Isabelle Harriet Lucas (3 December 1927 – 24 February 1997) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

-born

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

actress and singer.

Life and career

Isabelle Lucas was born in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada, to a chef from

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...

who worked on the Canadian Pacific Railway. Lucas acted in amateur productions as a teenager in Toronto. She moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1954 after performing in amateur productions in Toronto. She made her first West End appearance in the show ''The Jazz Train'' in 1955. She also performed in ''Walk a Crooked Mile'' (1959) and '' Funny Girl''. She appeared in film and television roles during the 1950s and 1960s, including ''

Miracle in Soho ''Miracle in Soho'' is a 1957 British drama film directed by Julian Amyes and starring John Gregson, Belinda Lee and Cyril Cusack. The film depicts the lives of the inhabitants of a small street in Soho and the romance between a local road-b ...

'' (1957). Lucas's first major television role was in '' The Fosters'' (broadcast on ITV between 9 April 1976 and 9 July 1977), the first British sitcom to have an all-Black cast, in which she played the part of Pearl Foster, wife of

Norman Beaton Norman Lugard Beaton (31 October 1934 – 13 December 1994) was a Guyanese actor long resident in the United Kingdom. He became best known for his role as Desmond Ambrose in the Channel Four television comedy series ''Desmond's''. The writer S ...

's lead character."The Fosters"
The British Blacklist. Following this series she appeared in several minor British dramas and films. In 1985 she appeared in '' EastEnders''. At the end of the 1980s she joined the long-running

BBC Schools BBC Schools, also known as BBC for Schools and Colleges, is the educational programming strand set up by the BBC in 1957, broadcasting a range of educational programmes for children aged 5–16. From launch until June 1983, programming was based o ...

' show '' You and Me'', and remained with it as a presenter until it finished in 1992. Lucas made several guest appearances in ''

May to December ''May to December'' is a British sitcom which ran for 39 episodes, from 2 April 1989 to 27 May 1994 on BBC1. The series was created by Paul Mendelson and produced by Cinema Verity. The series was nominated for the BAFTA award for "Best Televi ...

'' from 1989 to 1992. Also in 1989 she appeared as Gertrude in the

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

series '' Bluebirds''. Her career ended in 1994 after an appearance in '' Mama Lou''. Lucas died in 1997 after a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Isabelle 1927 births 1997 deaths 20th-century Canadian actresses 20th-century English actresses 20th-century English singers Actresses from Toronto Black Canadian actresses Canadian emigrants to England Canadian expatriate actresses in the United Kingdom Canadian expatriates in England Canadian people of Barbadian descent English musical theatre actresses English people of Barbadian descent English television actresses Singers from Toronto 20th-century English women singers 20th-century Canadian women singers

Life and career

References

Further reading

External links