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Elizabeth Shepherd |
Emma
Peel, 1965 (never aired) |
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Image from Infinite
Variety: Portrait of a Muse |
by David K. Smith Elizabeth Shepherd was born in 1936 and began her career in England, describing herself in that
period as the "queen of the BBC mini-series." Her stage career eventually brought her to
Canada in 1972 where she has lived ever since. Her CV is quite extensive, having played the Shakespearean roles of Beatrice, Cordelia, Gertrude,
Helena, Hermione, Isabella, Juliet, Lady Macbeth, Ophelia, Portia, Titania and Viola. Venues include New
York on and off Broadway, London's West End, the Stratford and Shaw Festivals, San Diego's Old Globe
Theatre, the Bristol Old Vic, and Montreal, Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, Halifax and Edmonton.
Repertory seasons include the Bristol Old Vic, Nottingham Playhouse, Manchester Library Theatre, plus
repertory appearances in Milwaukee, Seattle, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Dorset. Additionally, she has
starred in dozens of films, and her small screen appearances number over 500. Seemingly indefatigable, she is
still very busy. In 2001 she gave the UK premiere of Infinite Variety: Portrait of a Muse
by Scot D. Ryersson and Michael Orlando Yaccarino, a one-woman dramatic presentation of the life of the
Marchesa Luisa Casati, at the Italian Cultural Institute in London. The show was well received by
standing-room-only audiences in New York City, Toronto, and London. (For more information, see the
Portrait of a Muse website.) 2002 saw her as Miss
Havisham in a new stage adaptation of Dickens' Great Expectations at The Derby Playhouse (Derby,
England) and The Walnut Street Theatre (Philadelphia, PA), followed by Walk Right Up by Celia
McBride at the Studio Theatre/Stratford Festival, Canada. And in May 2003 she guested on ABC's All My Children. Her involvement with The Avengers was unplanned in its brevity. After filming all of
"The Town of No Return" and part of "The
Murder Market," it was announced that she was fired. There is no shortage of rumors as to
why, but the consensus seems to be that she simply was not right for the part of Mrs. Emma Peel. Add
to this an extravagant wardrobe, a tendency to rewrite dialog on the set, and a general lack of television
experience, one might understand why the producers elected to take the costly and risky course of re-casting
the part, and history shows that the choice of Diana Rigg was worth the risk. In answer to one of the most frequently asked questions, it is unknown if any of the original footage
of Elizabeth Shepherd as Emma Peel still exists. For a while rumors were circulating that Canal+
still had some in their vaults, but there has been no official word one way or the other.
Stage |
2007 Sherlock Holmes (The Early Years) |
The Dowager Countess Blunt |
2007 Measure for Measure |
Mistress Overdone |
2006 Pride and Prejudice |
Lady Catherine de Bourgh |
2006 December Fools |
Gloria Temple |
2005 Les Liaisons Dangereuses |
Madame de Rosemonde |
2005 Humble Boy |
Flora Humble |
2005 The Gin Game |
Fonsia Dorsey |
2003 John Gabriel Borkman by Henrik Ibsen |
Gunhild Borkman |
2003 Pygmalion |
Mrs. Higgins |
2002 Walk Right Up |
Lily |
2002 Great Expectations |
Miss Havisham |
2001 Cabaret |
Frau Schneider |
2001 Infinite Variety: Portrait of a Muse |
Marchesa Luisa Casati |
2000 The Coronation Voyage |
Alice |
2000 Footfalls/Krapp's Last Tape |
May |
2000 The Water Crawlers |
Alicia |
1999 The Cocktail Hour |
Ann |
1998 My Mother's Courage |
Elsa Tabori |
1998 A Delicate Balance |
Agnes |
1998 The Breakdown |
The Woman |
1972 King Lear |
Cordelia |
19?? Henry VIII |
Queen Katherine |
19?? The Cherry Orchard |
Lybov Ranevskaya |
19?? Tartuffe |
Elaine/Elmire |
19?? Immediate Family |
Virginia |
19?? Kennedy's Children |
Carla |
19?? Old Times |
Anna |
19?? The Seagull |
Madame Arkadina |
19?? A Streetcar Named Desire |
Blanche Dubois |
19?? Passion Play |
Eleanor |
19?? An Italian Straw Hat |
The Baroness |
19?? Peer Gynt |
The Woman in Green |
19?? Private Lives |
Amanda |
19?? Article 58 |
Lyuba |
19?? The Forest |
Raisa Pavlona |
19?? The Dreamland |
Arlene |
19?? Breaking the Code |
Sarah Turning |
19?? Sea Marks |
Timothea |
19?? Independence |
Margaret |
19?? A Taste of Honey |
Helen |
19?? Tete A Tete |
Simone de Beauvoir |
19?? In Confidence |
Chrissie |
19?? What the Butler Saw |
Mrs. Prentice |
19?? Coriolanus |
Volumnia |
19?? The Devil's Disciple |
Judith Anderson |
19?? Too True To Be Good |
Sweetie |
19?? Rosmersholm |
Rebekka West |
19?? Pygmalion |
Elizabeth Doolittle |
19?? Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead |
Gertrude |
19?? Lorenzacchio |
Countess Cibo |
19?? Hamlet |
Gertrude |
19?? Les Parents Terribles |
Yvonne |
19?? Ménage à Trois |
Leone |
19?? War and Peace |
Natasha |
19?? Period of Adjustment |
Isabel Haverstick |
19?? Inherit the Wind |
Rachael Brown |
19?? Adjustable Positions |
Melanie |
19?? The Jumping Fool |
Maria |
19?? Pack of Lies |
Standby for Rosemary Harris |
19?? Conduct Unbecoming |
Marjorie Hasseltine |
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Film |
2001 Desire |
2000 The Spreading Ground |
Mayor Hackett |
1999 The Silver Surfer |
Infinity |
1998 The White Raven |
Hannah Rothschild |
1993 Mustard Bath |
Matthew's Mother |
1988 Criminal Law |
Dr. Sybil Thiel |
1986 Head Office |
Mrs. Issel |
1985 Invitation to the Wedding |
Lady Caroline |
1982 Love |
Mrs. Wiseman |
1980 Double Negative, a.k.a. Deadly Companion |
Frances |
1980 The Kidnapping of the President |
Joan Scott (The First Lady) |
1978 Damien: Omen II |
Joan Hart |
1970 Hell Boats |
Alison |
1965 Tomb of Ligeia, a.k.a. Tomb of the Cat |
Lady Ligeia Fell/Lady Rowena Trevanion |
1963 Blind Corner |
Joan Marshall |
1962 What Every Woman Wants |
Sue Goodwin |
1961 The Queen's Guards |
Susan |
19?? End of Summer |
Madame Vera |
19?? My Own Country |
Mrs. Paez |
19?? Desire |
Mrs. Waterson |
19?? The Piano Man's Daughter |
Miss Richter |
19?? Presumed Innocent |
Anne |
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Teleplays/TV Movies/Mini Series |
2006 Shades of Black: The Conrad Black Story |
Margaret Thatcher |
2003 Hemingway vs Callaghan |
2001 Love and Treason (7 March) |
Betty Timmons |
2000 Love and Murder |
Hilda McCort |
1997 Let Me Call You Sweetheart |
1996 End of Summer |
Vera |
1994 Spenser: Pale Kings and Princes |
Kingsley |
1985 Bleak House |
1985 The Cuckoo Bird |
Kate |
1982 Frost In May |
1978 The Bastard |
Emma Sholto |
1977 Three Weeks |
Queen Draga of Serbia |
19?? Aladdin Window |
19?? Killing Me Softly |
19?? The Winters Tale |
19?? JFK: The Restless Years |
19?? Bethune |
19?? The Story of Esther |
19?? The First Night of Pygmalion |
19?? The Marriage Circus |
19?? Beaverbrook |
19?? Time to Say Goodbye? |
19?? By the Sword Divided |
19?? Amelia |
19?? The Citadel |
19?? The Duchess of Duke Street |
19?? The Cleopatras |
19?? Buddenbrooks |
19?? The Birds Fall Down |
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TV Series |
1998 The Silver Surfer |
Voice of Infinity |
1996 The Adventures of Shirley Holmes |
Peggy Holmes |
1996 The Class of '96 |
1996 PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal |
Dr. Marian Smithwick |
1994 Side Effects |
R.N. Judy Owens |
1980 The Phoenix Team |
Valerie Koester |
1966 The Corridor People |
Syrie Van Epp |
19?? The Collaborators |
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TV Guest Appearances |
2003 All My Children |
Paulina Kundera |
1999 Poltergeist |
"Unholy Congress" |
Jane Witherspoon |
1997 Black Harbour |
"Another Country" |
Martha Haskell |
1994 The Mighty Jungle |
"Done to a Crisp" |
Dr. Morton |
1982 Q.E.D. |
"4:10 to Zurich" |
1976 The Duchess of Duke Street |
"A Lady of Virtue" |
Diana Strickland |
19?? Secret Agent, a.k.a. Danger Man |
"Dangerous Secret" |
Louise Carron |
19?? The Road to Avonlea |
19?? The Citadel |
19?? Spenser for Hire |
19?? The Protectors |
19?? E.N.G. |
19?? Street Legal |
19?? The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne |
19?? Twice in a Lifetime |
19?? Main Chance |
19?? Court Martial |
19?? The Hidden Room |
19?? All My Children |
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