Virginia Stride
Encyclopedia
Virginia Stride 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 actor John Stride
(born 1936), whom she met when they were studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
(RADA), and in 1964 introduced the first programme to be seen on the BBC 2 channel.
television series about the police in an area of Liverpool
. In 1964 she appeared in an episode of The Avengers
as Alice Brisket, secretary to Quilpie (played by Ronald Radd
), who was the controller of John Steed
(Patrick Macnee
) and Cathy Gale
(Honor Blackman
).
, 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, 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.
, a collection of sketches and songs, written by Alan 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. A compact disc
of surviving audio extracts was released by the BBC in 2009.
, the BBC’s weekly drama series, created by Hazel Adair and Peter Ling
, which concerned a family-run textile business in Yorkshire
. Liz Champion was a member of the company's board. She was the daughter of Jack Champion, whose father, Joe (played by Edward 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 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 solo circumnavigation
of the world.
(1966, as an hotelier who has an implied "one-night-stand" with John Mannering, the "Baron", played by Steve Forrest ), 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 about transsexualism
.
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.
and one daughter by a subsequent relationship with producer and football chairman Bill Kenwright
. She has four grandchildren.
John Stride
John Stride is an English actor best known for his television work during the 1970s. Stride was born in London, the son of Margaret and Alfred Teneriffe Stride...
(born 1936), whom she met when they were studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
(RADA), and in 1964 introduced the first programme to be seen on the BBC 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. 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”.Television in the 1960s
Virginia Stride played the recurring role of BD Girl Katy Hoskins in Z Cars (1962–64), the long-running BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television series about the police in an area of Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. In 1964 she appeared in an episode of The Avengers
The Avengers (TV series)
The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
as Alice Brisket, secretary to Quilpie (played by Ronald Radd
Ronald Radd
Ronald Radd was a British television actor.Radd starred in some 60 different TV shows between 1955 and 1976 including The Avengers, Danger Man, and Z-Cars...
), who was the controller of John Steed
John Steed
John Steed is a fictional character and the central protagonist on the popular British series The Avengers and The New Avengers, played by Patrick Macnee and Ralph Fiennes in the movie....
(Patrick Macnee
Patrick Macnee
Patrick Macnee is an English actor, best known for his role as the secret agent John Steed in the series The Avengers.-Early life:...
) and Cathy Gale
Cathy Gale
Dr Cathy Gale was a fictional character, played by Honor Blackman, on the 1960s British series The Avengers. She was the first regular female partner of John Steed following the departure of Steed's original male co-star, Dr David Keel...
(Honor Blackman
Honor Blackman
Honor Blackman is an English actress, known for the roles of Cathy Gale in The Avengers and Bond girl Pussy Galore in Goldfinger .-Early life:...
).
Play School
With Gordon RollingsGordon Rollings
Gordon Charles Rollings was a British actor who mainly appeared on television, but also appeared on-stage and in feature films. He was born in Batley, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England and started his career in radio in Israel...
, 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, 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 MarginOn the Margin
On the Margin was a British satirical comedy sketch show written and performed by Alan Bennett and a regular cast including John Sergeant, Virginia Stride, Madge Hindle and Yvonne Gilan. Guest performers included John Fortune and Jonathan Miller...
, a collection of sketches and songs, written by Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett is a British playwright, screenwriter, actor and author. Born in Leeds, he attended Oxford University where he studied history and performed with The Oxford Revue. He stayed to teach and research mediaeval history at the university for several years...
, who, together with John Sergeant
John Sergeant (journalist)
John Sergeant is a British television and radio journalist and broadcaster.-Biography:The son of a missionary who was also a distinguished linguist, Sergeant is of Russian Jewish origin on his mother's side. Sergeant's early life meant that he followed his father's work, and was raised in...
(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"
Wiping
Wiping or junking is a colloquial term for action taken by radio and television production and broadcasting companies, in which old audiotapes, videotapes, and telerecordings , are erased, reused, or destroyed after several uses...
by the BBC in the 1970s. A compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
of surviving audio extracts was released by the BBC in 2009.
Champion House
Stride's best known role was probably as the "seductive" Liz Champion in Champion HouseChampion House
Champion House is a BBC television drama series.The series dealt with the Yorkshire-based Champion family and the dramas surrounding the family textiles firm, Champion Mills. Two series were made between 1967 and 1968...
, the BBC’s weekly drama series, created by Hazel Adair and Peter Ling
Peter Ling
Peter Ling was a British writer in many media, but best known for his work in television, where he was the co-creator of the soap opera Crossroads....
, which concerned a family-run textile business in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
. Liz Champion was a member of the company's board. She was the daughter of Jack Champion, whose father, Joe (played by Edward Chapman
Edward Chapman (actor)
Edward Chapman was an English actor who starred in many films and television programmes, but is chiefly remembered as "Mr. Wilfred Grimsdale", the officious superior and comic foil to Norman Wisdom's character of Pitkin in many of his films from the late 1950s and 1960s.Chapman was born in...
), 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 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 solo circumnavigation
Circumnavigation
Circumnavigation – literally, "navigation of a circumference" – refers to travelling all the way around an island, a continent, or the entire planet Earth.- Global circumnavigation :...
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 BaronThe Baron
The Baron is a British television series, made in 1965/66 based on the book series by John Creasey, written under the pseudonym Anthony Morton, and produced by ITC Entertainment. It was the first ITC show without marionettes to be produced entirely in colour...
(1966, as an hotelier who has an implied "one-night-stand" with John Mannering, the "Baron", played by Steve Forrest ), Callan
Callan (TV series)
Callan is the title of a British television series set in the murky world of espionage. Originally produced by ABC Weekend Television and later Thames Television, it was aired on the ITV network over four seasons spread out between 1967 and 1972...
(1972), The Expert (1976), Target (1978) and A Touch of Spice (1989). Her films included I Want What I Want
I Want What I Want
I Want What I Want by Geoff Brown was first published in 1966 by Great Britain's Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Limited. A film by the same title, the script of which was written by Gillian Freeman, stars Anne Heywood....
(1972), based on Geoff Brown’s novel of 1966 about transsexualism
Transsexualism
Transsexualism is an individual's identification with a gender inconsistent or not culturally associated with their biological sex. Simply put, it defines a person whose biological birth sex conflicts with their psychological gender...
.
In the early 21st century Stride played with the Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
Theatre Company: for example, on tour in The Unexpected Guest (with, among others, Simon MacCorkindale
Simon MacCorkindale
Simon Charles Pendered MacCorkindale was a British actor, film director, writer and producer. MacCorkindale spent much of his childhood moving around due to his father's commission with the Royal Air Force. Poor eyesight prevented him from following a similar career in the RAF, so he instead...
and former singer Mark Wynter) in 2006.
Personal
She has two daughters by her first husband, actor John StrideJohn Stride
John Stride is an English actor best known for his television work during the 1970s. Stride was born in London, the son of Margaret and Alfred Teneriffe Stride...
and one daughter by a subsequent relationship with producer and football chairman Bill Kenwright
Bill Kenwright
Bill Kenwright CBE is a leading West End theatre producer and film producer.He is also the Chairman of Everton Football Club, an English professional football club from the city of Liverpool....
. She has four grandchildren.