Jacqueline Pearce was born in 1943. She had a number of notable film and television roles, many of them associated with the science fiction and horror genres. Pearce trained at the British stage school RADA, alongside Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt, followed by a spell at Lee Strasberg’s Actors Studio in Los Angeles.
In her early career, Jacqueline Pearce featured in two Hammer horror films: The Plague of the Zombies and The Reptile. She also featured in the movie Sky West and Crooked, which starred Hayley Mills. Later, in her post- Blake’s 7 career she appeared in a Doctor Who serial.
Among these roles, Pearce was best known as the villain Servalan in the British science fiction TV series Blake’s 7. She began the series as the Supreme Commander of an Earth based fascist regime, before rising to President in a military coup. Despite battling Blake and his insurrectionists her character had a love-hate relationship with the character Avon, played by Paul Darrow. This year Blake’s 7 celebrated its fortieth anniversary. Although the television version of the show ended in 1981, Pearce continued to play her character in a series of audio adventures.
In her later years Pearce lived in South Africa for several years to care for orphaned monkeys. She returned to the U.K. in 2015, to live in Lancashire. Pearce passed away, on September 3, shortly after being diagnosed with lung cancer.
Her friend John Ainsworth told The Daily Telegraph: “She liked a glass of champagne and liked everyone to have a good time with her, and of course she was a brilliant actress and everyone who worked with her remembered her very fondly.”
Tributes have flooded in on Twitter following the news of her death.
Digital Journal noted the passing of the titular star of Blake’s 7, Gareth Thomas, back in 2016. See: “Actor Gareth Thomas has died.”
