Short Biography

Stephanie Michel Beacham (born 28 February 1947) is an English actress.

Beacham, one of four children, was born in Barnet, North London, England, the daughter of Joan, a homemaker, and a father who was an insurance executive and the managing director of the Grosvenor estate. Shortly after birth, she was diagnosed as being completely deaf in her right ear as her mother had contracted chicken pox during her pregnancy. She has about 75% of normal hearing capacity in her left ear. After leaving her girls` state school, Convent of the Sacred Heart, Beacham travelled to France and studied mime with Etienne St Creux before attending RADA. Her initial goal was to teach dance movement to deaf children. She began a career in modelling and then was cast for several parts in films.

After many appearances in television shows such as The Saint and Jason King, Beacham`s first major film role was opposite Marlon Brando in 1971`s The Nightcomers directed by Michael Winner. The film was made during a lull in Brando`s career and was a flop, though Beacham received a great deal of attention for appearing nude in her love scenes with Brando. She was subsequently cast as Jessica Van Helsing in Hammer`s Dracula AD 1972 alongside Peter Cushing.

Beacham`s next role was as a repertory player with the Nottingham Playhouse, where she played several lead and feature roles, including the role of Nora in the Henrik Ibsen play A Doll`s House. In 1973, she played Georgina Layton in Thames Television`s first daytime drama Marked Personal. The same year, she made an Itialian film; Si può essere più bastardi dell`ispettore Cliff? The film was released in the US in 1977 as Mafia Junction and in the UK as Blue Movie Blackmail. It was later released on home video, now retitled Super Bitch as the producers of the film attempted to capitalise on the success of the Joan Collins film The Bitch. (A decade later Collins` success in Dynasty would be followed by Beacham in the spinoff series The Colbys.) Other genre movies Beacham made included And Now the Screaming Starts (1973), House of Mortal Sin (1974), Schizo (1976) and Inseminoid (1981). A number of roles in theater and episodic television followed during the late 1970s and 1980s. Beacham also featured as a member of the ensemble cast of the BBC series Tenko (1981-82), as well as playing the lead in the ITV series Connie (1985).

Following this, Beacham went onto one of her most well-remembered roles as the devious matriarch Sable Colby on the television series The Colbys. The Colbys was a spin-off series of the opulent primetime soap Dynasty which had been the no.1 show in the US that year, and Beacham was cast opposite Charlton Heston as the tentpole couple of the new show. However, The Colbys never experienced the success of its parent show, and was cancelled after only two seasons. The show`s brief popularity led to Playboy uncovering a forgotten nude pictorial Beacham did in 1972 which was published in the February 1987 issue. In 1988, Beacham was invited to reprise the role of Sable on Dynasty, now playing opposite Joan Collins in a season-long "battle of the bitches" scenario, but the show was nearing the end of its run and it too was cancelled the following year.

After the series finished, Beacham landed the lead role in the children`s fantasy film The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, playing an evil governess. In contrast to this, she was then cast in the series Sister Kate in which , att

Miscellaneous Information

Distinctive Features

Correct Birthday 28th February

Friends and Family

Chloe Mcenery (2nd daughter by ex husband John Mcenery)

Phoebe Ann Penny nee McEnery (Eldest daugther by ex husband John Mcenery has 1 son Jude.)

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