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Tag: British actresses

  • Kate O’Mara: British Actress of ‘Dynasty’ Dies at 74

    British actress Kate O’Mara passed away Sunday at a nursing home in Sussex, England.

    Her agent, Phil Belfield, confirmed in a written statement that O’Mara died from an unspecified illness.

    “Kate O’Mara passed away peacefully today at a nursing home in Sussex after a short Illness,” he wrote. “She was a delight to know and an extraordinary woman and actress with a passion for Shakespeare and stage acting.”

    Born Frances Meredith Carroll on August 10, 1939 in Leicester, England, O’Mara was the daughter of John Carroll and actress Hazel Bainbridge.

    At age 24, she left her career as a speech therapist and appeared in her first stage play, The Merchant of Venice, in 1963.

    She went on to appear in a number of classical stage productions until she started to land TV roles.

    O’Mara was best known for her American acting role as Cassandra ‘Caress’ Morrell, the sister of Alexis Colby-portrayed by actress Joan Collins-in the 1981 ABC prime-time soap opera Dynasty.

    The cunning, but beautiful Caress didn’t make her appearance until 1986 and was an essential part of the show for one season.

    O’Mara played a character who was always in a typical feud with her sister Alexis, who often won most of their sibling battles.

    Besides Dynasty, O’Mara has depicted roles in other British TV series including Doctor Who (1963), The Brothers (1972), and English soap opera Crossroads (2001). Big film roles like The Horror of Frankenstein (1970) also showed the spooky and dark side of her acting talent.

    Additionally, the British performer had a talent for writing. She published two books: “When She Was Bad” (1991) and “Good Time Girl” (1993).

    The brunette beauty was quite aware at the time that her looks were always a big part of her acting career. 

    She had previously stated in an interview that she planned to turn in her acting hat once her “sell-by date” ran its course.

    Nevertheless, O’Mara continued to act in theatre performances up until her death.

    In 2012 she appeared in Death of the Nile and most recently in her own original stage production, An Evening with Kate O’Mara, at the West End Theater in London.

    O’Mara is survived by her sister and actress Belinda Carroll.

    She was 74 years old.

    Images via YouTube

  • Kate Winslet Names Son “Bear Blaze”

    Kate Winslet Names Son “Bear Blaze”

    Bear Blaze Winslet is not your typical name, but then again 38-year-old Kate Winslet is not your typical mother. The world-famous movie star, who recently was honored with her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, spoke about the efforts involved in choosing the memorable, and rather unique name for the most recent addition to her family.

    Winslet was inspired to name her baby after a dear friend. “He [my friend] was very much a bear, he was everybody’s shoulder to cry on, he was a big bear hug. He was just this great figure in my life,” Winslet explained during an interview on The Ellen Show.

    The actress went on to speak about the family collaboration involved during the process of deciding upon the perfect name. “When I was pregnant with Mia and I was pregnant with Joe, I didn’t name them before they came out because I always felt like I just have to see them and see who they’re going to be, but of course this time around, there’s Mia and Joe and the whole pregnancy’s about what are we going to call the baby. They were very much included, and we settled on Bear quite early on.” Winslet said before adding, “Bear’s second name is Blaze because my husband and I met in a house fire [while vacationing at Richard Branson’s Caribbean home] basically. The house burnt down and we survived, but we wanted something of the fire, and so Blaze was the name that we came up with.”

    Bear Blaze is Kate’s first child with husband Ned Rocknroll; however, the talented actress has two other children (Mia and Joe) with her previous husbands, Jim Threapleton and Sam Mendes.

    Winslet spoke about the struggles involved in balancing motherhood while managing a successful movie career. “When Bear, my son, was 6 weeks old, they said, ‘We need you. We have a few days of reshoots to do.’ And I said, ‘Are you high?!’ Like, how am I going to do this? But somehow you do. You just make it work,” she said.

    Image Via Wikimedia Commons