Virginia Stride (born
Virginia Thomas in
Yokohama,
Japan) is a British actress of stage and screen who first came to public attention on television in the 1960s. She was the first wife of the actor
John Stride (born 1936), whom she met when they were studying at the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), and in 1964 introduced the first programme to be seen on the
BBC 2 channel.
Early years
Virginia Stride was, in her own words, a “fat little girl” and, although she became slimmer in her teens, her self-consciousness about this in childhood had apparently made her sceptical of an acting career.
Radio Times, 29 June-5 July 1967
Television in the 1960s
<!-- Deleted image removed: -->Virginia Stride played the recurring role of BD Girl Katy Hoskins in
Z Cars (1962–64), the long-running
BBC television series about the police in an area of
Liverpool. In 1964 she appeared in an episode of
The Avengers as Alice Brisket, secretary to Quilpie (played by
Ronald Radd), who was the controller of
John Steed (
Patrick Macnee) and
Cathy Gale (
Honor Blackman).Episode,
The Outside-In Man
Play School
With
Gordon Rollings, Stride was the first...
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