Barbara Shelley, Hammer horror and 'Doctor Who' star, dead at 88
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Barbara Shelley, a renowned British horror movie actress and "Doctor Who" star, has died at the age of 88 after contracting coronavirus.
Shelley was best known for her work in horror films made by British production outfit Hammer. She starred alongside Christopher Lee in 1966’s "Dracula: Prince of Darkness," while other notable films included "Rasputin: The Mad Monk" and "Quatermass And The Pit."
Shelley also did plenty of TV work, most notably appearing in a string of 1984 "Doctor Who" episodes, in which she played Sorasta in the "Planet of Fire" story. Peter Davison was playing the Doctor during her time on the show. Co-star Nicola Bryant tweeted:
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She had other parts in the likes of "EastEnders," "Blake’s 7," and "The Avengers," while her last major acting credit came in 1989 in Peter O’Toole’s BBC miniseries "The Dark Angel," according to IMDB.
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Shelley’s agent Thomas Bowington told Press Association: "She really was Hammer’s number one leading lady and the technicolor queen of Hammer. On-screen she could be quietly evil. She goes from statuesque beauty to just animalistic wildness."
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Barbara Shelley, pictured here in 1957, has died at the age of 88. (Photo by LMPC via Getty Images)
He added that she is likely to have caught COVID-19 during a hospital check-up. She spent two weeks in the hospital alone with the virus in the run-up to Christmas. "It’s most likely Covid is going to come up on the death certificate," Bowington said.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss interviewed Shelley for his BBC series "A History of Horror" with Mark Gatiss in 2010.