Saturday 20 April 2019

Nicola Pagett

Nicola Pagett as Anna in the historical WWII adventure movie 'Operation Daybreak' (1975)


Nicola Pagett:

† June 15 1945 – March 3 2021

A very successful actress and a lasting English beauty, combining home counties pertness with the feline eyes of Sophia Loren, Nicola Pagett is possibly still best known for her role as Elizabeth Bellamy in 'Upstairs, Downstairs' the British primetime TV giant of the mid '70s. This came after a series of television appearances in memorable mod-era actioners such as 'Danger Man', 'Mr Rose', 'The Avengers', 'Man In A Suitcase' and 'The Persuaders'. These were interspersed with some serious television plays and historical dramas including a portrayal of the ultimate classical femme fatale, Messalina, in 'The Caesars'.        



In 'Danger Man', acting cute for Patrick McGoohan

With Christopher Matthews in 'Some Like It Sexy' (1969)

The 1977 TV adaptation of 'Anna Karenina'

The '80s and '90s saw her translate her sex siren persona into a series of sassy and sexy older women characters with her turn as Liz in David Nobbs' 'A Bit Of A Do' and two slightly similar Northern sitcoms: 'Ain't Misbehavin', written by 'Last Of The Summer Wine' creator Roy Clarke, and 'Up Rising' with Anton Rodgers. Neither seem to have been great successes.        



As Mary Queen of Scots in 'Anne Of A Thousand Days' (1969)

In the '90s adultery sitcom 'Ain't Misbehavin' with Peter Davison

Movie credits include 'The Viking Queen' (1967), 'Anne Of A Thousand Days' (1969), the Peter Sellers comedy 'There's A Girl In My Soup' (1970), 'Operation Daybreak' (1975), 'Privates On Parade' (1983) and 'An Awfully Big Adventure' (1995).    
Nicola Pagett-imdb

4 comments:

  1. Tragic mental health problems and an obsession surrounding Tony Blair (I think she believed he was god or something) saw her sectioned in the late 90s and her career curtailed

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    1. Yes, I hadn't realised quite how intense her bipolar problems were at that point. Hope she's managing better now.

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  2. Watching Operation Daybreak right now and had to find out a bit more about the beautiful Ms Pagett. Saddened to read she suffered such debilitating mental health problems.

    Like your blog so will revisit.

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  3. Excellent hard boiled performance in The Sweeney episode Stoppo Driver as a tougher-than-the-blokes member of a London crime family specialisng in high speed getaway blags.

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