Virginia Stride

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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