# Kate O'Mara
**Kate O'Mara** (born Francesca Meredith Carroll; 10 August 1939 – 30 March 2014) was an English film, stage, and television actress best known for playing [Cassandra](https://www.edgepedia.org/cassandra) "Caress" Morrell, the scheming sister of [Joan Collins](https://www.edgepedia.org/joan-collins)' Alexis Colby, on the American soap opera *Dynasty*, and the renegade Time Lady the Rani in *Doctor Who*.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 10 August 1939, Leicester, England; birth name Francesca Meredith Carroll[1](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/kate-o-mara-actress-whose-feline-beauty-allowed-her-to-play-the-vamp-on-tv-but-who-also-scored-a-string-of-successes-on-stage-9226674.html) |
| Died | 30 March 2014, Sussex, England, aged 74, in a nursing home after a short illness[2](https://time.com/42910/kate-omara-dynasty-dead/) |
| Best-known role | Caress Morrell on *Dynasty*, joined in 1986 for seasons six and seven before returning to Britain[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/kate-omara) |
| *Doctor Who* | Played the Rani in two serials opposite Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy, and reprised the role in the 1993 spoof *Dimensions in Time*[2](https://time.com/42910/kate-omara-dynasty-dead/) |
| Hammer horror films | *The Vampire Lovers* and *The Horror of Frankenstein*, both 1970[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0140933/fullcredits) |
| Stage career | Professional debut in 1963 as Jessica in *The Merchant of Venice*; co-founded the British Actors Theatre Company in 1987[5](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/biographies/kate-omara) |
| Writing | Two novels, *When She Was Bad* (1991) and *Good Time Girl* (1993), and the autobiography *Vamp Until Ready – A Life Laid Bare* (2003)[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0140933/fullcredits) |
## Early life and stage beginnings
O'Mara was born in [Leicester](https://www.edgepedia.org/leicester) in 1939, the fifth generation of an acting family. Her mother, Hazel Bainbridge, had made her debut as a baby in 1909 in the Victorian melodrama *The Octoroon* and was later cast as Wendy in *Peter Pan* by [J. M. Barrie](https://www.edgepedia.org/j-m-barrie) himself; her father, John F. Carroll, was a flying instructor for the [Royal Air Force](https://www.edgepedia.org/royal-air-force)[1](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/kate-o-mara-actress-whose-feline-beauty-allowed-her-to-play-the-vamp-on-tv-but-who-also-scored-a-string-of-successes-on-stage-9226674.html). Her younger sister, Belinda Carroll, also became an actor. Expelled from a convent school in Woking, she took her O-level exams independently and attended the Aida Foster stage school in London[5](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/biographies/kate-omara).
She made her film debut in 1956 as Merrie Carroll in *Home and Away*, playing Jack Warner's daughter, and her television debut in 1957 as a nurse in the medical drama *Emergency-Ward 10*. She then worked backstage, as a wardrobe mistress at Glyndebourne and a wig specialist at [Stratford-upon-Avon](https://www.edgepedia.org/stratford-upon-avon), and taught at a girls' school in Sussex, before becoming a professional actress in 1963[5](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/biographies/kate-omara). Her professional stage debut came as Jessica in *The Merchant of Venice*, at age 24[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0140933/fullcredits). Her break was the film version of Shaw's *Great Catherine* (1968), and her West End debut followed the same year when she took over the role of Elsa in *The Italian Girl* at Wyndham's Theatre[1](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/kate-o-mara-actress-whose-feline-beauty-allowed-her-to-play-the-vamp-on-tv-but-who-also-scored-a-string-of-successes-on-stage-9226674.html).
## Hammer horror and 1970s television
In 1970 she starred in two Hammer Studio horror films, *The Vampire Lovers* and *The Horror of Frankenstein*, in darkly alluring femme-fatale parts. Hammer offered her a contract after *The Vampire Lovers*; she declined, wary of being typecast in horror roles[5](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/biographies/kate-omara). Through the 1970s she moved between theater and television, taking guest parts in popular series including *The Avengers*, *The Saint*, *Department S*, and *Jason King*[6](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/kate-omara/credits/3000056818/).
Her first major television role was as Julia Main in the ITV series *The Main Chance*, followed by a regular part as Jane Maxwell in the BBC drama *The Brothers*, a role originally written for a man[5](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/biographies/kate-omara). In the early 1980s she starred in the BBC soap opera *[Triangle](https://www.edgepedia.org/triangle-1981-tv-series)*, which has often been cited as one of the worst television series ever produced[5](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/biographies/kate-omara).
## *Doctor Who* and *Dynasty*
Between 1985 and 1987 she played the Rani, a renegade Time Lady and formidable adversary, in two *Doctor Who* serials opposite Doctors Colin Baker and [Sylvester McCoy](https://www.edgepedia.org/sylvester-mccoy); the character made her a memorable part of the show's lore[2](https://time.com/42910/kate-omara-dynasty-dead/) • [5](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/biographies/kate-omara). She reprised the Rani in the 30th-anniversary *Children in Need* spoof *Dimensions in Time* in 1993[5](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/biographies/kate-omara).
Between her *Doctor Who* appearances she auditioned for the *Dynasty* spin-off *The Colbys* and was offered a role alongside [Stephanie Beacham](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephanie-beacham), but had to decline because of her commitment to the stage play *Light Up the Sky* at the Old Vic. Shortly afterward she was cast as Caress Morrell on *Dynasty* itself, appearing in 17 episodes of the sixth season and 4 of the seventh from 1986[5](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/biographies/kate-omara). Of playing opposite Joan Collins she said, "We had a tremendous bitchy tension between us." She disliked living in California and was relieved when producers released her from a five-year contract, after Collins convinced them that two brunettes on the show was a bad idea[5](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/biographies/kate-omara).
## Theatre company and later career
**The British Actors Theatre Company.** In 1987 she used part of her *Dynasty* earnings, which had run to $20,000 an episode, to found the British Actors Theatre Company with Peter Woodward, and dropped to £139 a week on tour. The company ran on Equity minimums, profit shares, and democratic artistic decisions, and continued into the new millennium; its 1989 *Antony and Cleopatra*, starring O'Mara and Woodward, drew publicity when theaters covered the topless image of her on its promotional material[1](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/kate-o-mara-actress-whose-feline-beauty-allowed-her-to-play-the-vamp-on-tv-but-who-also-scored-a-string-of-successes-on-stage-9226674.html) • [5](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/biographies/kate-omara).
Back on British television she played the ruthless Laura Wilde in the BBC soap *Howards' Way* from 1989 to 1990, and continued her villainous image as Jackie, Patsy Stone's older sister, in *Absolutely Fabulous* in 1995 and 2003[5](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/biographies/kate-omara) • [7](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/kate_omara/). She took recurring parts in the prison drama *[Bad Girls](https://www.edgepedia.org/bad-girls-tv-series)* as Virginia O'Kane in 2001 and as Lady Alice Fox in the revived *Crossroads* in 2003, and appeared in *Benidorm* in 2012[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0140933/fullcredits). Her stage work in these decades included Katherina in *The Taming of the Shrew*, Goneril in *King Lear* for Anthony Quayle's touring company, [Marlene Dietrich](https://www.edgepedia.org/marlene-dietrich) in *Lunch with Marlene* in 2008, and a stage adaptation of [Agatha Christie](https://www.edgepedia.org/agatha-christie)'s *Death on the Nile* in 2012[5](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/biographies/kate-omara).
## Writing and personal life
She published the novels *When She Was Bad* (1991) and *Good Time Girl* (1993) and the autobiography *Vamp Until Ready – A Life Laid Bare* (2003), in which she wrote candidly about encounters with the casting couch[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0140933/fullcredits) • [5](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/biographies/kate-omara). She married the actor Jeremy Young in 1961 (divorced 1976) and Richard Willis in 1993 (divorced 1996); her son Dickon, a stage manager, died in 2012[1](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/kate-o-mara-actress-whose-feline-beauty-allowed-her-to-play-the-vamp-on-tv-but-who-also-scored-a-string-of-successes-on-stage-9226674.html).
O'Mara died on 30 March 2014 in a Sussex nursing home after a short illness, at age 74; IMDb records the cause as ovarian cancer[2](https://time.com/42910/kate-omara-dynasty-dead/) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0140933/fullcredits). Despite a screen career built largely on vampish villains, she remained a committed stage performer throughout, playing Shakespearean roles including the Shrew four times and [Cleopatra](https://www.edgepedia.org/cleopatra) three times[8](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/david-benedict-on-theatre-5326269.html).
## References
1. [Simon Farquhar (2014). "Kate O'Mara: Actress whose feline beauty allowed her to play the vamp on TV...", The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/kate-o-mara-actress-whose-feline-beauty-allowed-her-to-play-the-vamp-on-tv-but-who-also-scored-a-string-of-successes-on-stage-9226674.html)
2. [Sam Frizell (2014). "Kate O'Mara, Former Dynasty Star, Dies at 74", Time](https://time.com/42910/kate-omara-dynasty-dead/)
3. ["Kate O'Mara", Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/kate-omara)
4. ["Kate O'Mara", IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0140933/fullcredits)
5. ["Kate O'Mara", Television Heaven](https://televisionheaven.co.uk/biographies/kate-omara)
6. ["Kate O'Mara List of Movies and TV Shows", TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/kate-omara/credits/3000056818/)
7. ["Kate O'Mara", British Comedy Guide](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/kate_omara/)
8. [David Benedict, "David Benedict on Theatre", The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/david-benedict-on-theatre-5326269.html)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › English actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames N to R*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license