Stephanie Beacham

A British stage actress who migrated to the USA to play the bitchy Sable Coolly on "Dynasty II: The Cloys" (ABC, 1985-87), Stephanie Beacham has often been cast in roles that vary between nasty vixens and cool, take-charge women. The London native began her career on stage in Liverpool in 1964 where she was a founding member of the Everyman Theatre. She debuted there in "The Servant of Two Masters" and as the First Witch in "Macbeth." By 1970, Beacham was working on the London stage in "The Basement" and later appeared opposite Ian McKellen in "Venice Preserved" (1985) and Jeremy Irons in "The Rover" (1988). She belatedly made her Broadway debut in 1996 in a production of Oscar Wilde's "An Ideal Husband."

Beacham debuted in films in 1969's "The Games" as an Olympic hopeful opposite Michael Crawford. She subsequently appeared as a swinger alongside Ava Gardner in Roddy McDowell's "The Devil's Widow" (1971). More recently, she was a nemesis to Shelly Long in the pallid comedy "Troop Beverly Hills" (1989). Beacham has feared better on the small screen, She reprised her role as the bitch-goddess Sable on "Dynasty" for the 1988-89 season. She switched to comedy in the title role of "Sister Kate" (NBC, 1989-90), a nun more familiar with work in the high echelons of power now assigned to run an orphanage. Beacham had the recurring role of Luke Perry's mother on Fox's "Beverly Hills, 90210" and later played the very able Dr. Westphalen for two seasons (1993-95) on NBC's "seaQuest DSV."