- Virginia Stride
Virginia Stride (born Virginia Thomas in
Yokohama ,Japan ) is a British actress of stage and screen who first came to public attention on television in the 1960s. She was the first wife of the actorJohn Stride (born 1936), whom she met when they were studying at theRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), and in 1964 introduced the first programme to be seen on theBBC 2 channel.Early years
Virginia Stride was, in her own words, a “fat little girl” and, although she became slimmer in her teens, her self-consciousness about this in childhood had apparently made her sceptical of an acting career ["Radio Times", 29 June-5 July 1967] . In the event, she went to RADA, rather than read English at university, and took her husband’s name for professional purposes because of pressure from agents who felt that Virginia Thomas “didn’t sound quite right” ["Radio Times", 29 June-5 July 1967] .
Television in the 1960s
Virginia Stride played the recurring role of Kathy Hoskins in "
Z Cars " (1962-73), the long-runningBBC television series about the police in an area ofLiverpool . In 1964 she appeared in an episode of "The Avengers" as Alice Brisket, secretary to Quilpie (played byRonald Radd ), who was the controller ofJohn Steed (Patrick McNee ) andCathy Gale (Honor Blackman ) [Episode, "The Outside-In Man"] ."Play School"
With
Gordon Rollings , Stride was the first presenter, on 21 April 1964, of "Play School", BBC 2's daily programme for young children. Due to a power failure that coincided with the channel's scheduled opening the previous evening [Burton Graham (1974) "A Do You Remember Book: Television"] , "Play School" was the first programme to be transmitted on BBC 2. Stride's greeting, "Hello. I'm Virginia", immediately struck a note of informality that contrasted with the aunt-like way that children had tended to be addressed in programmes of the 1950s and early 60s."On the Margin"
In 1966 Stride appeared in the BBC comedy series "
On the Margin ", a collection of sketches and songs, written byAlan Bennett , who, together with John Sergeant (later the BBC’s political correspondent), also starred in the show. The six episodes of "On the Margin" were twice repeated in 1967 but were among many programmes "wiped" by the BBC in the 1970s [See Mark Lewisohn at [http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/o/onthemargin_1299002410.shtml] ] ."Champion House"
Stride's best known role was probably as the "seductive" ["Radio Times", 29 June-5 July 1967] Liz Champion in "
Champion House ", the BBC’s weekly drama series, created byHazel Adair andPeter Ling [Adair and Ling created the long-running daily "soap opera", "Crossroads", in 1964.] , which concerned a family-run textile business inYorkshire . Liz Champion was a member of the company's board. She was the daughter of Jack Champion, whose father, Joe (played byEdward Chapman ), had made the company over to him, only to see it pass, after Jack’s early death, to Liz’s eldest brother Stephen (James Kerry ), who had his own less compliant ideas of the firm’s direction.The first episode of "Champion House" was shown on 28 May 1967 ["Radio Times", 27 May-2 June 1967] and there was a second series in 1968. Its initial profile was assisted by live coverage on 28 May of the return of
Sir Francis Chichester from his solocircumnavigation of the world.Other roles
Stride appeared in episodes of a number of other television series, including "
Out of the World " (1962), "Public Eye " (1966), "The Baron " (1966, as an hotelier who has an implied "one-night-stand " with John Mannering, the "Baron", played by Steve Forrest [Episode, "The Persuaders", 16 November 1966] ), "Callan" (1972), "The Expert " (1976), "Target" (1978) and "A Touch of Spice" (1989). Her films included "I Want What I Want " (1972), based on Geoff Brown’s novel of 1966 abouttranssexualism .In the early 21st century Stride played with the
Agatha Christie Theatre Company: for example, on tour in "The Unexpected Guest" (with, among others,Simon MacCorkindale and former singer Mark Wynter) in 2006 [ [http://www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk/English/whatson_detail.asp?ID=199 New Theatre, Cardiff | What's On ] ] .Notes
External links
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