Nicola Mary Pagett Scott (15 June 1945 – 3 March 2021), known professionally as Nicola Pagett, was a British actress, known for her role as

Elizabeth Bellamy Elizabeth Bellamy (also Kirbridge) is a fictional character in the ITV period drama '' Upstairs, Downstairs'', originally broadcast for five series from 1971 to 1975. She was portrayed by Nicola Pagett. Elizabeth is the daughter of Richard ...

in the 1970s TV drama series '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1971–1973), as well as being one of the leads in the sitcom '' Ain't Misbehavin''' (1994–1995). Her film appearances included ''

Anne of the Thousand Days ''Anne of the Thousand Days'' is a 1969 British historical drama film based on the life of Anne Boleyn, directed by Charles Jarrott and produced by Hal B. Wallis. The screenplay by Bridget Boland and John Hale is an adaptation of the 1948 pl ...

'' (1969), '' Frankenstein: The True Story'' (1973), ''

Operation Daybreak ''Operation Daybreak'' (also known as ''The Price of Freedom'' in the U.S. and ''Seven Men at Daybreak'' during production) is a 1975 war film based on the true story of Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of SS general Reinhard Heydrich i ...

'' (1975), ''

Privates on Parade ''Privates on Parade: A Play with Songs in Two Acts'' is a 1977 farce by English playwright Peter Nichols (book and lyrics), with music by Denis King. The drama draws upon Nichols' own experiences in the real-life Combined Services Entertai ...

'' (1982) and ''

An Awfully Big Adventure ''An Awfully Big Adventure'' is a 1995 British coming-of-age film directed by Mike Newell. The story concerns a girl who joins a local repertory theatre troupe in Liverpool. During a winter production of ''Peter Pan'', the play quickly turns i ...

'' (1995).

Early life

Born in Cairo, Egypt, Nicola Pagett spent most of her childhood out of Britain—in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, the family moving with her father who worked for a major oil company. She was educated at Saint Maur International School, in

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

, Japan. In 1962 Pagett entered Britain's

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

where she studied for two years.

Career

In 1964, Pagett appeared in several productions with

Worthing Worthing ( ) is a seaside town and borough in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 113,094 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Br ...

Repertory Company and the Glasgow Citizen's Theatre. Then her performance in the television play ''The Girl in the Picture'' caught the attention of Sir Robert Helpmann who cast her to tour with

Vivien Leigh Vivien Leigh ( ; born Vivian Mary Hartley; 5 November 1913 – 8 July 1967), styled as Lady Olivier after 1947, was a British actress. After completing her drama school education, Leigh appeared in small roles in four films in 1935 and progress ...

in the stage play ''La Contessa''. In 1965, she appeared in the Incorporated Television Company ( ITC) production of ''

Gideon's Way ''Gideon's Way'' is a British television crime series that was made by ITC Entertainment and broadcast by ITV in 1964–1966, following the 1958 film, '' Gideon's Day''. The film and series are based on novels by John Creasey (writing as 'J. ...

'', episode 10, "How to Retire without Really Working" in an uncredited role as girl at railway station. Also in 1965, under the name Nicola Paget, she appeared in ''Gideon's Way'' series 1 episode 15 called "The Alibi Man". She also appeared in the British TV series ''

Danger Man ''Danger Man'' (retitled ''Secret Agent'' in the United States for the revived series, and ''Destination Danger'' and ''John Drake'' in other overseas markets) is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again ...

'' in an episode called "The Mirror's New". She appeared in episode 13 of ''

The Persuaders! ''The Persuaders!'' is a British action comedy television series starring Tony Curtis and Roger Moore, produced by ITC Entertainment, and initially broadcast on ITV and ABC in 1971. The show has been called 'the last major entry in the c ...

'' and episode 7 of ''

Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...

.'' After starring as

Florence Maybrick Florence Elizabeth Chandler Maybrick (3 September 1862 – 23 October 1941) was an American woman convicted in the United Kingdom of murdering her husband, cotton merchant James Maybrick. Early life Florence Maybrick was born Florence Elizabe ...

in an episode of '' Wicked Women'' (1970), she appeared as

in the British series '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. This was followed in 1975 by an appearance in the British television police drama, ''

The Sweeney ''The Sweeney'' is a British police drama television series focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London. It stars John Thaw as Detective ...

''. Pagett appeared in the episode ''Stoppo Driver'' in which she played the character of Sara Prince, part of a family of criminals involved in the

kidnap Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

of the wife of

Detective Constable A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

Brian Cooney, a

Flying Squad The Flying Squad is a branch of the Serious and Organised Crime Command within London's Metropolitan Police Service. It is also known as the Robbery Squad, Specialist Crime Directorate 7, SC&O7 and SO7. It is nicknamed The Sweeney, an abbrevia ...

driver. In May 1976, she appeared as Bella Manningham in ''

Gas Light ''Gas Light'' is a 1938 thriller play, set in 1880s London, written by the British novelist and playwright Patrick Hamilton. Hamilton's play is a dark tale of a marriage based on deceit and trickery, and a husband committed to driving his w ...

'' at the

Criterion Theatre The Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre at Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. It has a seating capacity of 588. Building the theatre In 1870, the caterers Spiers and Pond began developmen ...

, London, with

Peter Vaughan Peter Ewart Ohm (4 April 1923 – 6 December 2016), known professionally as Peter Vaughan, was an English actor known for many supporting roles in British film and television productions. He also acted extensively on stage. Vaughan played Gr ...

and

Anton Rodgers Anthony Rodgers (10 January 1933 – 1 December 2007) was an English actor and occasional director. He performed on stage, in film, in television dramas and sitcoms. He starred in several sitcoms, including '' Fresh Fields'' (ITV, 1984– ...

. She played the title role in the 1977

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

adaptation of ''

Anna Karenina ''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, Анна Каренина, p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Tolstoy called it his first true novel. It was initially released in serial in ...

'' and gave a memorable performance in David Nobbs's TV series ''

A Bit of a Do A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''English alphabet#Letter names, a'' (pronounced ), plural ...

''. She appeared in films such as '' The Viking Queen'' (1967), '' Come Back Peter'' (1969), ''

'' (1969), ''

There's a Girl in My Soup ''There's a Girl in My Soup'' is a 1970 British romantic comedy film directed by Roy Boulting and starring Peter Sellers and Goldie Hawn. Terence Frisby wrote the screenplay based on his 1966 stage play of the same name. Plot Robert Danve ...

'' (1970), '' Frankenstein: The True Story'' (1973), ''

'' (1975), ''

Oliver's Story ''Oliver's Story'' is a 1978 American romantic drama film and a sequel to '' Love Story'' (1970) based on a novel by Erich Segal published a year earlier. It was directed by John Korty and again starred Ryan O'Neal, this time opposite Candice ...

'' (1978), ''

'' (1982) and ''

'' (1995). She appeared in leading roles (as the young Irish bride Conor) in the 1980 Australian mini-series ''

The Timeless Land ''The Timeless Land'' (1941) is a work of historical fiction by Eleanor Dark (1901–1985). The novel ''The Timeless Land'' is the first of ''The Timeless Land'' trilogy of novels about European settlement and exploration of Australia. Story ...

'' and in the 1994 to 1995 sitcom '' Ain't Misbehavin'''.

Personal life

Pagett married actor/writer Graham Swannell in 1975. They had one daughter. The couple divorced in 1997. Pagett was diagnosed with

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...

in 1997, after having become obsessed with the then prime minister's chief press secretary

Alastair Campbell Alastair John Campbell (born 25 May 1957) is a British journalist, author, strategist, broadcaster, and activist, who is known for his political roles during Tony Blair's leadership of the Labour Party. Campbell worked as Blair's spokesman an ...

. She related in her book ''Diamonds Behind My Eyes'' that she later recovered. Pagett died on 3 March 2021, aged 75, after suffering from a brain tumour.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pagett, Nicola 1945 births 2021 deaths 20th-century English actresses Actresses from Cairo Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Deaths from brain cancer in England English film actresses English stage actresses English television actresses People with bipolar disorder