Jacqueline Pearce

Biography

Jacqueline Pearce was a British film and television actress who was born in Byfleet, Surrey, in 1943 and died in 2018. After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, she made her television debut in 1963 in A Question of Happiness and then won leading roles in the Hammer horror films The Plague of the Zombies (1966) and The Reptile (1966). She became best known as Servalan, the main villain in Blake's 7 (1978 to 1981), a part first written for a single episode that grew into a regular role over four series. Her later films included How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989) and Princess Caraboo (1994), and she also appeared in White Mischief (1987). On stage she acted in Tom Stoppard's Night and Day and in Otherwise Engaged, which Harold Pinter directed. In Doctor Who she played Chessene in The Two Doctors (1985), and she later voiced Cardinal Ollistra in Big Finish audio dramas.

74years old at death

Born December 20, 1943Woking
Died September 3, 2018Lancashire
Star sign: SagittariusThe sign runs November 22 to December 21

Movie Career

Films: 7
Career span: 29 years1965 to 1994

Genres

Comedy43%, 3 films
Drama43%, 3 films
Adventure29%, 2 films
History29%, 2 films
Horror29%, 2 films

First and latest

Did you know?!

Big break
In spring 1965, Pearce tried out for Anthony Nelson Keys at Bray Studios and landed starring parts in two Hammer horror movies, The Plague of the Zombies and The Reptile. Both were made one after another at the same location.
Big break
Servalan, the villain Pearce played in Blake's 7, was written for a single episode but grew into a regular role across four series because of her popularity.
A role that slipped away
Pearce took the Doctor Who role of Chessene, a bloodthirsty alien in The Two Doctors, at short notice after Elizabeth Spriggs left the production.
A change of course
Pearce worked for Sammy Davis Jr. and answered his fan mail. She also trained at Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio in Los Angeles.
First role
Pearce made her television debut in 1963, after graduating from RADA, playing a waitress in the episode "Watch Me I'm a Bird" of A Question of Happiness alongside Ian McShane and John Hurt.
Getting ready for a role
When Pearce auditioned for Servalan she had her hair cropped short, and the producers asked her to keep it that way; she also pushed them to dress the character in feminine clothes instead of the suggested military uniform.