Mary Tamm
Known For
Acting
Born
1950-03-22 in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, England, UK
Died
2012-07-26
Biography
Mary Tamm (22 March 1950 – 26 July 2012) was a British actress who appeared in many British TV drama series and serials. She is best known for her role as Romana I in the BBC's science fiction television series Doctor Who, appearing opposite Tom Baker in the 1978–1979 story arc The Key to Time. Tamm was born in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, to an Estonian father and a half-Russian mother, who was an opera singer. Her parents had fled Estonia after four of her father's brothers had died in Stalin's gulag labour camps. Tamm spoke only Estonian at home and attended Estonian-language school on Saturdays. She did not begin learning English until she was enrolled in primary school. At age 11, she won a scholarship to attend Bradford Girls' Grammar School and joined the city's Civic Theatre. She was a graduate and an associate member of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where she studied from 1969 to 1971.
Most Known For
Agatha Christie's Poirot
as Mrs. Farley
Doctor Who
Doctor Who
as Romana
Casualty
as Virginia Wilson
Heartbeat
as Marilyn
Doctors
Bergerac
as Leslie West
Brookside
Return of the Saint
as Gerri Hanson
Public Eye
as Jenny
Parrot Fashion
Warship
Sorted
as School Mother
Jane Eyre
as Blanche Ingram
Only When I Laugh
as Leonora
CI5: The New Professionals
Spine Chillers
Twisted Tales
as Mrs Templeman
The Odessa File
as Sigi
Doctor Who: Logopolis
as Romana (I) (archive footage)