Phyllida Law

 ( 1932 Births ) 

She attended Glasgow Girls High up to age seven. The war began in September 1939 and Law and her brother were evacuated to family friends outside Glasgow in Lenzie, East Dunbartonshire, and attended a local school there, before Law transferred to Skelmorlie, Ayrshire, and then a school near the Clyde. At 13 she passed an entrance exam for Badminton School in Bristol, and became a boarder there. Leaving the school at 17, she initially accepted a place at university to read French and Literature, but disliked the experience and left. She then auditioned for the Bristol Old Vic School, intending to train as a stage designer, and discovered – by "happy mistake" – that she wanted to act instead.

Law was married to actor Eric Thompson from 1957 until his death in 1982. Their daughters, Emma Thompson and Sophie Thompson, are both actresses.

She was in the original London cast of La Cage aux Folles at the London Palladium in 1986, playing the role of Jacqueline.

In 2004, she guest-starred in the Rosemary & Thyme episode entitled "Orpheus in the Undergrowth" as May Beauchamp. In 2007 she guest-starred in two Doctor Who spin-off adventures: as Bea Nelson-Stanley in The Sarah Jane Adventures story "Eye of the Gorgon" and as Beldonia in the audio drama . In 1963 Law had auditioned for one of the original four regular leads in Doctor Who, "Miss McGovern". She did not win the part, the name of which was subsequently changed to Barbara Wright.