% hearing in her left ear.[15]
She married actor John McEnery in 1973; she became pregnant shortly after the wedding but suffered a miscarriage when she was three months pregnant because she fell. Beacham and McEnery separated in 1979 but stayed married for over another 10 years.[1] They have two daughters, Phoebe (1974) and Chloe (1977).[2] She dated Imran Khan, then a cricketer and playboy, in the 1980s[16][17]and later a politician who became Prime Minister of Pakistan in 2018.
Beacham was successfully treated for skin cancer in 2009. She had a recurrence of the disease in 2011 but has again recovered.[18]
In March 2016 Beacham told The Sunday Telegraph that she had been raped, when she had been an up-and-coming actress, in her twenties.[19]
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
Year	Title 	Role
1970	The Games 	Angela Simmonds
1970	Tam-Lin 	Janet Ainsley
1971	The Nightcomers 	Miss Jessel
1972	Dracula A.D. 1972 	Jessica Van Helsing
1972	The Aries Computer 	
1973	Super Bitch 	Joanne
1973	And Now the Screaming Starts! 	Catherine Fengriffen
1975	House of Mortal Sin 	Vanessa Welch
1976	Schizo 	Beth
1981	Inseminoid 	Kate
1989	Troop Beverly Hills 	Vicki Sprantz
1989	The Wolves of Willoughby Chase	Letitia Slighcarp
1990	Harry and Harriet 	Christine Petersen
1996	Wedding Bell Blues 	Tanya's Mother
2000	Relative Values 	Elizabeth
2002	Unconditional Love 	Harriet Fox-Smith
2002	Would I Lie to You? 	Amaelia
2006	Seven Days of Grace 	Dana
2006	Love and Other Disasters 	Felicity Riggs-Wentworth
2006	The Witches Hammer 	Madeline
2007	Plot 7 	Emma Osterman
2015	Wild Oats 	Tammy
=== Television ===
Television
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1967 	Out of Town Theatre 	The Girl 	1 episode "The Picnic"
1967 	The Queen's Traitor 	Mary Queen of Scots 	TV Movie
1968 	ITV Playhouse 	Lisa Wendle 	1 episode "Bon Voyage"
1968 	The Saint 	Penny 	1 episode "Legacy for the Saint"
1968 	The Jazz Age 	Charlotte Tonn 	1 episode "Black Exchange"
1969 	Armchair Theatre 	Linda 	1 episode "On Vacation"
1969 	Public Eye 	Shirley Marlowe 	1 episode "My Life's My Own"
1969 	The Distracted Preacher 	Lizzy Newberry 	TV Movie
1970 	Callan 	Beth Lampton 	1 episode "God Help Your Friends"
1970 	Sentimental Education 	Rosanette 	1 episode "The Philanderer"
1970 	UFO 	Sarah Bosanquet 	1 episode "Destruction"
1971–1972 	ITV Sunday Night Theatre 	Jenny Draper/Anna Trenton 	2 episodes
1972 	Jason King 	Cora Simpson 	1 episode "Chapter One: The Company I Keep"
1972 	Man at the Top 	Paula Fraser 	2 episodes
1973 	The Adventurer 	Contessa Maria 	1 episode "Icons Are Forever"
1973 	The Protectors 	Chrissie 	1 episode "Your Witness"
1973 	Special Branch 	Sue Arden 	1 episode "Threat"
1973 	Jane Eyre 	Blanche Ingram 	1 episode "Part 3"
1973 	Ego House 	Adèle Hugo 	TV Movie
1973–1974 	Marked Personal 	Georgina Layton 	62 episodes
1975 	Whodunnit? 	Helen Brent 	1 episode "Too Many Cooks"
1975 	Prometheus: The Life of Balzac 	Fanny Lovell 	TV Mini-series
1976 	Hadleigh 	Susan Debray 	1 episode "Film Story"
1976 	Forget Me Not 	Jeanne Teliot 	1 episode "Rich"
1978 	Rainbow 	Special Guest Narrator 	1 episode "Wild Animals"
1979 	I vecchi e i giovani 	Nicoletta 	4 episodes
1981–1982 	Tenko 	Rose Millar 	19 episodes
1984 	Sorrell and Son 	Florence Palfrey 	1 episode
1984 	Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense	Rosemary Richardson 	1 episode "A Distant Scream"
1985 	Connie 	Connie 	13 episodes
1985–1987 	The Colbys 	Sable Scott Colby 	49 episodes
1985; 1988–1989	Dynasty 	Sable Colby 	Guest Role (Season 6), Main Role (Season 9) 23 episodes
1986 	The Love Boat 	Elaine Riskin 	1 episode "The Shipshape Cruise"
1987 	Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story	Therese Tallien 	3 episodes
1988 	French and Saunders 	Doreena Petherbridge 	1 episode
1989–1990 	Sister Kate 	Sister Katherine 'Kate' Lambert	19 episodes
1990 	Cluedo 	Mrs. Peacock 	6 episodes
1990 	Lucky/Chances 	Susan Martino Santangelo 	TV Mini-series
1990 	The Lilac Bus 	Judy 	TV Movie
1991; 1993–1994	Beverly Hills, 90210 	Iris McKay 	8 episodes
1992 	Secrets 	Sabina Quarles 	TV Movie
1992 	To Be The Best 	Arabella 	TV Movie
1993 	Star Trek: The Next Generation 	Countess Bartholomew 	1 episode "Ship in a Bottle"
1993 	Foreign Affairs 	Rosemary Radley 	TV Movie
1993 	Riders 	Molly Carter 	TV Movie
1993 	Blossom 	Mrs. Robinson 	1 episode "Hunger"
1993–1994 	seaQuest DSV 	Dr. Kristin Westphalen 	23 episodes
1994 	Burke's Law 	Victoria Lancer 	1 episode "Who Killed Skippy's Master?"
1994 	A Change of Place 	Marie 	TV Movie
1995 	Legend 	Vera Slaughter 	1 episode "Birth of a Legend"
1995 	High Society 	Stella, the acting coach 	1 episode "We Ought to Be in Pictures"
1996 	No Bananas 	Dorothea Grant 	10 episodes
2000 	Charmed 	Martha van Lewen 	1 episode "Reckless Abandon"
2002 	Having It Off 	Vernice Green 	1 episode "Perms of Endearment"
2003–2006 	Bad Girls 	Phyllida Oswyn 	Seasons 5–8 • 40 episodes
2006 	New Tricks 	Rhoda Wishaw 	1 episode "Wicca Work"
2007 	Strictly Come Dancing 	Herself 	Voted out on 2nd week
2009 	Free Agents 	Wendy 	1 episode
2009 	Coronation Street 	Martha Fraser 	21 episodes
2010 	Celebrity Big Brother 	Herself 	Left in 5th place in the final
2010 	Material Girl 	Sylvie Montrose 	1 episode
2010 	Casualty 	Monica Shapiro 	1 episode "Love of a Good Man"
2012 	Mount Pleasant 	Aunty Pam 	3 episodes
2012 	Trollied 	Lorraine 	Main role • Season 2 • 8 episodes
2013 	Death in Paradise 	Nicole Seymour 	1 episode
2014–2016 	Boomers 	Maureen 	Main role
2018 	The Real Marigold Hotel 	Herself 	
== Awards and nominations ==
Year	Award 	Nominated work	Category 	Result
1986	Soap Opera Digest Award	The Colbys 	Outstanding Villainess on a Prime Time Serial 	Nominated
1988	Soap Opera Digest Award	The Colbys 	Outstanding Villainess: Prime Time 	Nominated
1990	Soap Opera Digest Award	Dynasty 	Outstanding Lead Actress: Prime Time 	Nominated
1990	Golden Globe Award 	Sister Kate 	Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy	Nominated