Lynda Bellingham, OBE (born Meredith Lee Hughes; 31 May 1948 – 19 October 2014) was a Canadian-born English actress, broadcaster and author, who played the role of the mother in the long-running series of "Oxo Family" British TV adverts between 1983 and 1999. She was a panellist on the ITV lunchtime chat show Loose Women between 2007 and 2011.

Spouses

Greg Smith
(m. 1975–1976; divorced)
Nunzio Peluzo
(m. 1981–1996; divorced)
Michael Pattemore
(m. 2008–2014; her death)

Early life

Lynda Bellingham was born in Montreal to Marjorie Hughes Bond (who died in 2012 aged 94),[1] but was given for adoption aged four months because she was born out of wedlock in a strict church-going family. Her adoptive parents were Donald and Ruth Bellingham, who lived in Aston Abbotts in Buckinghamshire, England.[1][2] Lynda was educated at Aylesbury High School and trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Television

Television acting

Bellingham made her television début as a nurse in an ITV afternoon soap opera of the 1970s, General Hospital. She also starred in the films Confessions of a Driving Instructor, Sweeney!, and Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers in 1977.

Other prominent roles included in the James Herriot drama All Creatures Great and Small (where she was the second actress to play Helen Herriot on television, replacing Carol Drinkwater) and the situation comedy Second Thoughts and its sequel, Faith in the Future.

She starred in the 14-part Doctor Who serial The Trial of a Time Lord in 1986 as the Inquisitor. Bellingham reprised the Inquisitor character for the Big Finish Productions audio series, Gallifrey, and most recently in the Big Finish Productions audio drama Trial of the Valeyard. In 1998 she appeared in Gleb Panfilov's The Romanovs: A Crowned Family as Empress Alexandra.

From 2000 to 2003, Bellingham played Pauline Farnell, the compassionate accountant in At Home with the Braithwaites alongside Amanda Redman and former All Creatures Great and Small colleague Peter Davison. For several months in 2004, she had a recurring role in The Bill as villainess Irene Radford.

She also had a role in the ITV comedy Bonkers playing Mrs Wadlow, a man-eating suburban housewife who seduces her neighbour's teenage son and turns him into her gigolo. Later that year she filmed guest appearances in episodes of Love Soup and Robin Hood.

Televison commercials

Bellingham played the central character in the long-running "Oxo Family" series of TV commercials , starting in 1983, playing a mother who binds her family together by cooking them meals featuring Oxo products. The adverts typically featured the family sitting down to a meal at which Oxo gravy would be served. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the family were seen to grow older, and when the campaign was retired in 1999 the family moved out of the house.

Television presenting

Bellingham joined Loose Women in 2007 and continued as a regular panellist until 2011, when she left.

She guest-presented the ITV lifestyle programme Lorraine on 17 December 2010.

In 2012, Bellingham began presenting her own daytime cookery series My Tasty Travels. Since 2013, Bellingham presented the ITV programme Country House Sunday.

Strictly Come Dancing

In 2009, she was one of the contestants in the seventh series of Strictly Come Dancing, the BBC ratings winner, where she partnered Darren Bennett. However, she was voted out by the judges in the fourth week.

Other appearances

She was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1993 when she was surprised by Michael Aspel on the set of Second Thoughts.

She was best known as the head of the family in the Oxo television adverts from 1983 to 1999, and was the face of online shopping brand isme.com since 2011. Her husband was played by Michael Redfern.

In 2010, Bellingham was the voice-over for British rap band N-Dubz's six-part reality show on Channel 4.

Live performances

Twice in the 1960s, Bellingham appeared in the Pendley Open Air Shakespeare Festival.

In October 2007, she appeared in a play entitled Vincent River at the Trafalgar Studios in London. Her performance received critical acclaim, and it was announced on Loose Women in early 2008 that the play would be moving to Broadway in July of that year, although this never transpired.

From September 2008 to July 2009 she played the role of Chris Harper in the stage version of the hit film Calendar Girls on tour and at the Noël Coward Theatre in the West End. She returned to the show for further tours in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Over the Christmas/New Year period of 2011/12 she played Fairy Godmother in the pantomime Cinderella at the Birmingham Hippodrome. She played the role again at the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford over the Christmas/New Year period of 2012/13.

Bellingham was due to star in Kay Mellor's play A Passionate Woman at the Sheffield Crucible, followed by a national tour, however, it was announced in July 2013 that the show had to be postponed due to Bellingham receiving treatment for cancer.

Writing

In 2010, Bellingham launched her book Lost and Found, a story of her life and career and toured the country for private readings.

Personal life

Bellingham was married three times, first in 1975 to film and theatre producer Greg Smith, best remembered for the Confessions films of which Confessions of a Window Cleaner was the first. Her second marriage (1981–96) was to Nunzio Peluso, with whom she had two sons, Michael and Robbie.

On 31 May 2008, she married her boyfriend, Spain-based mortgage broker Michael Pattemore (known on Loose Women as "Mr Spain"), at St Stephen Walbrook on her 60th birthday.

She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for voluntary service to charitable giving.

Her sister Barbara died of lung cancer in 2005, aged 56.

Illness and death

On 16 July 2013, it was announced that Bellingham had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer. She released a statement saying that she was "not going to die."

In September 2014, Bellingham confirmed that her cancer had metastasized to her lungs and liver, and that she had "months to live". She announced that she had made the choice in August 2014 to stop her chemotherapy in November, so that she could have "one last Christmas" with her family and die in January 2015. However, she died on 19 October 2014, in a London hospital. A few weeks before her death, her website was taken down, with the message: "We're very sorry, at the request of Lynda and Michael we have temporarily taken the website offline."

***

Lynda Bellingham, OBE (born Meredith Lee Hughes; 31 May 1948 – 19 October 2014) was a Canadian-born English actress, broadcaster and author, who played the role of the mother in the long-running series of "Oxo Family" British TV adverts between 1983 and 1999. She was a panellist on the ITV lunchtime chat show Loose Women between 2007 and 2011.

Spouse(s)

Greg Smith
(1975–1976; divorced)
Nunzio Peluzo
(1981–1996; divorced)
Michael Pattemore
(2008–2014; her death)

Early life

Bellingham was born in Montreal to Marjorie Hughes Bond (who died in 2012, aged 94),[1] but was given up for adoption aged four months because she was born out of wedlock in a strict church-going family. Her adoptive parents were Donald and Ruth Bellingham, who lived in Aston Abbotts in Buckinghamshire, England. Bellingham was educated at Aylesbury High School and trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Film and television

Film and television acting

Bellingham made her television début as a nurse in an ITV afternoon soap opera of the 1970s, General Hospital. She also starred in the films Confessions of a Driving Instructor (1976), Sweeney! (1977), Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers (1977), andRiding High (1981) with Eddie Kidd.

Other prominent roles included in the James Herriot drama All Creatures Great and Small (in which she was the second actress to play Helen Herriot on television, replacing Carol Drinkwater) and the situation comedy Second Thoughts and its sequel, Faith in the Future.

Bellingham starred in the 14-part Doctor Who serial The Trial of a Time Lord in 1986 as the Inquisitor. She reprised the Inquisitor character for the Big Finish Productions audio series, Gallifrey, and in the Big Finish Productions audio dramaTrial of the Valeyard. In 1999, she appeared in Gleb Panfilov's The Romanovs: A Crowned Family as Empress Alexandra.

From 2000 to 2003, Bellingham played Pauline Farnell, the compassionate accountant in At Home with the Braithwaitesopposite Amanda Redman and former All Creatures Great and Small colleague Peter Davison. For several months in 2004, she had a recurring role in The Bill as villainess Irene Radford.

Bellingham also had a role in the ITV comedy Bonkers playing Mrs Wadlow, a man-eating suburban housewife who seduces her neighbour's teenage son and turns him into her gigolo. Later that year, she filmed guest appearances in episodes of Love Soup and Robin Hood.

Television commercials

Bellingham played the central character in the long-running "Oxo Family" series of TV commercials , starting in 1983, playing a mother who binds her family together by cooking them meals featuring Oxo products. The advertisements typically featured the family sitting down to a meal at which Oxo gravy would be served. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the family were seen to grow older. When the campaign was retired in 1999, the family moved out of the house.

Since 2011, Bellingham and actor Michael Redfern were the faces of online shopping brand isme.com .

Television presenting

Bellingham joined Loose Women in 2007 and continued as a regular panellist until 2011.

Bellingham guest presented the ITV programme Lorraine for one episode on 17 December 2010.

In 2012, Bellingham presented her own cookery series called My Tasty Travels. In 2013, Bellingham presented the ITVprogramme Country House Sunday.

Strictly Come Dancing

In 2009, Bellingham was one of the contestants in the seventh series of Strictly Come Dancing, the BBC ratings winner, where she was partnered with Darren Bennett. However, she was voted out by the judges in the fourth week.