Kate O'Mara

Lived alone in a 17th-century cottage in the Blackdown Hills in Somerset, England with her cat Perdita.

Mother of Dickon Young (born January 1963; died December 31, 2012) by the actor Ian Cullen and Christopher Linde by the actor David Orchard. Aunt of Tam Williams and Amy Williams.

She relished a standout role in the long-running British soap opera Crossroads (2001).

She had since published two books: "When She Was Bad" in 1991 and "Good Time Girl" in 1993.

Her autobiography, "Game Plan; A Modern Woman's Survival Kit" was released on hardcover in 1990 by Sidgwick & Jackson.

Married and divorced twice, her son Dickon came from an actor she had repeatedly refused to name during their respective lifetimes. Dickon was a set designer for The British Actor's Theatre Company which Kate founded in 1987.

She was seriously considered for a major role (Sable or Frankie) on The Colbys (1985) before being offered the role of Cassandra "Caress" Morell on Dynasty (1981).

She made little leeway in America but did appear as Joan Collins equally bitchy sister for one season of Dynasty (1981) in 1986.

In the 1980s, she founded and toured in a theatre company (The British Actor's Theatre Company), which had continued running into the millennium.

Kate attracted gothic notice in Hammer Studio horror films as tawdry, darkly alluring femmes in both The Horror of Frankenstein (1970) and The Vampire Lovers (1970), but her film load over the years would remain sporadic. She had remained focused on stage endeavours in the ensuing years and had appeared in many British television series as well as various femme fatales or shady ladies.

She gave birth to a baby boy on May 12, 1965, from a brief liaison with David Orchard, who she met on the set of No Hiding Place (1959). Being already a single mother at the time of his birth, she gave the baby up. He was adopted by a married couple, Derek and Joy Linde and named Christopher Linde.

Educated at the Aida Foster School, she began an early career as a speech therapist at a Sussex Girls' School, but her attraction to acting got the best of her and she switched gears, making her debut in a stage production of "The Merchant of Venice" in 1963 at age 24. She continued to appear in classical works throughout the next two seasons until television series spots started coming her way.

She was also delightfully vindictive in episodes of Doctor Who (1963) and Absolutely Fabulous (1992) in England.

Kate O'Mara was born Frances Meredith Carroll on August 10, 1939 in Leicester, Leicestershire, England. A hard-looking brunette with high cheekbones, Kate was the daughter of actress Hazel Bainbridge and John Carroll and prodded into performing as a child.