Samantha Eggar

Samantha Eggar
Eggar in 1964
Born	Victoria Louise Samantha Marie Elizabeth Therese Eggar (1939-03-05)5 March 1939 Hampstead, London, England
Died	15 October 2025(2025-10-15) (aged 86) Sherman Oaks, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Citizenship	British American
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1960–2012
Spouse(s)	Tom Stern ​ ​ (m. 1964; div. 1971)​
Children	2

Victoria Louise Samantha Marie Elizabeth Therese Eggar (5 March 1939 – 15 October 2025) was a British-American actress. She was known for her role in William Wyler's thriller The Collector (1965). For this role, she won a Golden Globe Award and a Cannes Film Festival Award and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1965. She later played Emma Fairfax in Doctor Dolittle (1967).

After moving to the United States in the 1970s, she appeared in The Molly Maguires (1970), The Dead Are Alive (1972), The Uncanny (1977) and David Cronenberg's thriller The Brood (1979). Eggar also voiced Hera in Disney's Hercules (1997). She also played Charlotte Devane in the soap opera All My Children in 2000.

Early life

Eggar was born in London. Her father was a British Army officer. Her mother had Portuguese and Dutch ancestors.

Career

Eggar had theatre training, performing works of Shakespeare in companies. She began making movie appearances, including roles in The Wild and the Willing (1962), Doctor in Distress (1963), and Dr. Crippen (1963).

As a young woman, Samantha Eggar became famous for playing the role of Miranda Grey in The Collector (1965), Miranda is a student who is kidnapped by a maniac Freddie Clegg, played by Terence Stamp. Her outstanding performance won Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Oscar.

She continued her work in major films such as Walk Don't Run (1966), with Cary Grant, Doctor Dolittle (1967), The Molly Maguires (1970), with Sean Connery, The Light at the Edge of the World (1971), with Kirk Douglas and Yul Brynner, Il grande attacco (1978).

Horror movies

Eggar had several roles in horror movies, including A Name for Evil (1973), as a young woman who moves into a haunted house belonging to her husband’s grandfather, The Uncanny (1977), with Ray Milland and Peter Cushing, and The Brood (1979), by David Cronenberg, as Nola Carveth, a woman who suffers horrific mutations.

In 1980s, she starred in Demonoid: Messenger of Death (1981), with Stuart Whitman, and Curtains (1983).

Television

Her television credits include the TV series, Anna and the King (1972), with Yul Brynner, Double Indemnity (1973 film), with Richard Crenna, All the Kind Strangers (1974 film), with Stacy Keach, For the Term of His Natural Life (1983 film), with Anthony Perkins, and Commander in Chief (2005-2006).

She also appeared as a special guest star in The Saint, Lucas Tanner, Baretta, Columbo, Starsky and Hutch, Hawaii 5-0, Falcon Crest, Hart to Hart, Magnum, P.I., and many more series.

Death

Eggar died on 15 October 2025 at her home in Sherman Oaks, California from chronic lymphocytic leukemia at the age of 86.

Filmography

• The Wild and the Willing Josie (1962)
• Doctor in Distress (1963)
• Dr. Crippen (1964)
• Psyche 59 (1964)
• Return from the Ashes (1964)
• The Collector (1965)
• Walk Don't Run (1966)
• Doctor Dolittle (1967)
• The Molly Maguires (1970)
• The Walking Stick (1970)
• The Lady in the Car (1970)
• The Light at the Edge of the World (1971)
• The Dead Are Alive (1971)
• A Name for Evil (1973)
• The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976)
• The Uncanny (1977)
• Welcome to Blood City (1977)
• Why Shoot the Teacher? (1977)
• Columbo: (1977) (TV series)
• The Biggest Battle (1978)
• The Brood (1979)
• The Exterminator (1980)
• The Hot Touch (1981)
• Demonoid Messenger of Death (1981)
• Curtains (1983)
• Ragin' Cajun (1991)
• Dark Horse (1992)
• Round Numbers (1992)
• Inevitable (1994)
• The Phantom (1996)
• Hercules (1997) (voice)
• The Astronaut's Wife (1999)
• Commander in Chief (2005-2006) (TV series)
• Mental (2009) (TV series)

Other websites

• Samantha Eggar on IMDb
• Samantha Eggar at TV.com
• Official website Archived 2020-09-25 at the Wayback Machine