Stephanie Bidmead

Stephanie Bidmead (29 January 1929 – 22 September 1974) was a British stage and television actress.

Early life She was born in Kidderminster. She attended Kidderminster High School for Girls, a girls' grammar school. In 1977 it became part of King Charles I School.

Career She was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company in the late 1950s, and played in Peter Brook's 1957 production of The Tempest, and in 1959 played opposite Charles Laughton in King Lear and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

She began to work in television during the 1960s, with credits in Doctor Who, the final episode of Maigret and Adam Adamant Lives!. In the Doctor Who serial Galaxy 4 she played the Drahvin leader Maaga.

In 1972 she played the lead role of Queen Elizabeth I in Robert Bolt's play Vivat! Vivat Regina! in the Birmingham Rep production.

Personal life She had two sons with Moravian theatre designer Henry Bardon. She was diagnosed with anterior horn cell myelitis and died on 22 September 1974 at the age of 45.

Filmography Film 1965: Invasion – Elaine 1972: Running Scared – Mrs. Case

Television 1960: An Age of Kings (Episode: "Henry V") – Queen of France 1963: Jane Eyre – Leah 1963: Maigret – Maigret's Little Joke – Antoinette Videl 1964: R3 (Episode: ""On the Spike") – Doris Haley 1964: Crane (Episode: "Knife in the Dark") – Annette Brillon 1964: Coronation Street – Lily Haddon 1965: The Mask of Janus (Episode: "And the Fish Are Biting") – Sylvie 1965: Doctor Who (Episode: "Galaxy 4") – Maaga 1965: Sherlock Holmes (Episode: "Charles Augustus Milverton") – Lady Farmingham 1966: Public Eye (Episode: "There Are More Things in Heaven and Earth") - Stella Rouse 1966: Adam Adamant Lives! (Episode: "Death Has a Thousand Faces") – Madame Delvario 1968: The Devil in the Fog – Lady Dexter 1971: Public Eye (Episode: "Ward of Court") – Ruth 1971: Doomwatch (Episode: "The Web of Fear") – Janine 1972: Public Eye (Episode: "The Windsor Royal") - Penny Lawrence 1973: The Onedin Line (Episode: "Law of the Fist") – Mrs Darling 1973: Bedtime Stories (Episode: "Jack and the Beanstalk") – Linda Weir (final appearance)