Sandra Dickinson (née Searles; born October 20, 1948) is an American-British actress. She trained at the

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, commonly shortened to Central, is a drama school founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for ...

in London. She has often played characters within the trope of a dumb blonde with a high-pitched voice.

Early life

Dickinson was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

with her younger brother. Her father, Harold F. Searles, was a psychoanalyst. Her mother, Sylvia Manninen, of Finnish descent, was a nurse.

Career

She made her acting debut as a waitress in the 1973 British film '' The Final Programme''. She later played role of Trillian in the

TV series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

Douglas Adams Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author, humorist, and screenwriter, best known as the creator of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the ...

's ''

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' is a Science fiction comedy, comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), radio sitcom broadcast over two series on BBC ...

''. She has appeared in films including '' Superman III'', ''

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. Th ...

'', '' StagKnight'', '' Ready Player One'' and '' The Batman''. She has provided the American voice of Jemima Puddle-Duck in the British animated children's television series '' The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends'', the Voice Trumpets in the US dub of ''

Teletubbies ''Teletubbies'' is a British children's television series created by Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport for the BBC. The programme focuses on four differently coloured characters known as the Teletubbies, named after the television screens on t ...

'', Bitchin' Betty in the 1996 film '' Space Truckers'', and Chico in '' Counterfeit Cat''. She was also an occasional guest panellist on the BBC quiz show '' Blankety Blank'' in the early 1980s. She has made guest appearances on shows, such as '' Philip Marlowe, Private Eye'', ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'', ''

New Tricks ''New Tricks'' is a British television police procedural comedy drama, created by Nigel McCrery and Roy Mitchell, produced primarily by Wall to Wall (until its final year, when it was handled by Headstrong Pictures), and broadcast on BBC On ...

'', ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a Spin-off (media), spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' ...

'', ''

Uncle An uncle is usually defined as a male relative who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent, as well as the parent of the cousins. Uncles who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. The female counterpart of an un ...

'', ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

'' and '' White Van Man''.

Personal life

Dickinson married actor

Peter Davison Peter Malcolm Gordon Moffett (born 13 April 1951), known professionally as Peter Davison, is an English actor. He made his television acting debut in 1975 and became famous in 1978 as Tristan Farnon in the BBC's television adaptation of Jame ...

on December 26, 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 Tennant, who is also an actress. Dickinson married her third husband, another British actor and singer, Mark Osmond, on August 16, 2009. The wedding was filmed for '' Four Weddings'', a reality TV show where four couples compete to have theirs voted the best wedding; hers came third. Osmond is the lead singer of the band Bigger Than Mary, who played at the wedding. Her grandson,

Ty Tennant Ty Peter Tennant ( Martin-Moffett; born 27 March 2002) is an English actor and musician. He is known for his roles as Tom Gresham in the science fiction series ''War of the Worlds (2019 TV series), War of the Worlds'' (2019–2022) and young Ae ...

, gave her away. The wedding took place in Shepperton, where the couple lived at the time. Dickinson became a British citizen the same year. With her husband, she runs the Shepperton-based stage school Close Up Theatre School.

Filmography

TV

Film

Other acting and voice roles

Dickinson and then husband

appeared together in ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' producer

John Nathan-Turner John Turner (12 August 1947 – 1 May 2002), known professionally as John Nathan-Turner, was an English television producer. He was the ninth producer of the long-running BBC science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' and the final producer of the ...

's production of the holiday

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

'' in 1983. They also appeared in a stage production of ''

The Owl and the Pussycat "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat" is a nonsense verse, nonsense poem by Edward Lear, first published in 1870 in the American magazine ''Our Young Folks'' and again the following year in Lear's own book ''Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets ...

'', and ''

Barefoot in the Park ''Barefoot in the Park'' is a romantic comedy stage play by Neil Simon. The play premiered on Broadway in 1963, starring Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley. It was made into a film in 1967, which starred Redford and Jane Fonda. Productions ...

'', a London stage production from 1984, as a pair of American newlyweds adjusting to life in their new high-rise apartment. In 1997, she played Eunice Hubbel in Peter Hall's production of ''

A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pe ...

'' at Theatre Royal, Haymarket. She played Queen Camilla in a Carlisle pantomime production of ''Snow White & the Seven Dwarves'' in 2007, and the following year played the Fairy Godmother at the Towngate Theatre, Basildon's production of ''Cinderella'', reprising the role in the 2009

Harlow Harlow is a town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a Planned community, new town in 1947, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire, and occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the ...

Playhouse theatre production of ''Cinderella'' alongside her now-husband, Mark Osmond. From December 18, 2010, to January 9, 2011, Dickinson played the evil Queen Maleficent in the pantomime ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' at the

Corn Exchange A corn exchange is a building where merchants trade grains. The word "corn" in British English denotes all cereal grains, such as wheat and barley; in the United States these buildings were called grain exchanges. Such trade was common in towns ...

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

. From December 13, 2014, to January 4, 2015, Dickinson played Queen Whoppa in the pantomime ''Jack and the Beanstalk ''at Exeter Corn Exchange. She played Debbie in '' White Van Man'' series 1, episode 5 "Honest", first broadcast on April 12, 2011. The series stars her daughter Georgia Tennant. In ''

The Amazing World of Gumball ''The Amazing World of Gumball'' (also known simply as ''Gumball'' or by its abbreviation ''TAWOG''; retitled ''The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball'' beginning with its The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball, seventh season) is an animated si ...

'' Dickinson provides many voices including those of Granny Jojo, Mrs. Jotunheim, Karen, Felicity Parham, and the cupcake woman. She is the voice of Grandma Tracey in the 2015 '' Thunderbirds'' revival. In 2014, Dickinson understudied

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American actress, producer, and singer. In a career spanning 80 years, she played various roles on stage and screen. Among her numerous accolades wer ...

in the West End production of '' Blithe Spirit'' – co-starring Simon Jones, with whom she had worked on ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' – but she never got to perform Madame Arcati, other than in the public understudy run, as Lansbury did not miss a single performance.

References

External links

*
BBC interview with Sandra Dickinson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickinson, Sandra Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 20th-century British actresses 21st-century British actresses Actresses from Washington, D.C. Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama American emigrants to England American expatriate actresses American expatriates in England American film actresses American stage actresses American people of Finnish descent American television actresses American voice actresses British film actresses British television actresses British people of Finnish descent British voice actresses Davison–Tennant family 1948 births Actresses from Maryland