Catherine Schell

Catherine Schell (born Katherina Freiin Schell von Bauschlott, 17 July 1944) is a Hungarian-born British actress who came to prominence in British film and television productions from the 1960s. Her notable roles include the Bond girl Nancy in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Lady Claudine Litton in The Return of the Pink Panther (1975), Countess Scarlioni in the Doctor Who serial City of Death (1979), and a regular role as Maya in Year Two of the television series Space: 1999 (1976–1977).

Early life Schell's father, Baron Pál Schell von Bauschlott (5 September 1898 in Nagyida – 20 October 1979 in Munich), was a Hungarian diplomat of three-quarter Hungarian ancestry; her mother (m. Budapest, 28 January 1940) was Countess Katalin Mária Etelka Georgina Erzsébet Teleki de Szék (11 November 1917 in Budapest – ?). "Schell" is the family name, while "von Bauschlott" indicates the place in Germany where the Schell family owned its main estate (formerly an independent village, now part of the combined municipality of Neulingen).

Fleeing Hungary in advance of the Soviets and communism, the family lived in poverty until 1948, finding asylum in Austria: first in Vienna, then in Salzburg. In 1950, the family emigrated to the United States,

Career

Film

She acted under the alternative name "Catherina von Schell" early in her career. Under this name she made her film debut as the title character in the German-language film Lana, Queen of the Amazons (1964). She appeared as Bond girl Nancy in the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), with George Lazenby in the lead. Schell appeared in another British science-fiction series, as Countess Scarlioni in the Doctor Who serial City of Death (1979). 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's play A Month in the Country.

Retirement Schell's career continued into the mid-1990s, after which she retired from acting and in 1996, opened Valentin, a small guesthouse (:fr:Auberge) in Bonneval, Haute-Loire, France.

In September 2000, in New York City, Schell made her first convention appearance at MainMission: 2000, a celebration of the 25th anniversary of Space: 1999. To date, she has appeared at only one other convention, mainly due to the declining health of her second husband Bill Hays (1938–2006).

In 2010, Schell contributed a foreword to the Space: 1999 novel Born for Adversity, written by David McIntee and published by Powys Media.

In 2016, the first part of Schell's autobiography, A Constant Alien was published. In 2018, the second part of Schell's autobiography, When God Was Out For Lunch , was published.

Around 2020, Schell came out of acting retirement to portray the Grand Duchess Valeria in the BBC One/Netflix series Dracula, which aired in 2020.

Around 2022, Schell came out of acting retirement to portray Zoya Krupp, the Count's Romani ex-wife, in The Munsters, a horror comedy film produced, written, and directed by Rob Zombie.

Schell resides in France.

Filmography Film

Television