Lynda Bellingham
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- May 31, 1948
- Died
- October 19, 2014 (aged 66)
- Birthplace
- Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Biography
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
Filmography
Too Close for Comfort
Movie · as Mum
Odd One In
TV · 1 ep
Mister Eleven
TV · as Shirley · 2 eps
All Star Mr & Mrs
TV · 1 ep
The Alan Titchmarsh Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Bonkers
TV · as Mrs Wadlow · 5 eps
Robin Hood
TV · 1 ep
Devil's Gate
Movie · as Marlene
The Long Bank Holiday
Movie · as Councillor Marjorie Balsam
New Tricks
TV · 1 ep
Murder in Suburbia
TV · as Milly Goodman · 1 ep
Celebrity Naked Ambition
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The Last Detective
TV · 1 ep
One Life
TV · 1 ep
Bodywork
Movie · as Poppy Fields
Waking the Dead
TV · as Mary Mantel · 2 eps
The Romanovs: A Crowned Family
Movie · as Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna
At Home with the Braithwaites
TV · as Pauline Farnell · 19 eps
Reach for the Moon
TV · as Penny Martin · 6 eps
Don't Go Breaking My Heart
Movie · as Maxine
Loose Women
TV · as Self · 2 eps
The Scarlet Tunic
Movie · as Emily Marlowe
Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh
Movie
An Audience with Ronnie Corbett
Movie
Midsomer Murders
TV · as Jane Willows · 1 ep
Dalziel and Pascoe
TV · as Jess Pitman · 1 ep
Faith in the Future
TV · 22 eps
Junior Masterchef
TV · 1 ep
Martin Chuzzlewit
TV · as Mrs Lupin · 5 eps
Gibberish
TV · 13 eps
Second Thoughts
TV · as Faith · 49 eps
This Morning
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Comic Relief
TV · 1 ep
The Vision
Movie · as Mary Morris
Filthy Rich & Catflap
TV · as Ms Tomkins · 1 ep
Doctor Who: Terror of the Vervoids
Movie · as The Inquisitor
Doctor Who: The Mysterious Planet
Movie · as The Inquisitor
Doctor Who: Mindwarp
Movie · as The Inquisitor
Doctor Who: The Ultimate Foe
Movie · as The Inquisitor
Casualty
TV · as Steph Yates · 1 ep
Screen Two
TV · as Mary Morris · 1 ep
Surprise, Surprise
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Wogan
TV · as Self · 2 eps
Riding High
Movie · as Miss Mott
Funny Man
TV · as Gwen · 13 eps
Mackenzie
TV · as Ruth Isaacs · 12 eps
Shoestring
TV · as Nicola · 1 ep
The Waterloo Bridge Handicap
Movie · as Likely Lady (Miss Beamish)
Blake's 7
TV · as Vena · 1 ep
All Creatures Great and Small
TV · as Helen Herriot · 46 eps
The Pink Medicine Show
TV · 6 eps
An Audience with...
TV · as Self · 3 eps
Sweeney!
Movie · as Janice Wyatt
Stand up, Virgin Soldiers
Movie · as Valerie
The Professionals
TV · as Betty Hope · 1 ep
Don't Forget to Write!
TV · as Angela · 1 ep
Cottage to Let
TV · as Barbara · 1 ep
Confessions of a Driving Instructor
Movie · as Mary Truscott
Yus, My Dear
TV · as Carol · 13 eps
The Sweeney
TV · as Nancy King · 1 ep
Angels
TV · 3 eps
Tell Tarby
TV · as Nurse Norma Snockers · 6 eps
The Misfit
TV · as Wee Jeannie · 1 ep
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
TV · as Nurse Mary Tiller · 1 ep
Doctor Who
TV · as The Inquisitor · 14 eps
Z-Cars
TV · 2 eps