Lynda Bellingham

**Lynda Bellingham**, OBE (31 May 1948 – 19 October 2014) was an English actress, broadcaster and author. She acted in television series such as *All Creatures Great and Small*, *Doctor Who*, *Second Thoughts* and *Faith in the Future*. She was also known for her appearances as the mother in the long-running series of "Oxo Family" British TV advertisements between 1983 and 1999, and as a panellist on the ITV lunchtime chat show *Loose Women* between 2007 and 2011.

## Biography

### Prior to Doctor Who

Bellingham was born Meredith Hughes in Montreal to a single mother, but was given up for adoption because she was born out of wedlock in a strict church-going family. She was adopted at four months of age. Bellingham was educated at Aylesbury High School and trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Twice in the 1960s, Bellingham appeared in the Pendley Open Air Shakespeare Festival.

Bellingham made her television début as a nurse in an ITV afternoon soap opera of the 1970s, *General Hospital*. Her early film credits included roles in *Confessions of a Driving Instructor* (1976), *Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers* (1977) and *Riding High* (1981) with Eddie Kidd. She also appeared in the comedy short *The Waterloo Bridge Handicap* (1978) with Leonard Rossiter. Prior to her brief role in *Sweeney!* (1977), the first big-screen adaptation of the TV police drama series *The Sweeney*, she had appeared in the *Sweeney* episode "Trojan Bus" (1975) in which she played Nancy King, accomplice to two Australian robbers. In 1981, she appeared in the ITV comedy-drama *Funny Man* set in the music hall of the late 1920s.

Her other roles included Helen Herriot in the James Herriot drama *All Creatures Great and Small* (in which she was the second actress to play the role on television, replacing Carol Drinkwater), the 1980 Andrea Newman drama series *Mackenzie*, *Blake's 7 (1981)* and the situation comedy *Second Thoughts* and its sequel, *Faith in the Future*. With her Oxo Family co-star, Michael Redfernshe appeared in an episode of *Filthy Rich and Catflap*.

Bellingham played the central character in the long-running "Oxo Family" series of TV commercials, starting in 1983, playing a mother who binds her family together by cooking them meals featuring Oxo products. The advertisements typically featured the family sitting down to a meal at which Oxo gravy would be served. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the family was seen to grow older. When the campaign was retired in 1999, the family moved out of the house.

### Work on Doctor Who

Bellingham appeared as a woman in the Season 23 story *The Nightmare Fair*.

### After Doctor Who

In 1993, Bellingham was the subject of *This Is Your Life* when she was surprised by Michael Aspel on the set of *Second Thoughts*. In 2010, Bellingham was the voice-over for British rap band N-Dubz's reality show on Channel 4.

In 2011, Bellingham featured in a short film entitled *Too Close for Comfort*, playing the character of a mother to her real-life son, actor Michael Peluso. Bellingham and Peluso reprised their roles for the follow-up web series of the same name in 2014. Mirroring Bellingham's personal life, her character had developed cancer.

Bellingham also appeared as a contestant on the TV show *Celebrity Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?*

From 2000 to 2003, Bellingham played Pauline Farnell, the compassionate accountant in *At Home with the Braithwaites* with Amanda Redman and former *All Creatures Great and Small* colleague Peter Davison. She had a recurring role in *The Bill* as villainess Irene Radford for several months in 2004, and appeared as Marlene in *Devil's Gate* the same year. She also appeared in Midsomer Murders “The Fisher King” as Jane Willows. She had a role in the ITV comedy *Bonkers* playing Mrs Wadlow, a man-eating suburban housewife who seduces her neighbour's teenage son and turns him into her gigolo. Later that year, she filmed guest appearances in episodes of *Love Soup* and *Robin Hood*. She played DCI Karen Hardwick in a 2007 episode of *New Tricks* (S4:E1).

In January 2005, she appeared in a play entitled *Losing Louis* at Hampstead Theatre before transferring to the Trafalgar Studios in London. Her performance received critical acclaim, especially from Michael Billington.

In October 2007, she appeared in the play *Vincent River* at the Trafalgar Studios in London.

From September 2008 to July 2009, Bellingham played the role of Chris Harper in the stage version of the hit film *Calendar Girls* on tour and at the Noël Coward Theatre in the West End. She returned to the show for further tours in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Over the Christmas/New Year period of 2011/12, she played the Fairy Godmother in the pantomime *Cinderella* at the Birmingham Hippodrome. She played the role again at the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford over the Christmas/New Year period of 2012/13.

Bellingham was due to star in Kay Mellor's play *A Passionate Woman* at the Sheffield Crucible, followed by a national tour, however, it was announced in July 2013 that the show had to be postponed owing to Bellingham's cancer treatment.

On 17 December 2010, Bellingham guest-presented the ITV programme *Lorraine*.

In 2012, she presented her own cookery series called *My Tasty Travels with Lynda Bellingham*. The following year, she presented the ITV programme *Country House Sunday*.

Bellingham joined *Loose Women* on 10 April 2007, appearing alongside Carol McGiffin and Coleen Nolan, and continued as a regular on the show until 2011. In all, Bellingham made more than 300 appearances on the show, including a special appearance in 2014 shortly before her death. Two editions of *Loose Women* were dedicated to Bellingham after her death.

In 2009, Bellingham was one of the contestants in the seventh series of *Strictly Come Dancing*, where she was partnered with Darren Bennett. However, she was voted out by the judges in the fourth week.

## Personal Life

Bellingham was married three times, first in 1975 to film and theatre producer Greg Smith. According to Bellingham in her 2010 autobiography, the marriage was one driven primarily by sex, with Smith later admitting to numerous affairs with other actresses, including some who sent nude photos to their home.

Her second marriage (1981–96) was to restaurateur Nunzio Peluso, with whom she had two sons, Michael and Robbie. The couple were introduced to each other at the Italian restaurant La Famiglia in Chelsea, London in the early 1980s by friend and fellow actor Christopher Biggins. After a whirlwind courtship and romance, the couple married but the relationship was marred by Peluso's jealousy of Bellingham's former lovers leading to a series of altercations, fights and ongoing domestic abuse towards her. Around the same time as Bellingham was being abused by Peluso, she was starring in the Oxo adverts and felt bound to hide the truth about her marriage for fear of spoiling her image in the commercials. As Bellingham revealed in her 2010 autobiography *Lost & Found: My Story*: "maybe if my private life had been happier I would have enjoyed doing it more. As it was, I felt I was living a lie. Being the nation's favourite mum on screen and going home to an abusive relationship was heartbreaking [...] the irony was horrific. Here I was, the Oxo mum, hiding behind closed doors, isolated from her friends and family." The couple divorced in 1996, Bellingham giving her former husband half of everything she owned, although he continued to intimidate her. A restraining order was granted in 2000 to keep Peluso away from his former wife.

On 31 May 2008, Bellingham married her boyfriend, Spain-based timeshare salesman, Michael Pattemore (known on *Loose Women*as "Mr Spain"), at St Stephen Walbrook on her 60th birthday.

Bellingham was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for voluntary service to charitable giving.

On 16 July 2013, it was announced that Bellingham had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer. She released a statement saying she was "not going to die."

In September 2014, Bellingham confirmed that her cancer had metastasised to her lungs and liver and that she had "months to live". She announced that she had made the choice in August 2014 to stop her chemotherapy in November, so that she could have "one last Christmas" with her family and die in January 2015. However, Bellingham died in a London hospital on 19 October 2014 with her husband Michael by her side.

A few weeks before her death, Bellingham's official website was taken down, with the message: "We're very sorry; at the request of Lynda and Michael we have temporarily taken the website offline."

On 3 November 2014, her funeral took place at St Bartholomew's Church in Crewkerne. Afterwards, Bellingham was buried in Crewkerne Townsend Cemetery. Her headstone lists her as Lynda Bellingham-Pattemore.