Lynda Bellingham

Lynda Bellingham

Lynda Bellingham played many roles during her five-decade professional career, but became synonymous with one. "Being a mum making gravy was not quite how I had seen my career advancing," she said once. But between 1983 and 1999 that's what she did in 42 "episodes" of an award-winning TV ad. Since the early 1980s, her name was rarely mentioned in print without it being prefaced with "Oxo mum". During her career, though, she starred on TV as the vet's wife Helen Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small in the 80s and as one of two divorcees trying to forge a relationship in the 90s sitcom Second Thoughts, opposite James Bolam. On stage she was best known for playing the lead in a touring production of Calendar Girls between 2008 and 2012. She was also, for four years between 2007 and 2011, a regular member of the team on Loose Women, the daytime TV chat show. She had few regrets about how her career turned out, summarising its trajectory thus on her website: "Arrived in London at the Central School [for Speech and Drama] in 1966 and never looked back. I had a ball!" Bellingham, though, knew that gravy, like Lady Macbeth's damned spot, left an indelible mark. "In many ways I was very proud of what we did, but there is no doubt that my credibility as an actress was knocked," she reflected. "Certain people in the industry would never employ me as a serious actress after it. On the other hand, it gave me the financial security to go off and work in the theatre for very little money." Her performances as Mrs Oxo were reportedly responsible for a 10% increase in stock cube sales.

Known For: Acting

Born: Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1948-05-31

Died: 2014-10-19

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1976	Confessions of a Driving Instructor	Mary Truscott	45
2	1977	Sweeney!	Janice Wyatt	68
3	1977	Stand up, Virgin Soldiers	Valerie	48
4	1978	The Waterloo Bridge Handicap		60
5	1981	Riding High	Miss Mott	40
6	1986	Doctor Who: The Mysterious Planet	The Inquisitor	62
7	1986	Doctor Who: Mindwarp	The Inquisitor	70
8	1986	Doctor Who: Terror of the Vervoids	The Inquisitor	62
9	1986	Doctor Who: The Ultimate Foe	The Inquisitor	58
10	1987	The Vision	Mary Morris	100
11	1997	An Audience with Ronnie Corbett		65
12	1998	The Scarlet Tunic	Emily Marlowe	45
13	1998	Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh		20
14	1999	Don't Go Breaking My Heart	Maxine	49
15	2000	The Romanovs: A Crowned Family	Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna	49
16	2001	Bodywork	Poppy Fields	35
17	2004	The Long Bank Holiday	Councillor Marjorie Balsam	80
18	2004	Devil's Gate	Marlene	0
19	2012	Too Close for Comfort	Mum	0

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1962	Z-Cars		70
2	1963	Doctor Who	The Inquisitor	79
3	1970	The Misfit	Wee Jeannie	0
4	1973	Tell Tarby		0
5	1974	Within These Walls		53
6	1975	The Sweeney	Nancy King	77
7	1975	Angels		37
8	1976	Yus, My Dear	Carol	53
9	1977	The Professionals	Betty Hope	74
10	1978	Blake's 7	Vena	72
11	1978	All Creatures Great and Small	Helen Herriot	77
12	1978	An Audience with...	Self	53
13	1978	Hazell		53
14	1978	The Pink Medicine Show		0
15	1979	Shoestring		68
16	1980	The Gentle Touch		69
17	1982	Wogan	Self	45
18	1984	Surprise, Surprise	Self	58
19	1985	Screen Two	Mary Morris	68
20	1986	Casualty	Steph Yates	61
21	1987	Filthy Rich & Catflap	Ms Tomkins	66
22	1988	This Morning	Self	52
23	1991	Second Thoughts	Faith	66
24	1992	Gibberish		0
25	1994	Junior Masterchef		50
26	1994	Martin Chuzzlewit	Mrs. Lupin	75
27	1995	Faith in the Future		63
28	1996	Dalziel & Pascoe		64
29	1997	Midsomer Murders	Jane Willows	75
30	1999	Loose Women	Self	32
31	2000	At Home with the Braithwaites	Pauline Farnell	68
32	2001	Waking the Dead	Mary Mantel	72
33	2001	My Uncle Silas	Mrs. Gadsby	70
34	2003	The Last Detective		76
35	2003	One Life		0
36	2004	New Tricks		74
37	2006	The One Show	Self	45
38	2006	Robin Hood		68
39	2007	Bonkers		0
40	2007	The Alan Titchmarsh Show	Self	37
41	2008	All Star Mr & Mrs		0
42	2009	Mister Eleven	Shirley	57
43	2010	Odd One In		0

Lynda Bellingham

Film

Television