--- name: "Samantha Eggar" canonical: "https://film.one/person/samantha-eggar" roles: ["Actor"] born: "5 March 1939" died: "15 October 2025" reviewed_on_fi1m: 1 average_as: "actor" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-09-20T04:52:08.617015+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Samantha Eggar Actor. Born 5 March 1939 in Hampstead, London, England, UK. Died 15 October 2025. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 5 March 1939, Hampstead, London, England, UK - **Died:** 15 October 2025 - **Also known as:** Victoria Louise Samantha Marie Elizabeth Therese Eggar - **Golden Globes:** 1 Golden Globe (1 won) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha_Eggar, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q231385, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002058/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/46780 ## Fi1m on Samantha Eggar > Samantha Eggar was cast repeatedly for intensity and vulnerability in thrillers and psychological dramas, and the mainstream mostly put her in a bonnet. The two performances that last were for William Wyler in *The Collector* (1965) and David Cronenberg in *The Brood* (1979). In *Doctor Dolittle* (1967) Samantha Eggar spends a great deal of time glaring at Rex Harrison from under a bonnet. The script gives Emma Fairfax two settings, scold and convert, and nothing in between, so Eggar fills the gap with the glare, and it is the one thing she is allowed that looks like a decision. Ray Aghayan dresses her in crinolines the colour of boiled sweets. That was the mainstream getting hold of her, and it never worked out what to do with her. She had come up through Shakespearean theatre in the late 1950s and early 1960s, made her film debut in 1962, and broke through in *The Collector* (1965), playing Miranda Grey, an art student kidnapped and kept, for William Wyler. Critics have always noticed the same thing in that performance: strength and vulnerability in the same body. It made her name. Then came the large, well-behaved pictures, *Doctor Dolittle* and *The Molly Maguires* (1970), before she moved to the United States and Canada in the early 1970s. The other performance people still talk about is Nola Carveth in David Cronenberg's *The Brood* (1979). We have not reviewed it and will not judge it at length; it is enough to say that Cronenberg, like Wyler, cast her for intensity and that horror kept finding work for her when respectable drama had stopped. The pattern across the career is plain. Put her in a thriller or a psychological drama and directors reached for her; put her in a musical and she was scenery. Off screen she carried a reputation for a cold, defensive manner, which some put down to what *The Collector* had cost her. On screen, that coolness was the instrument. We felt for her in *Doctor Dolittle*. Somewhere on the voyage, with another Leslie Bricusse song stopping the story to explain a feeling we had already understood, it struck us that an actor whose trade was watchfulness had been hired to be looked at, and given nothing to watch. We were bored, and then we were irritated at being bored by something on which so much care had been spent. The later decades were television guest roles, occasional films until the early 2010s, and voice work, including Hera in *Hercules* (1997). Asked about it all in 2014, she said, "I have no regrets. Never had a regret about anything… Mind you, my agent wanted to kill me at times." If you want to see what the fuss was about, it is *The Collector*. Come to *Doctor Dolittle* for the animals, and watch what she manages with the glare. ## Biography Samantha Eggar was an English actress. She trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art and began her career in Shakespearean theatre before making her film debut in The Wild and the Willing (1962). Eggar played Emma Fairfax in Doctor Dolittle (1967). She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her performance in The Collector (1965), for which she also won a Golden Globe and the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress. Her other film roles include The Molly Maguires (1970) and The Brood (1979). She provided the voice of Hera in Hercules (1997) and appeared in television series including Columbo, Murder, She Wrote and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Eggar was born Victoria Louise Samantha Marie Elizabeth Therese Eggar on 5 March 1939 in Hampstead, London, and died on 15 October 2025 in Sherman Oaks, California. *Sources: variety.com, hollywoodreporter.com, en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (1) - *Doctor Dolittle* (1967), Fi1m 50, as Emma Fairfax — [page](https://film.one/film/doctor-dolittle.md) ## Complete filmography (81) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *The Nine Lives of Chloe King* (2011), series, as Olivia Rezza - *Commander in Chief* (2005), series, as Sara Templeton - *Disney Heroes Volume 1* (2005), as Hera (voice) - *Cold Case* (2003), series, as Sister Vivian Dole (2003) - *She Spies* (2002), series, as Huffy English Woman - *The Astronaut's Wife* (1999), as Dr. Patraba - *Loss of Faith* (1998), as Sara Strong - *Hercules* (1998), series, as Hera (voice) - *Hercules* (1997), as Hera (voice) - *Everything to Gain* (1996), as Diana Keswick - *Siegfried & Roy: Masters of the Impossible* (1996), Actor - *The Phantom* (1996), as Lily Palmer - *Inevitable Grace* (1994), as Brit - *The Magic Flute* (1994), as Queen of the Night - *Burke's Law* (1994), series, as Catherine Lanier - *The Secrets of Lake Success* (1993), series, as Diana Westley - *A Case for Murder* (1993), as Ellen Denvers - *Round Numbers* (1992), as Anne - *Dark Horse* (1992), as Mrs.Curtis - *P.J. Sparkles* (1992), as Mrs. O'Mally / Crown (voice) - *The Legend of Prince Valiant* (1991), series, as Queen Guinevere (voice) - *Ragin Cajun* (1991), as Dr. May - *Dors: The Other Diana* (1990), Actor - *A Ghost in Monte Carlo* (1990), as Jeanne - *Davy Crockett: Rainbow in the Thunder* (1988), as Ory Palmer - *Star Trek: The Next Generation* (1987), series, as Marie Picard — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/star-trek-the-next-generation.md) - *Love Among Thieves* (1987), as Solange - *L.A. Law* (1986), series, as Camille Bancroft - *Matlock* (1986), series, as Katherine Randolph - *The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents* (1985), series, as Lisa Talbot - *George Burns Comedy Week* (1985), series, as Mrs. Cratchit - *Murder, She Wrote* (1984), series, as Marta Quintessa - *Finder of Lost Loves* (1984), series, as Megan Brody - *For the Term of His Natural Life* (1983), series, as Mrs. Vickers - *Curtains* (1983), as Samantha Sherwood - *The Hot Touch* (1982), as Samantha O'Brien - *Hotel* (1982), series, Actor - *Darkroom* (1981), series, as Miss Alexis St. Clair - *Demonoid* (1981), as Jennifer Baines - *Aloha Paradise* (1981), series, Actor - *Magnum, P.I.* (1980), series, as Laura Bennett - *The Exterminator* (1980), as Dr. Megan Stewart - *Hart to Hart* (1979), series, Actor - *The Brood* (1979), as Nola Carveth - *Tales of the Unexpected* (1979), series, as Gwen Carter - *Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women* (1978), as Billie Burke - *The Biggest Battle* (1978), as Annelise Ackermann - *Fantasy Island* (1978), series, as Helena Marsh - *Unknown Powers* (1978), as Hostess - *The Love Boat* (1977), series, as Mary-Louise Murphy, Meg Chase - *The Uncanny* (1977), as Edina Hamilton (segment "Hollywood 1936") - *Why Shoot the Teacher?* (1977), as Alice Field - *Welcome to Blood City* (1977), as Katherine - *The Seven-Per-Cent Solution* (1976), as Mary Morstan Watson - *The Killer Who Wouldn't Die* (1976), as Anne Roland - *The Hemingway Play* (1976), as Glynis - *Family* (1976), series, Actor - *Starsky & Hutch* (1975), series, as Charlotte - *The Legendary Curse of the Hope Diamond* (1975), as Evalyn Walsh McLean - *Baretta* (1975), series, Actor - *All the Kind Strangers* (1974), as Carol Ann - *Lucas Tanner* (1974), series, Actor - *Double Indemnity* (1973), as Phyllis Dietrickson - *A Name for Evil* (1973), as Joanna Blake - *Anna and the King* (1972), series, as Anna Owens - *The Dead Are Alive* (1972), as Myra Shelton - *Columbo* (1971), series, as Vivian Brandt — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/tv/columbo.md) - *The Light at the Edge of the World* (1971), as Arabella - *The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun* (1970), as Danielle Lang, dit : Dany - *The Walking Stick* (1970), as Deborah Dainton - *The Molly Maguires* (1970), as Mary Raines - *Hawaii Five-O* (1969), series, as Agnes DuBois - *Doctor Dolittle* (1967), as Emma Fairfax — Fi1m 50, [page](https://film.one/film/doctor-dolittle.md) - *Walk Don't Run* (1966), as Christine Easton - *Return from the Ashes* (1965), as Fabienne Wolf - *The Collector* (1965), as Miranda Grey - *Psyche 59* (1964), as Robin - *Dr. Crippen* (1963), as Ethel Le Neve - *Doctor in Distress* (1963), as Delia Mallory - *The Wild and the Willing* (1962), as Josie Stevens - *The Saint* (1962), series, as Claire Avery ## Gallery - ![Publicity photo of Samantha Eggar, 1965](https://film.one/media/person/1242857/gallery-ac162d2e1301.png) Publicity photo of Samantha Eggar, 1965 — United Artists, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Samantha_Eggar_-_Return_to_Ashes_1965.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Samantha Eggar](https://film.one/media/person/1242857/gallery-dc9b5d955702.jpg) Samantha Eggar — CBS Television, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Samatha_Eggar_Anna_and_the_King_1972.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Photo of Yul Brynner and Samantha Eggar from the television program Anna and the King. Brynner portrayed the King of Siam in the stage and film versions also. (1972)](https://film.one/media/person/1242857/gallery-b0c122c1d389.jpg) Photo of Yul Brynner and Samantha Eggar from the television program Anna and the King. Brynner portrayed the King of Siam in the stage and film versions also. (1972) — CBS Television, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Yul_Brynner_Samantha_Eggar_Anna_and_the_King_1972.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Samantha Eggar](https://film.one/media/person/1242857/gallery-bf5eaedfdf4c.jpg) Samantha Eggar — Image via TMDB - ![Samantha Eggar](https://film.one/media/person/1242857/gallery-85eaa6dc8723.jpg) Samantha Eggar — Image via TMDB ## Awards ### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated - 1966: Best Actress (nominated), for *The Collector* ### Golden Globes — 1 won - 1966: Golden Globe Awards (won), for *The Collector* ### Cannes Film Festival — 1 won - 1965: Best Actress (won), for *The Collector* *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/samantha-eggar