Lynda Bellingham, OBE (31 May 1948 â€" 19 October 2014) was an English
actress, broadcaster and author. She acted in television series such
as All Creatures Great and Small, Doctor Who, Second Thoughts and
Faith in the Future. She was also known for her appearances as the
mother in the long-running series of "Oxo Family" British TV
advertisements between 1983 and 1999, and as a panellist on the ITV
lunchtime chat show Loose Women between 2007 and 2011.Bellingham was
born Meredith Hughes in Montreal to a single mother, but was given up
for adoption because she was born out of wedlock in a strict
church-going family. She was adopted at four months of age. Bellingham
was educated at Aylesbury High School and trained at the Central
School of Speech and Drama.Bellingham made her television début as a
nurse in an ITV afternoon soap opera of the 1970s, General Hospital.
Her early film credits included roles in Confessions of a Driving
Instructor (1976), Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers (1977) and Riding High
(1981) with Eddie Kidd. She also appeared in the comedy short The
Waterloo Bridge Handicap (1978) with Leonard Rossiter. Prior to her
brief role in Sweeney! (1977), the first big-screen adaptation of the
TV police drama series The Sweeney, she had appeared in the Sweeney
episode "Trojan Bus" (1975) in which she played Nancy King, accomplice
to two Australian robbers. In 1981, she appeared in the ITV
comedy-drama Funny Man set in the music hall of the late 1920s.Her
other roles included Helen Herriot in the James Herriot drama All
Creatures Great and Small (in which she was the second actress to play
the role on television, replacing Carol Drinkwater), the 1980 Andrea
Newman drama series Mackenzie, and the situation comedy Second
Thoughts and its sequel, Faith in the Future.
actress, broadcaster and author. She acted in television series such
as All Creatures Great and Small, Doctor Who, Second Thoughts and
Faith in the Future. She was also known for her appearances as the
mother in the long-running series of "Oxo Family" British TV
advertisements between 1983 and 1999, and as a panellist on the ITV
lunchtime chat show Loose Women between 2007 and 2011.Bellingham was
born Meredith Hughes in Montreal to a single mother, but was given up
for adoption because she was born out of wedlock in a strict
church-going family. She was adopted at four months of age. Bellingham
was educated at Aylesbury High School and trained at the Central
School of Speech and Drama.Bellingham made her television début as a
nurse in an ITV afternoon soap opera of the 1970s, General Hospital.
Her early film credits included roles in Confessions of a Driving
Instructor (1976), Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers (1977) and Riding High
(1981) with Eddie Kidd. She also appeared in the comedy short The
Waterloo Bridge Handicap (1978) with Leonard Rossiter. Prior to her
brief role in Sweeney! (1977), the first big-screen adaptation of the
TV police drama series The Sweeney, she had appeared in the Sweeney
episode "Trojan Bus" (1975) in which she played Nancy King, accomplice
to two Australian robbers. In 1981, she appeared in the ITV
comedy-drama Funny Man set in the music hall of the late 1920s.Her
other roles included Helen Herriot in the James Herriot drama All
Creatures Great and Small (in which she was the second actress to play
the role on television, replacing Carol Drinkwater), the 1980 Andrea
Newman drama series Mackenzie, and the situation comedy Second
Thoughts and its sequel, Faith in the Future.
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