Kate O'Mara

Kate O'Mara (born Frances Meredith Carroll; 10 August 1939 – 30 March 2014) was an English film, stage and television actress, and writer. O'Mara made her stage debut in a 1963 production of The Merchant of Venice. Her other stage roles included Elvira in Blithe Spirit (1974), Katherina in The Taming of the Shrew (1978 and 1982), Lady Macbeth in Macbeth (1982), Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra (1982), Goneril in King Lear (1987), and Marlene Dietrich in Lunch with Marlene (2008). In the cinema, O'Mara acted in two 1970 Hammer Horror films: The Vampire Lovers and The Horror of Frankenstein. On BBC television, she had regular roles in The Brothers (1975–1976), Triangle (1981–1982) and Howards' Way (1989–1990), and portrayed Doctor Who villain The Rani three times (1985, 1987, 1993). She also appeared as Jackie Stone in two episodes of the sitcom Absolutely Fabulous (1995–2003) and as Virginia O'Kane in four episodes of the prison drama Bad Girls (2001). On American television, she played Caress Morell, the scheming sister of Alexis Colby in the primetime soap opera Dynasty (1986).