Zienia Merton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zienia Merton is a British actress born in Borneo, born 11 December 1945. Her mother was Burmese, and her father half English, half French; and she was raised in Singapore, Portugal, Borneo and England.
Her most famous role in probably that of Sandra Benes in Space: 1999, the science fiction series produced by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson, with Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, and Barry Morse. It ran from 1975 to 1977.
Twenty-two years later, she starred in the short film entitled Message from Moonbase Alpha, which was produced by fans and written by series writer Johnny Byrne. It has since been released on DVD along with the other episodes of the complete series.
Message from Moonbase Alpha is now considered by fans of the show to stand as the 49th episode, becoming part of the canon of the series. The short episode debuted in Los Angeles, California on September 13, 1999 - the same fictional date in the pilot episode of "Breakaway" when the moon is blasted out of Earth orbit. This eulogy served to provide closure to the series.
Her other significant science fiction credit was as Ping-Cho in the 1964 Doctor Who story Marco Polo. This installment of the series was lost, although an audio version has been pieced together from various sources and released.
Merton's other work includes Jason King (1971), and Return of the Saint (1979]; and she was a lead actor as 'Christina' in the Dennis Potter television adaptation of Casanova with Frank Finlay (in which she appeared topless). She also appeared on The Benny Hill Show in 1972, playing the wife of Hill's Chow Mein character.
Zienia Merton also appeared in the film The Chairman (1969) with Gregory Peck, and has appeared several times in supporting roles on EastEnders, Casualty and The Bill.
Her autobiography, Anecdotes and Armadillos (with Robert Wood) was released in 2005.
