Upstairs, Downstairs star Nicola Pagett has died at the age of 75 from a brain tumour.
The actress died “suddenly of a brain tumour” on March 3 after “stoically dealing with her illness,” according to the Guardian.
She was best known for playing Elizabeth Bellamy, the daughter of Richard and Lady Marjorie in 1970s series Upstairs, Downstairs.
The hit series followed the lives of the servants and their masters in a lavish townhouse in Belgravia, London, during the 1900s.
Speaking about her famous role: “There weren’t any stars really — that was the beauty of it. Everyone had an equal importance in the thing.
Nicola starred as Elizabeth Bellamy in the hit series Upstairs, Downstairs (Image: Reuters)
“The product was more important than the people in it in those days. So, if it was a success, it was a success because everyone in it was good rather than because the actor in it was well known.”
During the series, Pagett’s character Elizabeth married poet Lawrence Kirbridge, who wasn’t interested in having sex, leading her to have an affair with his publisher and falling pregnant.
Nicola left the show after two series and went on to star in many hit films (Image: Getty Images)
She left after the second series as Nicola didn’t want to be known for just one role.
Nicola also starred in telefilm Frankenstein: The True Story as Elizabeth Fanschawe, and as Anna Karenina in the 1977 miniseries.
She also went on to star in hit films like Operation: Daybreak, There’s a Girl in My Soup, and An Awfully Big Adventure.
She was born in Cairo in 1945, and later attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, where she starred on a stage tour of La Contessa opposite Vivien Leigh.
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Nicola suffered from manic depression and became obsessed with Alastair Campbell (Image: ExpressStar)
Her final stage appearance was in National Theatre in 1995 for a revival of Joe Orton’s black comedy What the Butler Saw with David Tennant and Richard Wilson.
Nicola also opened up about battling manic depression during her later life, after becoming obsessed with the then prime minister’s chief press secretary, in her 1997 book, Diamond Behind My Ears.
After seeing Tony Blair’s press secretary Alastair Campbell, she went to send hundreds of love letters to him, calling him “The Stranger”.
Believing it was under Campbell’s instruction, she also falsely accused her then-husband Graham of an incestuous relationship with their 15-year-old daughter and feeding her heroin.
The actress’ recovery was “partial”, with “some days being better than ever,” the Guardian claimed.
She lived alone in south-west London with her two Persian cats.
She is survived by her daughter Eve, who she shared with ex-husband Graham Swannell, who she was married to from 1975 to 1997.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
