Elisabeth Sladen dies of cancer

Tom Baker has written of his memories of Elisabeth Sladen and you can read them at his website:
http://www.tom-baker.co.uk/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=159

Tom also wrote a brief tribute at his website, on the occassion of the passing of Nicholas Courtney (the Brigadier):
http://www.tom-baker.co.uk/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=196


Most famous as Sarah Jame Smith - companion of the third and fourth doctor's, and later in two series of her own - K9 and Company and the Sarah Jane Smith Adventures.

I always liked Sarah...especially her performance in "Robot" and "The Brain of Morbius."

She was only 63.

Elisabeth Sladen was born on 1 February 1948 in Liverpool, England. She attended drama school for two years before joining the local repertory theatre in her home town of Liverpool. She met actor Brian Miller during her first production there and they were later married after meeting again in Manchester, three years later. Early television work included appearances on "Coronation Street" (1960), "Doomwatch" (1970), "Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em" (1973), "Public Eye" (1965) and "Z Cars" (1962). Between 1974 and 1976, she had a regular role on "Doctor Who" (1963) as Sarah Jane Smith, a part she has since reprised in K-9 and Company: A Girl's Best Friend (1981) (TV); "Doctor Who: The Five Doctors (#20.23)" (1983); the Doctor Who radio serials The Paradise of Death (1993) & Doctor Who and the Ghosts of N-Space" (1996); the Children In Need skit Doctor Who: Dimensions in Time (1993) (TV); the spin-off video drama Downtime (1995) (V) and, most recently, in the new "Doctor Who" (2005) series.

Other work on television has included _"Stepping Stones" (1977)_, "Send in the Girls" (1978), "Take My Wife..." (1979), Gulliver in Lilliput (1982) (TV), Alice in Wonderland (1986) (TV) and "Dempsey and Makepeace" (1985). In 1980, Sladen appeared in the cinema film Silver Dream Racer (1980). Since the birth of her daughter Sadie in 1985, she has spent most of her time being a mother and housewife, but has made occasional television appearances, including in "The Bill" (1984) and "Peak Practice" (1993).

Fan reaction of her reappearance as Sarah Jane Smith on "Doctor Who" (2005) resulted in the production of a second Doctor Who spin-off just for her, "The Sarah Jane Adventures" (2007).