Quick Facts
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Stephanie Bidmead (29 January 1929 – 22 September 1974) was a British stage and television actress.
Early life
She was born in Kidderminster. She attended Kidderminster High School for Girls, a girls' grammar school, now part of King Charles I School since 1977.
Career
She was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company in the late 1950s, and played in Peter Brook's 1957 production of The Tempest and in 1959 played opposite Charles Laughton in King Lear and A Midsummer Night's Dream.
She began to work in television during the 1960s, with credits in Doctor Who, and Adam Adamant Lives!. In the Doctor Who serial Galaxy 4 she played the Drahvin leader Maaga.
In 1972 she played the lead role of Queen Elizabeth I in Robert Bolt's play Vivat! Vivat Regina! in the Birmingham Rep production.
Personal life
She had two sons with Moravian theater designer Henry Bardon. She was diagnosed with anterior horn cell myelitis and died on 22 September 1974 at the age of 45.
