Sandra Dickinson

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Sandra Dickinson
Born
Sandra Searles

(1948-10-20) October 20, 1948 (age 75)
Other namesSandra Searles Dickinson[1]
CitizenshipUnited States
United Kingdom
Alma materRoyal Central School of Speech and Drama
OccupationActress
Years active1973–present
Spouses
  • Hugh Dickinson
    (m. 1969; div. 1974)
  • (m. 1978; div. 1994)
  • Mark Osmond
    (m. 2009)
ChildrenGeorgia Tennant
Parent

Sandra Dickinson (née Searles; born October 20, 1948)[2] is an American-British actress. She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London.[3] She has often played characters within the trope of a dumb blonde with a high-pitched voice.[4]

Early life[edit]

Dickinson was born in Washington, D.C.[5] and grew up in Maryland with her younger brother. Her father, Harold F. Searles, was a psychoanalyst. Her mother, Sylvia Manninen, of Finnish descent, was a nurse.[6][2]

Career[edit]

She made her acting debut[citation needed] as a waitress in the 1973 British film The Final Programme.[7] She is perhaps most well-known for her role of Trillian in the TV series of Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.[8]

She has appeared in films including Superman III, Supergirl, StagKnight, Ready Player One and The Batman.

She has provided the American voice of Jemima Puddle-Duck in the British animated children's television series The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends, the Voice Trumpets in the US dub of Teletubbies, Bitchin' Betty in the 1996 film Space Truckers, and Chico in Counterfeit Cat.

She has made guest appearances on shows, such as Philip Marlowe, Private Eye, Casualty, New Tricks, Holby City, Uncle, Doctors and White Van Man.

Personal life[edit]

Dickinson married actor Peter Davison on December 26, 1978, and they were divorced in 1994. Together they composed and performed the theme tune to the 1980s children's programme Button Moon. They have a daughter, Georgia Tennant,[9] who is also an actress.

Dickinson married her third husband, another British actor and singer, Mark Osmond, on August 16, 2009.[10] The wedding was filmed for Four Weddings, a reality TV show where four couples compete to have theirs voted the best wedding; hers came third. Osmond is the lead singer of the band Bigger Than Mary, who played at the wedding. Her grandson, Ty Tennant, gave her away. The wedding took place in Shepperton, where the couple lived at the time.[11]

Dickinson became a British citizen the same year. With her husband, she runs the Shepperton-based stage school Close Up Theatre School.[12]

She was also an occasional guest panellist on the BBC quiz show Blankety Blank in the early 1980s.[8]

Filmography[edit]

TV[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
Early 1970s Birds Eye Beefburger TV advertisements, directed by Alan Parker, in the early 1970s.
1975 The Tomorrow People Emily Episode A Man for Emily. Her future husband Peter Davison played her on-screen brother.
1981 The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Trillian Iconic TV Series inspired by the Radio Series, first book, double LP and stage plays
1983 Prestige saucepans Prestige TV advert, with her then husband Peter Davison.
2014 Uncle Suzy TV series starring Nick Helm

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1973 The Final Programme Waitress
1983 Superman III Wife
1983 The Lonely Lady Nancy Day
1984 Supergirl Pretty Young Lady
1986 Dead Man's Folly Marilyn Gale
1995 Balto Dixie/Sylvie/Rosy's mother Voice
1996 Space Truckers Btchin' Betty Voice
2007 StagKnight Fay
2009 Malice in Wonderland Mother
2009 Tormented Miss Swanson
2017 You, Me and Him Jury
2018 Ready Player One Old Boxing Woman
2022 The Batman Dory

Her film and TV roles include:

She also revoiced some of the female voice trumpets (as well as the narrator saying "1, 2, 3, 4, Teletubbies!" line at the start of the opening titles) in Teletubbies for the American market.

Other acting roles[edit]

Dickinson and then husband Peter Davison appeared together in Doctor Who producer John Nathan-Turner's production of the holiday pantomime Cinderella in 1983. They also appeared in a stage production of The Owl and the Pussycat, and Barefoot in the Park, a London stage production from 1984, as a pair of American newlyweds adjusting to life in their new high-rise apartment.

In 1997, she played Eunice Hubbel in Peter Hall's production of A Streetcar Named Desire at Theatre Royal, Haymarket.

She played Queen Camilla in a Carlisle pantomime production of Snow White & the Seven Dwarves in 2007, and the following year played the Fairy Godmother at the Towngate Theatre, Basildon's production of Cinderella, reprising the role in the 2009 Harlow Playhouse theatre production of Cinderella alongside her now-husband, Mark Osmond. From December 18, 2010, to January 9, 2011, Dickinson played the evil Queen Maleficent in the pantomime Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the Corn Exchange in Exeter.[13] From December 13, 2014, to January 4, 2015, Dickinson played Queen Whoppa in the pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk at Exeter Corn Exchange.

She played Debbie in White Van Man series 1, episode 5 "Honest", first broadcast on April 12, 2011.[14] The series stars her daughter Georgia Tennant. She provides many voices including those of Granny Jojo, Mrs. Jotunheim, Felicity Parham, and the cupcake woman from The Amazing World of Gumball and is the voice of Grandma Tracey in the 2015 Thunderbirds revival.

In 2014, she understudied Angela Lansbury in the West End production of Blithe Spirit – co-starring Simon Jones, with whom she had worked on The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy – but she never got to perform Madame Arcati, other than in the public understudy run, as Lansbury did not miss a single performance.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Sandra Searles Dickinson Theatre Credits and Profile". www.abouttheartists.com.
  2. ^ a b Burrows, Raymond Earl (1975). "Robert Burrows and descendants, 1630-1974". Internet Archive. p. 978. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  3. ^ "Sandra Dickinson speaks to The American". The American. Blue Edge Publishing Ltd. Archived from the original on May 12, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  4. ^ Pipitone, R. Nathan; Gallup, Gordon G. (2008). "Women's voice attractiveness varies across the menstrual cycle". Evolution and Human Behavior. 29 (4): 268–274. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2008.02.001.
  5. ^ Beacom, Brian (August 7, 2001). "STARPROFILE Sandra Dickinson: [1 Edition]". Glasgow Evening Times. p. 19. ProQuest 335690540. Early Life: Born and raised in Washington DC, she is the daughter of well-known psychoanalyst Dr Harold Searles.
  6. ^ Sandra Dickinson (February 28, 2021). "My first trip to Finland with my baby bro... the homeland of our mother and my hair". Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2021 – via Instagram.
  7. ^ Whyte, Alistair (January 1, 1973). "Final Programme, The ; Great Britain, 1973; Director: Robert Fuest". Monthly Film Bulletin. p. 206. ProQuest 1305830344. [...] Ronald Lacey (Shades), Sandy Ratcliffe (Jenney), Mary Macleod (Nurse), Sarah Douglas (Catherine), Delores Del Mar (Fortune Teller), Sandra Dickinson (Waitress). 8,010 ft. 89 mins.
  8. ^ a b Beacom, Brian (January 30, 2000). "STARPROFILE Sandra Dickinson: [1 Edition]". Sunday Mirror. p. 12. ProQuest 339353103. Sandra's new roles are a major departure from her daffy blonde days on TV quiz programme Blankety Blank and Trillion in the cult show A Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. 'The trouble is I have a particular voice,' said Sandra, 49, who was born in California. 'THIRTY years ago I started out doing dumb blonde stuff, although I was also doing more credible work in the theatre. But I suppose I have always been a very bubbly optimistic personality and that came through on Blankety Blank.'
  9. ^ Barber, Richard (June 20, 2017). "Sandra Dickinson: People think my husband, who's 24 years younger than me, is gay". The Telegraph.
  10. ^ Price, Karen (August 12, 2010). "'I love being a cougar' - Sandra Dickinson". WalesOnline. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  11. ^ "Staines News". Shepperton actress to wed in reality TV ceremony. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
  12. ^ "Stage Door Dance". Mark Osmond Profile. Archived from the original on September 29, 2013. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  13. ^ "I get a bit carried away – I just love playing the baddie". ThisIsDevon. December 24, 2010. Archived from the original on May 5, 2013. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
  14. ^ "Honest, Series 1, White Van Man – BBC Three". BBC.

External links[edit]