A South African actress, born June 28, 1954, in South Africa. She moved in 1976 to London, where she studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama. Her first appearance on British television was in 1979. She appeared in the TV movie A Tale of Two Cities, and then the movie Chariots of Fire (1981). She received the Laurence Olivier Award for Most Promising Newcomer and participated in many plays such as King Lear and The Taming of the Shrew after joining the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her other notable work includes Sleepwalkers (1992), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), and Thor: The Dark World (2013). She was recently awarded an honorary Litt.D. degree from Rhodes University.