Personal details
Name: Stephanie BeachamBorn: 28/02/1947 (Age: 65)
From: Barnet, London
Famous for: Getting nude with Marlon Brando (and being Sable Colby).
Relationship status: Unknown.
All about this star
In a nutshell
She is best known for her role as the devious matriarch in 80s TV saga The Colby's but this prolific TV, theatre and film actress has more staying power than Alexis' Carrington's hair lacquer.
As a young starlet she once fibbed a reporter she was born in Casablanca (as opposed to her real home town of Barnet) which isn't difficult to believe with her glamourous screen presence.
The high point in her film career came when she was cast opposite Marlon Brando in 1971 film 'The Newcomers' where she famously appeared nude in one bedroom scene. However her co-star, who was then concerned about his increasing weight, wore wellington boots and Y-fronts under the sheets to ensure the director (Michael Winner) didn't film his nether-regions.
Stephanie had also worked intermittently as a model and famously appeared nude in a 1972 edition of Playboy. She spoke about her raunchy photo-shoot while appearing on Celebrity Big Brother in 2010 and claimed she had no regrets, save for a rather unflattering wig she was made to wear!
She went on to make numerous film and TV appearances but it wasn't until being cast as Sable Colby in Dynasty spin-off show The Colbys that she really became famous (even if the show died a relatively quick death). She then starred in numerous US TV shows making guest appearances before returning to the UK in 2003 to reprise her ice-queen cool in ITV's prison drama Bad Girls. She also made a splash in 2008 as Ken Barlow's barge floozy Martha in Coronation Street. (But would you really pick Deidre over Sable Colby?)
Stephanie has also dipped her toe into the reality TV pool, making a somewhat uneventful appearance on Strictly Come Dancing where she was partnered with Vincent Simone and voted off after one just one dance. However her appearance on 2010's Celebrity Big Brother was much more successful; she was the only woman to make it to the final and was a refreshingly urbane, regal presence in a house where dignity does not traditionally reign.
She's also a bit of a star in her personal life; bringing up two daughters single-handedly after her stage actor husband left her in 1978 after five years of marriage.
In March 2010 she made a guest appearance in BBC's Casualty series and most recently launched a collection of cosmetics in association with Harley Street Medical Skin Clinic.
