Early life

Beacham, one of four siblings, was born in Barnet, Hertfordshire, England, the daughter of Joan, a housewife, and a father who was an insurance executive and the managing director of the Grosvenor estate. She attended a Catholic girls' school (although she was not brought up as a Catholic), 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.

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.

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. 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.

From 1981-82, 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.

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 Globe nomination 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 seven different television series produced by Spelling, including Dynasty, The Colbys, The Love Boat, Beverly Hills, 90210, Burke's Law, Hart to Hart, 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). 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.

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.

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 Dwarves in Guildford. She appeared there again the following year in a production of Jack and the Beanstalk.

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 5th place on 29 January 2010.

Beacham was involved in launching the Sense-National Deafblind and Rubella Association Fill in the Gaps campaign 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.

Personal life

Beacham is partially deaf, having been born with no hearing in her right ear and 80% hearing in her left ear.

Beacham married actor John McEnery in 1973; the couple divorced in 1979. They have two daughters, Phoebe and Chloe.

Beacham was successfully treated for skin cancer in 2009. She had a recurrence of the disease in 2011 but has again recovered.

On 13 March 2016, Beacham revealed to The Sunday Telegraph that she had been raped when an up-and-coming actress in her twenties.

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	1episode "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	22 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	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, 8 episodes
2013	Death in Paradise	Nicole Seymour	1 episode
2014-	Boomers	Maureen	Main role

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

Bibliography

• Many Lives, Hay House, 2011. ISBN 978-1-84850-829-3.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]