Alexandra Bastedo
Encyclopedia
Alexandra Bastedo is a British actress, best-known for her role as secret agent Sharron Macready in the 1968 British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
/science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
adventure series The Champions
The Champions
The Champions is a British espionage/science fiction/occult detective fiction adventure series consisting of 30 episodes broadcast on the UK network ITV during 1968–1969, produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company...
. She has been cited as a sex symbol of the 1960s and 1970s.
Professional life
According to her official website, her mother is of FrenchFrench people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
, German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
and Italian descent. Her Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
-born father is of Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
, Dutch, Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
and native India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n extraction. She attended Brighton and Hove High School
Brighton and Hove High School
Brighton & Hove High School is an independent day school for girls aged 3 – 18 in the city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England.Founded in 1876, the school has expanded from being a very small school for less than twenty pupils to its present size of taking some 700 students...
and Worthing
Worthing
Worthing is a large seaside town with borough status in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, forming part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation. It is situated at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester...
School of Drama. Her husband is the director Patrick Garland
Patrick Garland
thumb|right|200pxPatrick Garland is a British actor, writer, and director.Garland started Poetry International in 1963 with Ted Hughes and Charles Osborne. He was a director and producer for the BBC's Music and Arts Department , and worked on its Monitor series...
, noted for his direction of the Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre, located in Chichester, England, was designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, and opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. Subsequently the smaller and more intimate Minerva Theatre was built nearby in 1989....
, whom she married in 1980.
Bastedo gained fame in the continent earning her the nickname, "La Bastedo". Although most familiar to viewers of 1960s TV, she was also famous for her multilingual skills, speaking Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. This skill brought her to the door of 10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street, colloquially known in the United Kingdom as "Number 10", is the headquarters of Her Majesty's Government and the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury, who is now always the Prime Minister....
to assist with translations and landed her the role of co-presenter of Miss World
Miss World
The Miss World pageant is the oldest surviving major international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951...
competitions with Peter Marshall
Peter Marshall (UK broadcaster)
Peter Marshall is an Irish broadcaster, educated at St. Columb's College in Derry.-Early life:Having originally intended to train as a teacher, he started his working life as an actor, studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.-Television:In 1967 he became an announcer at...
in the 1980s. In the early 1990s she appeared in an episode of Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous, also known as Ab Fab, is a British sitcom created by Jennifer Saunders, based on an original idea by her and Dawn French, and written by Saunders, who plays the leading character. It also stars Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha, along with June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks...
playing a 1960s model associate of Edina and Patsy. In 1991 she appeared in a notable production of the psychological thriller Dangerous Obsession
Dangerous Obsession
Dangerous Obsession is a psychological thriller written by N. J. Crisp which premièred at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley on 9 November 1987.Crisp's play was filmed in 1999 as Darkness Falls, starring Ray Winstone, Tim Dutton and Sherilyn Fenn...
by N.J. Crisp, opposite Marc Sinden
Marc Sinden
Marc Sinden is an English theatre producer, documentary director and actor. His father is the actor Sir Donald Sinden.-Theatre:...
and John Challis
John Challis
John Challis is an English actor.-Career:He is probably best known for his role as Terrance Aubrey "Boycie" Boyce in the long running comedy show Only Fools and Horses, and its 2005 spin-off, The Green Green Grass....
, at The Mill at Sonning.
Private life
In an interview on the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television series Where Are They Now? Bastedo provided a glimpse into her private life. She used to be the president of her local RSPCA
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a charity in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. In 2009 the RSPCA investigated 141,280 cruelty complaints and collected and rescued 135,293 animals...
branch, but gave up her position in 2008 so she could dedicate more time to her own fast growing animal sanctuary at her home in West Chiltington
West Chiltington
West Chiltington is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the Storrington to Broadford Bridge road, 2.6 miles north of Storrington.The parish covers an area of 1733 hectares...
, West Sussex. A journalist, who interviewed her husband in 2010, described their domestic surroundings:
[W]e sit in his Sussex garden looking towards a small lake with a jetty and a battered rowing boat - a perfect pastoral scene which could be a stage set. He lives with his wife, the actress Alexandra Bastedo, who remains startlingly beautiful, a couple of Dobermans, some territorial cats, and a menagerie of horses, donkeys, pigs and goats - Bastedo runs an animal sanctuary. Garland's domain is largely inside the house where he closes doors to keep animals out of rooms lined with 12,000 books.
Bastedo wrote a memoir, Beware Dobermanns, Donkeys and Ducks, as well as several books on caring for cats and dogs.
Later work
In 2006 Bastedo was reunited for the first time with her co-stars from The ChampionsThe Champions
The Champions is a British espionage/science fiction/occult detective fiction adventure series consisting of 30 episodes broadcast on the UK network ITV during 1968–1969, produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company...
to provide commentaries and an interview for a DVD release of the show. Still working as an actress, she appeared in Batman Begins
Batman Begins
Batman Begins is a 2005 American superhero action film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman, directed by Christopher Nolan. It stars Christian Bale as Batman, along with Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Ken Watanabe, Tom Wilkinson,...
, and touring theatres in 2006 with a production of Beyond Reasonable Doubt alongside Leslie Grantham
Leslie Grantham
Leslie Michael Grantham is an English actor best known for his role as "Dirty" Den Watts in the soap opera EastEnders. He is also a convicted murderer, having served 10 years for the killing of a German taxi driver, and he generated significant press coverage as the result of an online sex scandal...
and Simon Ward
Simon Ward
Simon Ward is an English stage and film actor.-Early life:Simon Ward was born in Beckenham, Kent, near London, the son of a car dealer. From an early age he wanted to be an actor. He was educated at Alleyn's School, London, the home of the National Youth Theatre, which he joined at age 13 and...
. In 2008 she joined the cast of EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
playing "Cynthia". In January 2008 she appeared as co-presenter (with Ed Stewart
Ed Stewart
Ed Stewart is a radio broadcaster from England. His real name is Edward Mainwaring but he is known by the nickname Ed Stewpot Stewart.-Early life and career:...
) of 'The Magic of Mantovani' at Lighthouse, Poole. The success of this concert led, the following year, to a second concert at Lighthouse in Poole, with the Mantovani Orchestra
Mantovani
Annunzio Paolo Mantovani known as Mantovani, was an Anglo-Italian conductor and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The book British Hit Singles & Albums states that he was "Britain's most successful album act before The Beatles .....
, which she again co-presented.
Cancer
Bastedo is a breast cancerBreast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
survivor. Her younger brother, Lindsay, died following a long battle with cancer.
Filmography
- 13 Frightened Girls (aka The Candy Web) (1963)
- The LiquidatorThe Liquidator (film)The Liquidator is a 1965 MGM film starring Rod Taylor as Brian "Boysie" Oakes, Trevor Howard as his Intelligence Chief Mostyn and Jill St. John as Mostyn's secretary Iris MacIntosh. It was based on the first of a series of Boysie Oakes novels by John Gardner, The Liquidator.-Plot:The film follows...
(1966) - Doctor in CloverDoctor in CloverDoctor in Clover is a British comedy film released in 1966, starring Leslie Phillips. The film is based on the novel by Richard Gordon.The film was shot in Carnaby Street, Wormwood Scrubs and Pinewood Studios.-Synopsis:...
(1966) - That Riviera TouchThat Riviera TouchThat Riviera Touch was the second feature-length film made by the comedy duo Morecambe and Wise.- Plot :After Eric Simpson nearly gives the Queen a parking ticket, he and Ernest Clark decide to take a holiday in the South of France...
(1966) - The Haunted Man (1966)
- The Head Waiter (1966) (TV)
- Casino RoyaleCasino Royale (1967 film)Casino Royale is a 1967 comedy spy film originally produced by Columbia Pictures starring an ensemble cast of directors and actors. It is set as a satire of the James Bond film series and the spy genre, and is loosely based on Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel.The film stars David Niven as the...
(1967) - The ChampionsThe ChampionsThe Champions is a British espionage/science fiction/occult detective fiction adventure series consisting of 30 episodes broadcast on the UK network ITV during 1968–1969, produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company...
(1968–69) (TV series) - A Promise of Bed (1969)
- I Can't... I Can't (1969)
- Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)Randall and Hopkirk , first transmitted during 1969-70, is a British private detective television series starring Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope as the private detectives Jeff Randall and Marty Hopkirk, respectively. The series was originally created by Dennis Spooner and produced by Monty Berman...
(Whoever Heard of a Ghost Dying?Whoever Heard of a Ghost Dying?Whoever Heard of a Ghost Dying? is the eighth episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 9 November 1969 on ITV...
) (1969) - Tibetana (1970)
- Codename (1970) (TV series)
- My Lover My Son (1970)
- From a Bird's Eye ViewFrom a Bird's Eye ViewFrom A Bird's Eye View was a 1970 ATV and ITC Entertainment co-produced sitcom. In the United States it aired on NBC.The series followed two International Airlines stewardesses, a scatterbrained Briton and a savvy American, as they flew the London-European routes...
TV episode "Sicillian Affair" (1970) - The Blood Spattered BrideThe Blood Spattered BrideThe Blood Spattered Bride is a 1972 Spanish horror film written and directed by Vicente Aranda, based on the vampire story, "Carmilla" by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. It stars Simón Andreu, Maribel Martín, and Alexandra Bastedo.The film has reached cult status for its mix of horror, vampirism and...
(1972) (Spanish title: La Novia Ensangrentada) - Odio mi cuerpo (1974)
- Tu dios y mi infierno (1975)
- The GhoulThe Ghoul (1975 film)The Ghoul is a 1975 British horror film starring Peter Cushing, Veronica Carlson and John Hurt.-Plot:The Ghoul tells the story of a group of upper class people in 1920s England who take part in an automobile race to Land's End, but due to accidents along the way, all end up on a rural estate owned...
(1975) - El Clan de los Nazarenos (1975)
- The Man Inside (1976)
- Find the Lady (1976)
- El Mirón (1977)
- Cabo de vara (1978)
- The Aphrodite Inheritance (1979) (mini series)
- A Choice of Two (1981)
- Estigma (1982)
- Legend of the Champions (1983) (TV)
- Draw! (1984) (TV)
- La Veritat oculta (1987)
- Absolutely FabulousAbsolutely FabulousAbsolutely Fabulous, also known as Ab Fab, is a British sitcom created by Jennifer Saunders, based on an original idea by her and Dawn French, and written by Saunders, who plays the leading character. It also stars Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha, along with June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks...
: Fat (1992) - Batman BeginsBatman BeginsBatman Begins is a 2005 American superhero action film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman, directed by Christopher Nolan. It stars Christian Bale as Batman, along with Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Ken Watanabe, Tom Wilkinson,...
(2005) - EastEndersEastEndersEastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
(2008–2009)