Dolores Mantez as Nina Barry in UFO
Paulina Opoku-Gyimah says: Anyone who has studied fashion studies at LCF would have
seen iconic images of those purple wig wearing beauties with their fab silver make-up,
silver foil all-in-ones and sexy kinky boots -on UFO, “a 1970 British
television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth, created by
Gerry Anderson.” What I didn’t know until much later was that Dolores Mantez
who played the uber popular Nina Barry in UFO, the “second most frequently
appearing character in the series, appearing in 23 of 26 episodes” was mixed
race of Irish and Ghanaian origin!!!
I am presently trying to get a hold of the film ‘Sapphire’
-a 1959 British crime drama –directed by Basil Dearden about a black girl
passing for white --in which Dolores Mantez got her first film role (be it a
small one) –and would like to take this opportunity to say ‘Rest In Perfect
Peace’ to Dolores Mantez, nee Mantey for paving the way for women of
colour…. Do read more about this incredible pioneer via: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolores_Mantez
More Info
Starburst Magazine has learned of the death in November,
following a short illness, of actress Dolores Mantez. Although far from a
household name Dolores remains fondly remembered by fans of Gerry Anderson’s
classic live action science-fiction adventure series UFO in which she appeared
as Lieutenant Nina Barry, one of the famously purple-wigged operatives on
Moonbase, SHADO’s front-line defence against the continuing assault upon Earth
by green-skinned aliens in their iconic whirling dervish flying saucers.
Born in Liverpool in 1930 Dolores found her way into the
entertainment industry as a singer and, without any acting training or
experience whatsoever, found that her exotic appearance led to roles in 1960s TV series such as Danger Man with
Patrick McGoohan, Z Cars and the classic The Avengers. Dolores also appeared in
the first episode of the 1969 version of Randall and Hopkirk: Deceased. Cast as
Nina Barry in UFO Dolores went on to appear in 23 of the series’ 26 episodes,
her most memorable episode being ’Sub Smash’ where Nina finds herself trapped
underwater in a crippled submarine with SHADO Chief Straker (Ed Bishop).
Dolores’ last TV appearance was in an episode of BBC1’s The Onedin Line in 1972
whereafter she left the industry having married businessman Robert Harding and
settled down to raise a family.
http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/157696/dolores-harding
Sapphire :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNxVPm6hFl4
http://www.ufo-themovie.com/shado/
http://www.tv.com/shows/ufo/
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