Ingrid Pitt 1937 - 2010

The actress Ingrid Pitt has died at the age of 73.

Ingrid Pitt had two roles in Doctor Who. She played the role of Galleia in the 1972 third Doctor story The Time Monster. Galleia was Queen of Atlantis and the wife of King Dalios. In 1984 she returned to the series to play Solow in the fifth Doctor story Warriors of the Deep. During the eighties she also co-wrote a Doctor Who story The Macros with her husband Tony Rudlin which, though it never progressed into a televised production at the time, was later produced by Big Finish as part of their Lost Stories series.

Pitt was best known for her work in horror films of the 1960s and 1970s. She was born in Poland on 21 November 1937 as Ingoushka Petrov. She had a German father and a Jewish mother and as a result she and her family were imprisoned in a concentration camp during the second World War. In 1965 she made her film debut in Doctor Zhivago, playing a minor role. In 1968 she co-starred in the low budget science fiction film The Omegans and in the same year played in Where Eagles Dare opposite Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood.

Her work with Hammer Film Productions elevated her to cult figure status. She starred in The Vampire Lovers, and Countess Dracula, as well as having a small part in the cult film The Wicker Man. She founded her own theatrical touring company and starred in successful productions of Dial M for Murder, Duty Free, and Woman of Straw.

Pitt made her return to the big screen in the 2000 production The Asylum. The film starred Colin Baker and Patrick Mower. In 2003, Pitt voiced the role of 'Lady Violator' in Renga Media's production Dominator. The film was the UK's first CGI animated film.

She died earlier today at a hospital in south London after collapsing a few days ago.