Here is the biography of Lynda Bellingham:
Lynda Bellingham was a Canadian-born British actress who played many roles during her five-decade career. She was born Meredith Lee Hughes in Montreal, Quebec, to a Canadian mother and an English father. She was adopted by an English couple, Don and Ruth Bellingham, and grew up on a farm near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.
Bellingham developed an enthusiasm for acting at school and in local theatre clubs. After graduating from the Central School of Speech and Drama, she worked in Frinton and Crewe, amassing the 40 weeks of theatre necessary to get an Equity card.
She made her television debut as Nurse Hilda Price on ITV's General Hospital in the early 1970s. Her breakthrough role came in 1983 when she became the face of Oxo, starring in 42 episodes of the award-winning TV ad. She became synonymous with the role, which earned her the nickname "Oxo mum."
In addition to her work on Oxo, Bellingham appeared in numerous television shows, including All Creatures Great and Small, Second Thoughts, and Loose Women. She also had a successful stage career, starring in productions such as Calendar Girls and The Sisters Rosensweig.
Bellingham was married three times, including to a Neapolitan restaurant owner who subjected her to 15 years of physical and mental abuse. She wrote about her experiences in her autobiography, Lost and Found.
In 2013, Bellingham disclosed on Twitter that she had been diagnosed with cancer. She was made OBE in the 2014 New Year's honors list, but announced in 2014 that the cancer had spread to her liver and lungs and that she had opted to stop having chemotherapy.
Bellingham passed away on October 19, 2014, at the age of 66. Her funeral took place at St Bartholomew's Church in Crewkerne, attended by family and friends. She was buried in Crewkerne Townsend Cemetery.
