Born on May 22, 1950, in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, to a family of Estonian refugees, Mary was raised in Bradford, then trained at RADA. She began her career with the Birmingham Repertory Company in 1971, then in 1972 came to Lodon to appear in a rock musical called Mother Earth.
Her film credits include The Odessa File and Three Kinds of Heat (with Sylvester McCoy) and her television credits include appearing on the popular Coronation Street, as well as Casualty, Poirot, The Bill, Bergerac, and Brookside. A one-time opponent to Doctor Who, she was originally reluctant to audition for the part of Romana. After being told that it would be a departure from the traditional Companion, she went ahead and was given the role. However, it was not as much of a departure as she had been led to believe, and she left after a single season.
She has taught improvisation and direction to stuedents at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts. In 1978, she married businessman Marcus Ringrose. They have a daughter named Lauren.
In the mid-eighties, she appeared in John Nathan-Turner's pantomime production of Cinderella as Prince Charming, along with Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, and Anthony Ainley.Mary enjoys wearing men's clothing to illustrate that she doesn't believe that a woman needs to wear a short skirt or a low cut top to be sexy. Mary's always been interested in outer space because, she says, "I'd hate to think the only important things are those you can see and touch."
Adapted from the Visions '91 biography of Mary Tamm, copyright ©1995 by Her Majesty's Entertainment, Hoffman Estates, IL, USA. Used with permission.
As you might be able to tell from the bio, Mary has an offbeat way of looking at things. She consulted a mystic before telling the producer she wanted to leave, to ask if she was making the right decision. The mystic supposedly said that she was making the right decision but that the character would continue. This puzzled her for a while.
I met Mary at Visions '91, but unfortunately only briefly. As she has said herself, she has the reputation for being somewhat aloof, perhaps because of the regal way she carries herself. In fact (she says), she is quite shy, with many acquaintances but only a few close friends.
Back to the TARDIS.