Kate O'Mara

Kate O'Mara
Kate O'Mara in trailer for The Vampire Lovers
Born	Frances M. Carroll (1939-08-10) 10 August 1939 Leicester, Leicestershire, England, UK
Occupation	Actress
Spouse(s)	Jeremy Young (m. 1961–76) (divorced) Richard Willis (m. 1993–96) (divorced)
Children	Dickon Young
Relatives	Belinda Carroll (sister)
Website
twitter.com/KateOmara_

Kate O'Mara (born 10 August 1939, Leicester, Leicestershire) is an English film, stage and television actress. She is perhaps most widely known for her role as Caress Morell, the scheming sister of Alexis Colby in the 1980s American primetime soap opera Dynasty, though is also known for playing other villains such as the Rani in Doctor Who. She also worked alongside Colin Baker in "The Brothers", and portrayed Laura Wilde in Howards' Way.

Personal life

The daughter of John F. Carroll, an RAF flying instructor and actress Hazel Bainbridge (b. 1909/1910 – d. 7 January 1998). Her younger sister is actress Belinda Carroll,^[1] making O'Mara the ex-sister-in-law to actor Simon Williams.^[2] After boarding school she attended art school before becoming a full-time actress.^[3]

She has been married and divorced three times and had a son, Dickon Young (b. 1964), formerly a stage manager for the Royal Shakespeare Company before setting up his own company building tree-houses in the mid-1990s. He was found hanged, presumed suicide, at the family home in Long Marston, Warwickshire on 31 December 2012.^[4]

She is a vegetarian and animal rights activist.^[5]

Career

O'Mara made her stage debut in a production of The Merchant of Venice in 1963. Her earliest television appearances included guest roles on Danger Man, Adam Adamant Lives!, The Saint, Z-Cars and The Avengers in the 1960s. In 1970, she appeared in two Hammer Studio horror films; The Vampire Lovers and The Horror of Frankenstein. In 1975, she had a regular role in the BBC drama series The Brothers as Jane Maxwell.

In the early 1980s, O'Mara starred in the BBC soap opera Triangle. In 1985, she played the Rani in the Doctor Who adventure "The Mark of the Rani". In 1986, she was cast as Caress Morrell in the American primetime soap opera Dynasty.^[6] Playing the sister of Alexis Colby (Joan Collins), O'Mara appeared in 17 episodes of the sixth season and 4 episodes of the seventh. After returning to the UK, she appeared in her second Doctor Who story, "Time and the Rani" in 1987. She was then later cast as another scheming villain, Laura Wilde, in the BBC soap Howards' Way in 1989.

O'Mara continued to make television appearances throughout the 1990s, including Cluedo and Absolutely Fabulous. In 2001, she had a recurring role in the ITV prison drama series Bad Girls before appearing in the short-lived revival of the soap opera Crossroads. She has continued to perform on stage and in March 2008 she played Marlene Dietrich in a stage play entitled Lunch with Marlene. From August to November 2008, she played Mrs Cheveley in Oscar Wilde's stage play 'An Ideal Husband' directed by Peter Hall and produced by Bill Kenwright. ^{[citation needed]}

O'Mara has also performed in radio and audio plays. In 2000 she reprised her role as the Rani in the BBV audio play The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind, and in 2006 she made a guest appearance in the radio comedy series Nebulous.

Writing

O'Mara has written four books, two fictional novels (When She Was Bad (ISBN 0261667157) and Good Time Girl (ISBN 0002242915)) and two autobiographical books, Vamp Until Ready (ISBN 1861057008) and Game Plan: A Woman's Survival Kit (ISBN 0283060573).

Film and television credits

Theatre

• 1964, Jessica, The Merchant of Venice at Lady Macduff Shakespeare for Schools Co.
• 1966, Lydia Languish, The Rivals at The Welsh Theatre Co.
• 1967, Elsa, The Italian Girl at the Wyndham's Theatre
• 1970, Fleda Vetch, The Spoils of Poynton at the Mayfair Theatre
• 1971, Gerda Von Metz, The Avengers at the Prince of Wales Theatre
• 1971-2, Sheila Wallis, Suddenly at Home at the Fortune Theatre
• 1974, Elvira, Blithe Spirit at the Bristol Old Vic
• 1974, Liza Moriarty, Sherlock's Last Case at the Open Space Theatre Fortune Theatre
• 1977, Sybil Merton, Lord Arthur Saville's Crime at the Sadlers Wells Theatre
• 1977, Louka, Arms and the Man at the Hong Kong Festival
• 1978, Rosaline, Loves Labour's Lost at the Thorndike Theatre
• 1978, Katherina, The Taming of the Shrew at the Ludlow Festival
• 1978, Cyrenne, Rattle of a Simple Man
• 1979, Monica Claverton- Ferry, The Elder Statesman
• 1979, Lina, Misalliance at The Birmingham Rep
• 1979, Irene St Clair, The Crucifer of Blood at the Haymarket Theatre
• 1980, Ruth, Night and Day, at post-London tour
• 1981, Stephanie Abrahams, Duet for One Yugoslavia and tour
• 1981, Beatrice, Much Ado About Nothing at the New Shakespeare Co
• 1982, Kathrina, The Taming of the Shrew at the Nottingham Playhouse\New Shakespeare Co
• 1982, Titania\Hippolta, A Midsummer Night's Dream at the New Shakespeare Co
• 1982, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth at the Mercury Theatre
• 1982, Cleopatra, Antony and Cleopatra at the Nottingham Playhouse
• 1982, Millamant, The Way of the World at the Nottingham Playhouse
• 1983, Hortense, The Rehearsal
• 1984, Mistress Ford, The Merry Wives of Windsor at the New Shakespeare Co
• 1985 – 1987, Frances Black, Light Up the Sky at the Old Vic & Globe Theatres
• 1987, Goneril, King Lear at the Compass Theatre
• 1988, Berinthia, The Relapse at the Mermaid Theatre
• 1990, Torfreida, The Last Englishman at The Orange Tree Theatre
• 1990, Martha, Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre
• 1991, Lilli Vanessi, Kiss Me Kate, RSC tour
• 1992, Lady Fanciful, The Provok'd Wife at the National Theatre Studio
• 1992, Rosabel, Venus Observed at the Chichester Festival
• 1992, Eve, Cain at the Chichester Festival
• 1992, Jackie, King Lear in New York at the Chichester Festival
• 1994, Maria Wislack, On Approval
• 1995, Pola, The Simpleton of the Unexpected Isles at The Orange Tree Theatre
• 1995, Rachel, My Cousin Rachel, English Theatre, Vienna and tour 1995
• 1996, Olivia, Twelfth Night at the Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke
• 1996-7, Mrs. Cheveley, An Ideal Husband at the Haymarket, Albury and Gielgud theatres
• 2000, Mrs. Malaprop\Lucy, The Rivals
• 2000, Madame Alexandre, Colombe at the Salisbury Playhouse
• 2003, Gertrude Lawrence, Noel and Gertie
• 2004, Mrs Arbuthnot, A Woman of No Importance
• 2005, Eloise, The Marquise at the Mercury Theatre
• 2005, Helen, We Happy Few at the Gielgud Theatre
• 2010, Lady Windemere, Lord Arthur Saville's Crime at the Mercury Theatre
• 2010, Marlene Dietrich, Lunch with Marlene at The New End Theatre
• Angelica, Love for Love, Watford
• Rosalind in As You Like It, British Actor's Theatre Co tour
• Mary Queen of Scots, Shadow in the Sun, Hedda Gabler at Harrogate
• Curley's Wife in "Of Mice and Men, Bromley tours of "Double Edge"
• Shock
• Bell, Book and Candle
• The Holow
• Murder on the Nile
• The Titfield Thunderbolt, Passport to Pimlico

References

External links

• Kate O'Mara at the Internet Movie Database

See also

• English actresses
• Cinema of the United Kingdom
• Television in the United Kingdom