Lalla Ward

File:Preminger's Starlets.jpg. left to right: Debra Berger, Brigitte Ariel, Kim Cattrall and Isabelle Huppert.{{cite news |title=Preminger's Starlets |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-journal-premingers-starlets/158612881/ |access-date=7 November 2024 |work=The Atlanta Journal |date=14 August 1974 |page=24|via=Newspapers.com}}]]

Ward's stage name, "Lalla", originates from her attempts as a toddler to pronounce her own name. She left school at age 14 because she "loathed every single minute of it" and took her O-levels on her own. Ward studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama from 1968 to 1971. After spending a few years painting, she auditioned at London drama schools "as a sort of dare" to herself: {{blockquote|It was a 'see if you can do it' sort of thing, because it was the thing I hated most—just like somebody who's scared of heights might go rock climbing, or, I don't know, go potholing if they're claustrophobic.}}

Ward began her acting career in the Hammer horror film Vampire Circus (1972), and played Lottie, the teenage daughter of Louisa Trotter (Gemma Jones) in The Duchess of Duke Street, the BBC drama series of the mid-1970s.{{cite web |url=https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-novel-adaptations-volume-01-the-romance-of-crime-the-english-way-of-death-limited-edition-1001 |title=LEV1. Doctor Who: Novel Adaptations Volume 01: The Romance of Crime/The English Way of Death (Limited Edition) |work=bigfinish.com |access-date=22 December 2019}} She appeared in the films England Made Me (1973), Matushka (1973), Rosebud (1975), and Crossed Swords (or The Prince and the Pauper) (1977). In 1974, she acted in a film called Got It Made, directed by James Kenelm Clarke. Club International magazine ran a set of nude pictures, claiming they were of her but actually featuring images from the 1978 film Sweet Virgin, and Ward successfully sued the magazine. Her television work included The Upper Crusts (1973) as the daughter of Margaret Leighton and Charles Gray, Van der Valk (1973), The Protectors (1973), Quiller (1975), Who Pays the Ferryman? (1977), as Jill Haydon, daughter of the underworld crime boss William Henry (Bill) Hayden in an episode of the hard-hitting British police drama The Professionals, the episode entitled When the Heat Cools Off (1978){{Citation|title="The Professionals" When the Heat Cools Off (TV Episode 1978) – IMDb|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0679345/fullcredits|access-date=31 August 2021}} and Hazell (1979).{{cite magazine |title=Here comes the Sun |last=Cook|first=Benjamin |date=31 March 2004 |magazine=Doctor Who Magazine |publication-place=Tunbridge Wells |issue=341 |pages=14–18}} In 1980, she played Ophelia to Derek Jacobi's Hamlet in the BBC television production.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/webcasts/shada/interviews/ward/page10.shtml |title=Shakespeare and sci fi |publisher=BBC |date=24 September 2014 |access-date=22 December 2019}}

She was the second actress to play the Time Lady Romana in Doctor Who. After a guest appearance as Princess Astra in the Doctor Who story The Armageddon Factor in 1979, Ward was chosen to replace Mary Tamm, who had decided against continuing in the role.{{Cite web|url=https://drwhointerviews.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/lalla-ward-1985/|title=Lalla Ward (1985)|date=30 September 2009}} She appeared in all of Season 17's stories and then her character was written out in the third to last story of Season 18 in the story entitled Warriors' Gate.{{cite web |url=http://www.eyeofhorus.org.uk/content/editorial/interviews/ward.html |title=Interview – Lalla Ward (Romana II) |work=eyeofhorus.org.uk |access-date=22 December 2019}}

After Doctor Who, she appeared in the TV movie Schoolgirl Chums (1982),{{cite web |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7674e4a8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311115555/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7674e4a8 |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 March 2016 |title=Schoolgirl Chums (1982) |publisher=British Film Institute |access-date=22 December 2019}} and The Jeweller's Shop and The Rehearsal on stage. Ward decided to end her acting career after marrying Richard Dawkins. However, she has since reprised the character of Romana in the 1993 charity special Dimensions in Time, the 2003 webcast version of Shada, and in several Doctor Who and Gallifrey audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions.{{cite web |url=https://www.thegallifreytimes.com/comic/exclusive-interview-with-lalla-ward/ |title=EXCLUSIVE Interview With Lalla Ward |date=26 November 2014 |access-date=22 December 2019}} She also played the 'Mistress' opposite John Leeson's 'K-9' in two audio plays from BBV. In addition, she has appeared at a number of Doctor Who conventions and related special events. In November 2013, she appeared in the one-off 50th anniversary comedy homage The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03lv3mj |title=The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot |publisher=BBC |date=23 November 2013 |access-date=22 December 2019}}

Ward has recorded audio books, including Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct and Shada by Gareth Roberts and Douglas Adams. She co-narrated The Selfish Gene, The Ancestor's Tale, The God Delusion, The Blind Watchmaker and The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution with her then husband. In the 1980s. She also wrote two books on knitting and one on embroidery. Ward is a keen chef, and she contributed a recipe to The Doctor Who Cookbook which was edited by Gary Downie.{{cite book |title=The Doctor Who Cookbook |first=Gary |last=Downie |author-link=Gary Downie |chapter=E.T.T. (Extra Terrestrial Terrine) |isbn=0-491-03214-5 |publisher=W.H. Allen |location=London, U.K. |year=1985 |page=36}}

She also provided illustrations for Climbing Mount Improbable{{cite web |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-393-31682-7 |title=Climbing Mount Improbable |work=Publishers Weekly |date=15 September 1997 |access-date=22 December 2019}} and Astrology for dogs (and owners) by William Fairchild (1980).{{cite web |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10201382?q=+&versionId=11863558 |title=Astrology for dogs (and owners) / William Fairchild; illustrated by Lalla Ward |work=nla.gov.au |access-date=22 December 2019}}

Ward is a textile artist and ceramicist. Her subjects are rare and endangered animals. She refers to her technique of creating fabric pictures as thread drawing, considering this a more accurate term for her work than the commonly used thread painting.{{cite web |url=http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/sites/all/libraries/files/documents/Vanishing-Act-Thread-drawing-Detailed-Instructions.pdf |title=Vanishing Act |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222224200/http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/sites/all/libraries/files/documents/Vanishing-Act-Thread-drawing-Detailed-Instructions.pdf |archive-date=22 February 2015 |access-date=22 December 2019}}

In 2009, at the suggestion of the Gerald Durrell Foundation, she prepared an exhibition of textiles and ceramics on the theme of Galapagos wildlife. The auction raised £24,000 for the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust's campaign for the Floreana mockingbird and other wildlife of Galapagos.{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/conservation/5130889/Gerald-Durrells-Jersey-wildlife-conservation-trust-celebrates-50th-anniversary.html |title=Gerald Durrell's Jersey wildlife conservation trust celebrates 50th anniversary |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=10 April 2009 |access-date=22 December 2019}}

She has shown three exhibitions at the National Theatre, London. Her 2010 textiles exhibition, Stranded, was inspired by the evolution of animals on islands.{{cite web |url=http://www.quiltingdaily.com/blogs/pippa/archive/2010/02/05/from-television-to-textiles-an-interview-with-artist-and-actress-lalla-ward.aspx |title=From Television to Textiles: An interview with artist and actress Lalla Ward |date=5 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902143710/http://www.quiltingdaily.com/blogs/pippa/archive/2010/02/05/from-television-to-textiles-an-interview-with-artist-and-actress-lalla-ward.aspx |archive-date=2 September 2013 |access-date=22 December 2019}} In 2011, Migration featured works which combined textiles and ceramics, the subjects seeming to move across both media.{{cite web |url=http://www.indielondon.co.uk/Events-Review/nt-free-exhibitions-running-into-the-new-year |title=NT Free Exhibitions running into the New Year |access-date=22 December 2019}} The theme of Vanishing Act, 2013, was camouflage. As with previous shows, Ward made available detailed instructions explaining her techniques. She also used one glass case to recreate her workspace, including such sources of inspiration as music, quotes, and a photo of her dog.{{cite web |url=http://londoncalling.com/show/lalla-ward-vanishing-act |title=Lalla Ward Vanishing Act |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826195214/http://londoncalling.com/features/lalla-ward-vanishing-act |archive-date=26 August 2017 |access-date=22 December 2019}}

Ward has served for almost 20 years on the committee of the Actors' Charitable Trust (TACT) and 10 years as a trustee.

Ward was in a relationship with her co-star Tom Baker while working on Doctor Who, and they lived together in a flat in Deptford. The couple married in December 1980; however, the marriage lasted only 16 months. Ward attributed the separation to work commitments, different lifestyles and conflicts of interest. Regarding her marriage to Baker, Ward is quoted as saying: {{blockquote|It's something I still feel sad about. I loved – and, in many ways, still love – Tom very much. The trouble is, our careers came to be just as important as each other, and we grew apart. I was angry at suggestions that it didn't work because I was too young, or that Tom was unreasonable to me. We just irritated each other occasionally – we weren't close enough, I suppose. It was a decision we discussed and felt was for the best.{{cite web |url=http://members.wap.org/kevin.parker/chp/lalla.html |title=Lalla Ward Biography |access-date=22 December 2019 |first=Carson |last=Maynard}}}}

Ward said in 2004 that her long friendship with Douglas Adams, with whom she worked on Doctor Who, meant more to her and was "more valuable and more enduring" than her marriage to Baker.

In 1992, at his 40th birthday party, Adams introduced her to his friend Richard Dawkins, a biologist and author of books including The Selfish Gene, The Blind Watchmaker and The God Delusion.{{cite web |url=https://www.edge.org/conversation/douglas-adams-1952-2001 |title=Lament for Douglas |access-date=22 December 2019 |last=Dawkins |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Dawkins |date=17 September 2001 |publisher=Edge Foundation}} Ward and Dawkins married later that year. In 2016, in a joint statement, the couple announced their amicable separation after 24 years of marriage.{{cite news |last=Leake |first=Jonathan |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/education/article/dawkins-evolves-into-single-man-after-amicable-split-with-time-lady-sp9llk2nt |title=Dawkins evolves into single man after 'amicable' split with Time Lady |work=The Sunday Times| date=17 July 2016 |access-date=22 December 2019 |url-access=subscription}}

In 2020, she married her third husband, Nicholas Rawlins.

Sarah Ward is the daughter of Edward Ward, 7th Viscount Bangor, and his fourth wife, Marjorie Alice Banks, Lady Bangor; as such, she is entitled to use the courtesy title "The Honourable".{{cite book |first=Charles |last=Mosley |author-link=Charles Mosley (genealogist) |title=Burke's Peerage and Baronetage |edition=106th |location=Crans, Switzerland |year=1999 |publisher=Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd.}} Her father was the BBC's war correspondent in Finland at the beginning of the Second World War, while her mother was a writer and BBC producer specialising in dramatised documentaries.{{cite magazine |title=Across the Universe... |last=Cook |first=Benjamin |date=3 March 2004 |magazine=Doctor Who Magazine |publication-place=Tunbridge Wells |issue=340 |pages=14–19}} Her mother killed herself in July 1991.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/how-we-met-richard-dawkins-and-lalla-ward-1423554.html |work=The Independent |title=How We Met: Richard Dawkins and Lalla Ward |date=19 June 1994 |first=Ros |last=Drinkwater |access-date=22 December 2019}}

She has a younger brother, Edward and an older half-brother, William, who is The 8th Viscount Bangor. Through her father, she is descended from The 1st Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV and Richard III, and from The 1st Earl of Peterborough, from The 1st Viscount Mordaunt, and from The 1st Viscount Bangor.

Her great-grandmother Mary Ward was an Anglo-Irish illustrator and amateur scientist, documented as the first person in the world to die in a motor vehicle accident.{{cite web |url=https://blog.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/2013/08/30/mary-ward-the-first-person-to-be-killed-in-a-car-accident-31-august-1869/ |work=The British Newspaper Archive |title=Mary Ward, the first person to be killed in a car accident – 31 August 1869 |date=30 August 2013 |access-date=22 December 2019}}{{cite news |newspaper=King's County Chronicle |date=1 September 1869 |title=Appalling Accident: Sudden Death of the Hon. Mrs. Ward |page=3}}{{cite web |url=http://www.offalyhistory.com/articles/268/1/Mary-Ward-1827-1869/Page1.html |title=Mary Ward 1827–1869 |publisher=Offaly Historical & Archaeological Society |date=9 February 2007 |access-date=22 December 2019 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029202316/http://www.offalyhistory.com/articles/268/1/Mary-Ward-1827-1869/Page1.html |archive-date=29 October 2013}}

• Asteroid 8347 Lallaward – named after her

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• {{IMDb name|0911677}}
• [http://www.richardwho.co.uk/collections/collection48.asp Photos of Ward and information on her knitting books]

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Category:1951 births

Category:20th-century English actresses

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Category:Audiobook narrators

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Category:English film actresses

Category:English people of Irish descent

Category:English television actresses

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Category:Actresses from London