Actors - Stephanie Beacham

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	Actors - Stephanie Beacham

Stephanie Beacham (born February 28, 1947) is a British actress, best known worldwide for her roles as Sable Colby on the television series The Colbys and Dynasty, and as Dr. Kristin Westphalen on the series seaQuest DSV.

After a number of decorous supporting roles Beacham's first starring film role was opposite Marlon Brando in 1972's The Nightcomers directed by Michael Winner. However the film was made at the low point of Brando's career and flopped. Beacham found the filming unpleasant as she is deaf in one ear and as a prank Brando would pretend to be deaf on the same side. She appeared nude in the film which earned her a reputation as a screen sex kitten that she played on and was cast as Jessica Van Helsing in Hammer's Dracula A.D. 1972 alongside Peter Cushing as well as modelling nude for Playboy. In the late 1990's Graham Norton presented her with a copy of the issue and she said her only regret was the wig. Beacham starred in a risque Italian made film in which she again appeared nude in 1973.

Following the success of Jackie Collins' The Bitch, which starred the author's elder sister, actress Joan Collins, Beacham's film was re-released in the UK in the late 1970s under the title Super Bitch and regained Beacham attention. Other genre movies include And Now the Screaming Starts (1973), House of Mortal Sin (1974), Schizo (1976) and Inseminoid
(1981).

In the early 1980s, Beacham appeared in the BBC television drama series Tenko (as Rose Millar) and then played the title role in the ITV series Connie. It was on the strength of her performance in the latter series that Beacham came to the United States in 1985, having been offered the role of Sable in The Colbys, a spin-off from the soap opera Dynasty, which lasted two years.

In 1988, she was invited to reprise the role on Dynasty. However, Dynasty was beginning to show its age and the show was cancelled a year after Beacham's arrival.

After the series, Beacham completely reversed herself and the kind of role she had become known for. Instead of playing another glamorous bitch like Sable Colby, she was cast in the series Sister Kate, as a nun taking care of children in an orphanage. The series lasted for one season and was cancelled in 1990. She then returned to Britain to play Mrs. Peacock in an ITV game show version of the board game Cluedo (1990).

In 1993, Beacham signed on to play Dr. Kristin Westphalen in the NBC series seaQuest DSV produced by Steven Spielberg. Her character was the chief oceanographer and medical doctor for the seaQuest, a submarine commanded by Capt. Nathan Bridger (played by Roy Scheider) in the year 2018. The show got off to a rocky start but slowly built an audience throughout its first season. However, by the end of season one, tensions between producers and writers led to a major overhaul of the show's premise. The network decided to move away from its scientific roots in favor of more sci-fi/fantasy-based stories. Several actors were let go, and Beacham declined to sign on for another season. The show quickly fell to the bottom of the ratings during season two, as most fans felt they had made too many changes and the stories had become insipid.

After her roles on seaQuest DSV and in the film Wedding Bell Blues, Beacham returned to Britain and can now be seen on the drama Bad Girls, although there are rumours Stephanie's character Phyl Oswyn may bow out during the eighth series of the show, which is currently in production. The upcoming season of the show will mark Stephanie's fourth series as Phyl, an unusually long stint on a television show for Stephanie.

In real life, Beacham is almost completely deaf. Another snippet of trivia is that Stephanie goes by the nickname of "Glamma".

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