Catherine Schell | |
---|---|
Born | Katherina Freiin Schell von Bauschlott 17 July 1944 |
Nationality | British |
Other names | Catherine von Schell Katherina von Schell Katherine von Schell |
Alma mater | Otto Falckenberg School of the Performing Arts |
Occupation(s) | Television and film actress |
Years active | 1964–2004; 2020-Present |
Known for | On Her Majesty's Secret Service The Return of the Pink Panther Doctor Who |
Television | Space: 1999 |
Spouses | |
Parent(s) | Baron Paul Schell von Bauschlott Countess Katharina Maria Etelka Georgina Elisabeth Teleki de Szék |
Catherine Schell (born Katherina Freiin Schell von Bauschlott, 17 July 1944) is a Hungarian-born British actress who came to prominence in British film and television productions from the 1960s. Her notable roles include the Bond girl Nancy in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Lady Claudine Litton in The Return of the Pink Panther (1975), Countess Scarlioni in the Doctor Who serial City of Death (1979), and a regular role as Maya in Year Two of the television series Space: 1999 (1976-1977).
Schell's father, Baron Pál Schell von Bauschlott (Nagyida, 5 September 1898 - Munich, 20 October 1979), was a Hungarian diplomat of three-quarter [1] Hungarian ancestry; her mother (m. Budapest, 28 January 1940) was Countess Katalin Mária Etelka Georgina Erzsébet Teleki de Szék (Budapest, 11 November 1917 - ?). [2] "Schell" is the family name, while "von Bauschlott" indicates the place in Germany where the Schell family owned its main estate.
Fleeing Hungary in advance of the Soviets and communism, the family lived in poverty until 1948, finding asylum in Austria: first in Vienna, then in Salzburg. In 1950, the family emigrated to the United States, [3] where Schell's father acquired American citizenship.
Schell entered a convent school in the New York City borough of Staten Island. In 1957, her father joined Radio Free Europe and the family moved to Munich where Schell developed an interest in acting and attended the Otto Falckenberg School of the Performing Arts. [4]
She acted under the alternate name "Catherina von Schell" early in her career. Under this name she made her film debut as the title character in the little-known German-language film Lana, Queen of the Amazons (1964). She appeared as Bond girl Nancy in the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), with George Lazenby in the lead. [3] Around the same time, she appeared in Hammer Films science-fiction thriller Moon Zero Two (also 1969) cast in the role of Clementine Taplin. She appeared with Bette Davis, now credited as Catherine Schell, in Madame Sin (1972), a television film made by ITC which was released theatrically in some markets.
Schell appeared opposite Peter Sellers in the comedy The Return of the Pink Panther (1975) as Lady Claudine Lytton. Schell appeared with Sellers again in The Prisoner of Zenda (1979), one of his last films.
Schell's first TV credit was Till Eulenspiegel (1967), a West German comedy in which she played Nele and was billed as Katherina von Schell.
Schell spent much of her career in British television, appearing in more than 47 series spanning a period of nearly 30 years. She played regular roles in series such as The Adventurer , Looking For Clancy , One by One , Mog and Wish Me Luck , in addition to many guest appearances, including The Persuaders! (starring alongside future James Bond actor Roger Moore), The Troubleshooters , Arthur of the Britons , Return of the Saint , The Sweeney , The Onedin Line , The Gentle Touch , Lovejoy , Bergerac , The Bill , Howards' Way and The Search for the Nile .
Schell appeared in the science-fiction series Space: 1999 as a robotic servant ("Guardian of Piri", 1975), and returned to the series in its second season as the regular character Maya, a shape-shifting "metamorph" from the planet Psychon. Schell appeared in another British science-fiction series, as Countess Scarlioni in the Doctor Who serial City of Death (1979). [3]
Schell's brother, Paul Rudolf (born 1940), now known as Paul von Schell, has acted in German-language productions. A younger brother, Peter (1941–68), died young. Through a German great-grandfather, Schell is related to Louis XIV of France (1638–1715), Philip II, Duke of Orléans (1674–1723), Regent of France and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (1708–65).[ citation needed ] She is not believed to be related to the Austrian-Swiss actors Maximilian and Maria Schell.[ citation needed ]
While filming Amsterdam Affair in 1968, Schell met and married her first husband, British actor William Marlowe (1930–2003), and moved to London. The marriage ended in divorce in 1977. Schell married director Bill Hays (1938–2006) in 1982. In 1984, they worked together for the first time as husband and wife on a TV production of Ivan Turgenev's play A Month in the Country .
Schell's career continued into the mid-1990s, after which she retired from acting and opened Chambre d'Hôtes Valentin, a small guesthouse in Bonneval, Haute-Loire, France, which would become a popular destination for fans of Space: 1999 . She reportedly sold the inn after the death of her second husband in 2006.
Schell made her first convention appearance at MainMission:2000, a celebration of the 25th anniversary of Space: 1999 held in New York City. To date, she has appeared at only one other convention, mainly due to her second husband's declining health.
Schell contributed a foreword to the Space: 1999 novel Born for Adversity, written by David McIntee and published by Powys Media in 2010.
Schell's autobiography A Constant Alien was published in 2016. [3] [5]
She subsequently came out of acting retirement to portray the Grand Duchess Valeria in the BBC One/Netflix series Dracula , which aired in 2020.
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1964 | Lana, Queen of the Amazons | Queen Lana | |
1964 | Traitor's Gate | Hope Joyner | |
1967 | Hell Is Empty | Catherine Grant | |
1968 | Assignment K | Maggi | Uncredited |
1968 | Amsterdam Affair | Sophie Ray | |
1969 | Moon Zero Two | Clementine Taplin | Credited as Catherina von Schell |
1969 | On Her Majesty's Secret Service | Nancy | |
1972 | Madame Sin | Barbara | |
1974 | The Black Windmill | Lady Melissa Julyan | |
1974 | Callan | Jenny | |
1975 | The Return of the Pink Panther | Lady Claudine Litton | |
1977 | Gulliver's Travels | Mary | |
1978 | Exposure | Caroline | |
1978 | Destination Moonbase-Alpha | Maya | Originally Space: 1999 2-part episode “The Bringers of Wonder” |
1979 | The Prisoner of Zenda | Antoinette | |
1982 | The Island of Adventure | Alison Mannering | |
1982 | Cosmic Princess | Maya | Originally Space: 1999 episodes “The Metamorph” and “Space Warp” |
1983 | On the Third Day | Clarissa Hammond | |
1988 | On the Black Hill | Lotte Zons | |
1990 | The March | Noelle Epps | |
1993 | Pretty Princess | Countess Von Dix | |
2022 | The Munsters | Zoya Krupp | [6] |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1967 | Till Eulenspiegel | Nele | Unknown episodes |
1970 | Omnibus | Lunia | Episode: "A Requiem for Modigliani" |
1971 | Paul Temple | Uschi Baumann | Episode: "Death of Fasching" |
1971 | The Troubleshooters | Kirsten Hansen | 2 episodes |
1971 | The Search for the Nile | Florence Baker | 2 episodes |
1971 | The Persuaders! | Kristin Hansen | Episode: "The Morning After" |
1972 | A Family at War | Erika | Episode: "Two Fathers" |
1972–1973 | The Adventurer | Diane Marsh | 11 episodes |
1973 | The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes | Maria Wolkinski | Episode: "The Sensible Action of Lieutenant Holst" |
1973 | Arthur of the Britons | Benedicta | Episode: "The Girl from Rome" |
1974 | Napoleon and Love | Marie Walewska | 4 episodes |
1974 | Dial M for Murder | Helen | Episode: "Contract" |
1974 | The Double Dealers | The Double Dealers | Episode: "An Ad in The Times" |
1975 | The Sweeney | Stella Goodman | Episode: "Big Spender" |
1975 | Thriller | Julie | Episode: "The Next Voice You See" |
1975 | Looking for Clancy | Penny Clancy | 4 episodes |
1975 | Space: 1999 | Servant of the Guardian | Episode: "Guardian of Piri" |
1976 | Play of the Month | Mabel Dancy | Episode: "Loyalties" |
1976–1977 | Space: 1999 | Maya | 23 episodes |
1977 | Supernatural | Theresa | Episode: "Viktoria" |
1978 | The Onedin Line | Hannah Webster | Episode: "The Reverend's Daughter" |
1978 | Return of the Saint | Samantha | Episode: "The Imprudent Professor" |
1979 | Doctor Who | Countess Scarlioni | Episode: "City of Death" |
1980 | The Gentle Touch | Margot | Episode: "Melody" |
1980–1981 | The Spoils of War | Paula Brandt | 11 episodes |
1980 | Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson | Lady Sylvia Tarleton | Episode: "The Case of the Deadly Tower" |
1982 | Strangers | Sophy Paget-Lombardi | Episode: "A Swift and Evil Rozzer" |
1983 | Bergerac | Veronique | Episode: "Prime Target" |
1983 | Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime | Virma La Strange | Episode: "The Ambassador's Boots" |
1985 | One by One | Lady Ann Pendle | 6 episodes |
1985–1986 | Mog | Mrs. Mortenson | All 13 episodes |
1985 | A Month in the Country | Lizaveta | TV film |
1985 | My Brother Jonathan | Mrs. Martyn | Episode: #1.1 |
1988 | Screen Two | Melena Lotskova | Episode: "Border" |
1989 | The Bill | Mrs. Stern | Episode: Silver Lining" |
1989 | Howards' Way | Yvette Studer | Episode: #5.10 |
1990 | Wish Me Luck | Virginia Mitchell | 8 episodes |
1991 | Lovejoy | Francis Beauchamp | Episode: "Raise the Hispanic" |
1992 | Moon and Son | Mrs. Milestone | Episode: "Nearly Dearly Departed" |
1993 | Screen Two | Marie-Claire | Episode: "The Clothes in the Wardrobe" |
1994 | The Wimbledon Poisoner | Mrs. Gunther | Both 2 episodes |
1995 | Tales of Mystery and Imagination | Lady Montresor | Episode: "The Cask of Amontillado" |
1996 | The Knock | Inspector Helene Masson | 2 episodes |
2020 | Dracula | Grand Duchess Valeria | Episode: "Blood Vessel" |
Maximilian Schell was a Swiss actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1961 American film Judgment at Nuremberg, his second acting role in Hollywood. Born in Austria, his parents were involved in the arts and he grew up surrounded by performance and literature. While he was still a child, his family fled to Switzerland in 1938 when Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany, and they settled in Zürich. After World War II ended, Schell took up acting and directing full-time. He appeared in numerous German films, often anti-war, before moving to Hollywood.
Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television programme that ran for two series from 1975 to 1977. In the premiere episode, set in the year 1999, nuclear waste stored on the Moon's far side explodes, knocking the Moon out of orbit and sending it, as well as the 311 inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha, hurtling uncontrollably into space.
Maria Margarethe Anna Schell was an Austrian-Swiss actress. She was one of the leading stars of German cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1954, she was awarded the Cannes Best Actress Award for her performance in Helmut Käutner's war drama The Last Bridge, and in 1956, she won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for Gervaise.
Senta Verhoeven is an Austrian-German actress. She received many award nominations for her acting in theatre, film and television; her awards include three Bambi Awards, two Romys, an Adolf Grimme Award, both a Deutscher and a Bayerischer Fernsehpreis, and a Goldene Kamera.
Christiane Hörbiger was an Austrian stage, film, and television actress. Her first major film role was Mary Vetsera in Kronprinz Rudolfs letzte Liebe in 1955. She appeared on the stage of the Burgtheater as Recha in Lessing's Nathan der Weise in 1959, became a member of Theater Heidelberg and later Schauspielhaus Zürich. From 1969 to 1972, she portrayed Die Buhlschaft in Hofmannsthal's Jedermann at the Salzburg Festival.
Elke Sommer is a German actress. She appeared in numerous films in her heyday throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including roles in The Pink Panther sequel A Shot in the Dark (1964), the Bob Hope comedy Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966), Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None (1974), and the British Carry On series in Carry On Behind (1975).
Joely Kim Richardson is a British actress. She is notable for her roles as Julia McNamara in the FX drama series Nip/Tuck (2003–2010) and Katherine Parr in the Showtime series The Tudors (2010). Her credits include 'Drowning by Numbers (1988), King Ralph (1991), 101 Dalmatians (1996), Event Horizon (1997), The Patriot (2000), Anonymous (2011), the Hollywood film adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), Endless Love (2014), Red Sparrow (2018), The Turning (2020), The Sandman (2022), and Little Bone Lodge (2023).
Jenna von Oÿ is an American actress. She played the role of Six LeMeure in the 1990 sitcom Blossom and Stevie Van Lowe in the 1999 sitcom The Parkers.
Claudine Auger was a French actress best known for her role as a Bond girl, Dominique "Domino" Derval, in the James Bond film Thunderball (1965). She earned the title of Miss France Monde 1958 and went on to finish as the first runner-up in the 1958 Miss World contest.
Bianca Lawson is an American actress. She is known for her regular roles in the television series Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Goode Behavior, Pretty Little Liars, and Rogue. She has also had recurring roles in the series Sister, Sister, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Steve Harvey Show, Dawson's Creek, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, The Vampire Diaries, Teen Wolf, and Witches of East End. In 2016, Lawson began starring in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series Queen Sugar.
Ingrid Pitt was a Polish-British actress and writer, best known for her work in British horror cinema of the 1970s.
Molly Parker is a Canadian actress, writer, and director. She garnered critical attention for her portrayal of a necrophiliac medical student in the controversial drama Kissed (1996). She subsequently starred in the television thriller Intensity (1997) before landing her first major American film role in the drama Waking the Dead (2000). She gained further notice for her role as a Las Vegas escort in the drama The Center of the World (2001), for which she was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead.
Prunella Mary Gee is an English counsellor, therapist and former actress, best known for her work as an actress in the 1970s and 1980s, and for the role of Doreen Heavey in Coronation Street, a part she first played in 1999. Doreen appeared in 17 episodes before returning as a permanent character in 2002 and 2003. She came back the following year for three episodes, proving to be Gee's final television role.
Zienia Merton was a British actress born in Burma. She was known for playing Sandra Benes in Space: 1999.
Eric Pohlmann was an Austrian theatre, film and television character actor who worked mostly in the United Kingdom. He is known for voicing Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the primary antagonist of the James Bond series, in the films From Russia with Love and Thunderball.
Countess Claudine Susanna Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde was the Hungarian wife of Duke Alexander of Württemberg. Her son, Francis, Duke of Teck, was the father of Mary of Teck, queen consort to George V of the United Kingdom. The current British monarch, Charles III, is Claudine's great-great-great-grandson.
Lil Dagover was a German actress whose film career spanned between 1913 and 1979. She was one of the most popular and recognized film actresses in the Weimar Republic.
Margit Carstensen was a German theatre and film actress, best known outside Germany for roles in the works of film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. She appeared in films of directors Christoph Schlingensief and Leander Haußmann and on television in Tatort.
Catherine of Henneberg was a Countess of Henneberg by birth and from 1347 by marriage Margravine of Meissen, Landgravine of Thuringia, etc. She was the wife of Margrave Frederick the Severe of Meissen. Via her, the House of Wettin inherited her father's Franconian possessions.
Beatrix, Countess of Schönburg-Glauchau was a Hungarian-German aristocrat and socialite. By birth a member of the Széchényi family, a Hungarian noble family, she fled Hungary in 1956 during the Communist Revolution. After arriving in Germany, she married Joachim, Count of Schönburg-Glauchau, the nominal head of the House of Schönburg-Glauchau, and moved to Africa. She lived in Togo and Somalia, where her husband worked as a journalist, before returning to Germany in 1970. After divorcing her husband in 1986, she moved to Regensburg to live with her daughter, Gloria, Princess of Thurn und Taxis.