Acting · Montreal, Quebec, Canada · Born May 31, 1948
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.
Too Close for Comfort
2012
as Mum
Odd One In
2010
Mister Eleven
2009
as Shirley
TVAll Star Mr & Mrs
2008
The Alan Titchmarsh Show
2007
as Self
TVBonkers
2007
as Mrs Wadlow
TVRobin Hood
2006
MovieDevil's Gate
2004
as Marlene
TVMurder in Suburbia
2004
as Milly Goodman
MovieThe Long Bank Holiday
2004
as Councillor Marjorie Balsam
TVNew Tricks
2004
One Life
2003
MovieCelebrity Naked Ambition
2003
as Self (archive footage)
TVThe Last Detective
2003
MovieBodywork
2001
as Poppy Fields
TVWaking the Dead
2001
as Mary Mantel
MovieThe Romanovs: A Crowned Family
2000
as Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna
Reach for the Moon
2000
as Penny Martin
TVAt Home with the Braithwaites
2000
as Pauline Farnell
TVLoose Women
1999
as Self
MovieDon't Go Breaking My Heart
1999
as Maxine
MovieHey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh
1998
MovieThe Scarlet Tunic
1998
as Emily Marlowe
MovieAn Audience with Ronnie Corbett
1997
TVMidsomer Murders
1997
as Jane Willows
TVFaith in the Future
1995
TVMartin Chuzzlewit
1994
as Mrs Lupin
Junior Masterchef
1994
Gibberish
1992
TVSecond Thoughts
1991
as Faith
TVThis Morning
1988
as Self
MovieThe Vision
1987
as Mary Morris
TVFilthy Rich & Catflap
1987
as Ms Tomkins
MovieDoctor Who: The Ultimate Foe
1986
as The Inquisitor
MovieDoctor Who: Terror of the Vervoids
1986
as The Inquisitor
MovieDoctor Who: Mindwarp
1986
as The Inquisitor
MovieDoctor Who: The Mysterious Planet
1986
as The Inquisitor
TVCasualty
1986
as Steph Yates
TVScreen Two
1985
as Mary Morris
TVSurprise, Surprise
1984
as Self
TVWogan
1982
as Self
MovieRiding High
1981
as Miss Mott
Funny Man
1981
as Gwen
TVMackenzie
1980
as Ruth Isaacs
TVShoestring
1979
as Nicola
The Waterloo Bridge Handicap
1978
as Likely Lady (Miss Beamish)
The Pink Medicine Show
1978
TVAll Creatures Great and Small
1978
as Helen Herriot
TVAn Audience with...
1978
as Self
TVBlake's 7
1978
as Vena
TVThe Professionals
1977
as Betty Hope
Cottage to Let
1977
as Barbara
TVDon't Forget to Write!
1977
as Angela
MovieStand up, Virgin Soldiers
1977
as Valerie
MovieSweeney!
1977
as Janice Wyatt
MovieConfessions of a Driving Instructor
1976
as Mary Truscott
TVYus, My Dear
1976
as Carol
TVAngels
1975
TVThe Sweeney
1975
as Nancy King
Tell Tarby
1973
as Nurse Norma Snockers
TVThe Misfit
1970
as Wee Jeannie
TVITV Saturday Night Theatre
1969
as Nurse Mary Tiller
TVDoctor Who
1963
as The Inquisitor
TVZ-Cars
1962
