Olga Lowe
Overview
- Occupation Actress
- Birthdate September 14, 1919
- Birthplace Durban, South Africa
- Died September 2, 2013
- Character Lieutenant Anne-Marie Schwartz
Biography
Olga Lowe (14 September 1919 – 2 September 2013) was a South African–born British actor of film, stage, and television. After an uncredited screen debut in Trottie True (1949), she built a reputation for range—The Stage called her “extraordinarily versatile”—with credits spanning EastEnders, Where Eagles Dare, Carry On Abroad, Steptoe and Son Ride Again, and The Riddle of the Sands.
Born in Durban to a family of Russian-Jewish heritage on her father’s side, Lowe moved to London in 1935. She worked in Brazil with Carmen Miranda’s cabaret and, in 1942, survived the torpedoing of the liner City of New York while sailing back to South Africa. After the war she returned to Britain, toured in rep, and shared the London Palladium stage with Harpo Marx in 1949. Her breakthrough came in 1954 in the original London Pal Joey, cheekily delivering “Zip,” followed by success in The Pajama Game (1955). Later theatre included Kenneth Branagh’s Uncle Vanya (Lyric Hammersmith, 1991) and Peter Hall’s Old Vic company (1997).
A childhood friend of Sid James, Lowe—together with her first husband, John Tore—helped nudge his early British film career. In 1976 she was performing opposite James in The Mating Season at the Sunderland Empire when he suffered a fatal heart attack on stage.
Lowe married three times: to Tore (who died in 1959), then Peter Todd (divorced 1962), and, in 1970, to actor Keith Morris, who survived her. She died on 2 September 2013, aged 93, twelve days shy of her 94th birthday.
Selected films
- State Secret - 1950
- Hotel Sahara - 1951
- So Little Time - 1953
- Oh... Rosalinda!! - 1955
- Avengers, The (TV-series) - 1961
- Where Eagles Dare - 1969
- Persuaders!, The (TV-series) - 1971
- Steptoe and Son Ride Again - 1973
- Carry on Abroad - 1973
- Don't Drink the Water (TV-series) - 1974
- Return of the Saint (TV-series) - 1978
- Riddle of the Sands, The - 1979
- Nijinsky - 1980
- East Enders (TV-series) - 1985
- Hercule Poirot's Christmas (TV) - 1994
- Cous-cous - 1996