Sandra Dickinson
Sandra Dickinson | |
|---|---|
 Dickinson as Trillian from the The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | |
| Born | Sandra Dickinson |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1970s-present |
| Spouse | Hugh Dickinson (1961-1965) Peter Davison (1978-1994) One child Mark Osmond (2009-present) |
Sandra Dickinson (born Sandra Searle[1] on 20 October 1948) is an American actress. She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London.[1] She has often played a dumb blonde with a high-pitched voice[2] in the UK – notably commencing in the St. Bruno TV advertisements in the early 1970s.
Credits
Her roles include:
- Trillian in the television version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Sandra Dickinson said in an interview in The Making of The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy that when she heard that she had been suggested for the role of Trillian, she thought it completely mad - Sandra Dickinson was blond and fair-skinned, and in the Hitch Hiker book, Trillian is described as dark and looking "slightly Arabic". However, during the screen test, Douglas Adams was sufficiently impressed with her acting skills that when Dickinson suggested wryly, "I've got to get my Union Jack lenses in" (i.e., practice my English accent), Douglas Adams asked her to use her natural voice and accent.[3] Dickinson later returned to the "Hitchhiker's" universe to play Tricia MacMillan in the fourth and fifth radio series produced by Above the Title for BBC Radio 4. - Emily in A Man for Emily in The Tomorrow People
- Tina in the sitcom 2point4 children
- A stage production of The Owl and the Pussycat, where the leads were herself and her then husband Peter Davison.
- Barefoot in the Park - London stage production from 1984, again with Davison as a pair of American newlyweds adjusting to life in their new high-rise apartment.
- A parallel universe version of Trillian (AKA Tricia McMillan) in the Quintessential Phase of the Hitch-Hiker's Guide radio series.
- Zelda in Cover, a 1981 drama series from Thames Television, set in a recruitment and testing agency for the spy service.
- Maggie in the 1996 Doctor Who BBC radio serial The Ghosts of N-Space.
Both Dickinson and then husband Peter Davison appeared together in former Doctor Who producer John Nathan-Turner's production of the holiday pantomime Cinderella in 1983.
Dickinson has also appeared in an episode of HBO's Tales from the Crypt series, also starring Malcolm McDowell as a neurotic vampire who prefers bloodbanks to actual victims.
She has played Queen Camilla in Carlisle pantomime production of Snow White & the Seven Dwarves in 2007, and in 2008 she played Fairy Godmother at the Towngate Theatre Basildon's production of Cinderella.
Played Lady Gloria Gransford in New Tricks Season 6 episode 4 "Shadow Show" in 2009
Personal life
Dickinson was born in Washington DC, and grew up in Maryland. Her father, Harold S. Searle, was a famous psychoanalyst and her mother a nurse. in 1969, Dickinson met her first husband, Englishman Hugh Dickinson (whose surname she still uses as her stage name), moving to England with him the following year. They were married for five years.[1] She married the English actor Peter Davison on 26 December 1978, and they were divorced in 1994. Together they composed and performed the theme tune to the 1980s children's programme Button Moon. They have a daughter, Georgia Moffett, born 25 December 1984 (who is also an actress), and a grandson, Tyler Moffett, born 27 March 2002.
Dickinson married her third husband, British actor Mark Osmond, on 16 August 2009. The wedding was filmed for a reality TV show where four couples compete to have theirs voted the best wedding. Her grandson gave her away. The wedding took place in Shepperton, where the couple have lived since 2007. [4] Dickinson became a British Citizen the same year, and also runs a theatre school there (which also has a base in Ealing) called the Close Up Theatre School.[5]
References
- ^ a b c "Daily Mail". Sandra Dickinson was bullied for her fair hair at school but her life turned around when she discovered mascara. Retrieved 5 September.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Women With High Pitch Voices are regarded as "sexier" (SUNY Albany)". Retrieved 2008-05-02.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185452/
- ^ "Staines News". Shepperton actress to wed in reality TV ceremony. Retrieved 17 August.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "The Bradford Telegraph". I'm going in on a wing and a prayer!. Retrieved 17 August.
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External links
- Please use a more specific IMDb template. See the documentation for available templates.
- BBC interview with Sandra Dickinson