Elizabeth Shepherd (born 12 August 1936) is an English character actress whose long career has encompassed the stage and both the big and small screens. Her television work has been especially prolific. Shepherd's surname has been variously rendered as "Shephard" and "Sheppard".

Career

Shepherd began acting in television series in 1959. In 1960, she appeared in an

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

A. J. Cronin Archibald Joseph Cronin (19 July 1896 – 6 January 1981), known as A. J. Cronin, was a Scottish physician and novelist. His best-known novel is ''The Citadel'' (1937), about a Scottish doctor who serves in a Welsh mining village before achievi ...

's novel, ''

The Citadel The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one of six senior military colleges in the United States. ...

''. She was the original choice to play Emma Peel in the 1960s

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

series '' The Avengers''. However, after filming nearly two episodes, Shepherd left the production and was replaced by

Diana Rigg Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg (20 July 193810 September 2020) was an English actress of stage and screen. Her roles include Emma Peel in the TV series '' The Avengers'' (1965–1968); Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, wife of James Bond, in ''On H ...

. In 1970, she appeared on Broadway in Barry England's ''

Conduct Unbecoming Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman (or conduct unbecoming for short) is an offense that is subject to court martial in the armed forces of some nations. Use in the United Kingdom The phrase was used as a charge in courts martial of t ...

'', a story of the British Army in Kipling's India, as Mrs Hasseltine. She was praised for her performance in ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' magazine. Shepherd was pictured in ''Time'' along with her co-stars, the pop singers

Jeremy Clyde Michael Jeremy Thomas Clyde (born 22 March 1941) is an English actor and musician. During the 1960s, he was one-half of the folk duo Chad & Jeremy (with Chad Stuart), who had little success in the UK, but were an object of interest to American ...

and Paul Jones, who began their roles as British subalterns in London during 1969. In film she appeared as both Lady Rowena and Ligeia in Roger Corman's '' The Tomb of Ligeia'' (1964), as well as in '' Damien: Omen II'' as the ill-fated reporter Joan Hart, '' The Kidnapping of the President'', ''

Deadly Companion ''Deadly Companion'' (also known as ''Double Negative'') is a 1980 Canadian thriller film based on the novel '' The Three Roads'' by Ross Macdonald. Plot Michael Taylor, played by Michael Sarrazin, is tormented by his sheer lack of memory conce ...

'' and '' Amelia''. Her TV work includes the cult series ''

The Corridor People ''The Corridor People'' is a British television series that was produced by Granada Television for the ITV network in 1966, devised and written by Edward Boyd. A surreal black-and-white detective series, ''The Corridor People'' pitched security ...

'' (1966), the 1978 miniseries '' The Bastard'', and '' The Cleopatras'', a BBC historical drama. Elizabeth Shepherd has acted in numerous stage plays in both Shakespearean and contemporary dramas. As well as teaching drama at the Stella Adler school, she starred in "December Fools" in 2006 at the Abingdon Theater in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. In 2014, she starred in a Canadian production of ''Driving Miss Daisy''. An article in the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and par ...

'' reported an incident of Shepherd being a victim of

identity theft Identity theft occurs when someone uses another person's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. The term ''identity theft'' was c ...

and

mortgage fraud Mortgage fraud refers to an intentional misstatement, misrepresentation, or omission of information relied upon by an underwriter or lender to fund, purchase, or insure a loan secured by real property. Criminal offenses may be prosecuted in eith ...

in 2006. In 2019 she released an

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

's ''Ligeia'' along with other Poe tales. The CD has been met with critical acclaim.

Filmography

*'' The Queen's Guards'' (1961) - Susan *'' What Every Woman Wants'' (1962) - Sue Goodwin *'' Blind Corner'' (1964) - Joan Marshall *'' The Tomb of Ligeia'' (1964) - The Lady Rowena Trevanion / The Lady Ligeia *'' Hell Boats'' (1970) - Alison *''

The Duchess of Duke Street ''The Duchess of Duke Street'' is a BBC television drama series set in London between the late 1800s and 1925. It was created by John Hawkesworth, previously the producer of the ITV period drama '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. It starred Gemma ...

'' (1976) - Series 1, episode 7 - Diana Strickland *'' Damien: Omen II'' (1978) - Joan Hart *''

'' (1980) - Frances *'' The Kidnapping of the President'' (1980) - Joan Scott *''Love'' (1982) - Mrs Wiseman (segment "Julia") *''Invitation to the Wedding'' (1985) - Lady Caroline *''

Head Office Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top ...

'' (1985) - Mrs Issel *''

Criminal Law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law ...

'' (1988) - Dr Sybil Thiel *'' Mustard Bath'' (1993) - Matthew's mother *''

Time to Say Goodbye? ''Time to Say Goodbye?'' is a 1997 American made-for-television drama film directed by David Jones and starring Eva Marie Saint. The film is centered on the decision of an elderly family patriarch to end his life, when faced with the degradat ...

'' (1997) - Teresa Rodriguez *'' The White Raven'' (1998) - Hannah Rothschild *'' The Spreading Ground'' (2000) - Mayor Hackett *''

Desire Desires are states of mind that are expressed by terms like " wanting", " wishing", "longing" or "craving". A great variety of features is commonly associated with desires. They are seen as propositional attitudes towards conceivable states of ...

'' (2000) - Mrs Waterson *'' Amelia'' (2009) - Frances Putnam

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shepherd, Elizabeth 1936 births English film actresses English television actresses Living people Actresses from London