- published: 29 Dec 2012
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Alexandra Bastedo (born 9 March 1946, Hove, Sussex, England) is a British actress, best known for her role as secret agent Sharron Macready in the 1968 British espionage/science fiction adventure series The Champions. She has been cited as a sex symbol of the 1960s and '70s.
According to her official website, her mother is of French, German and Italian descent. Her Canadian-born father is of Spanish, Dutch, Scottish and native Indian extraction. She attended Brighton and Hove High School and Worthing School of Drama. Her husband is the director Patrick Garland, noted for his direction of the Chichester Festival Theatre, whom she married in 1980.
Bastedo gained fame on the European continent, earning her the nickname, "La Bastedo". Although most familiar to viewers of 1960's TV, she was also famous for her multilingual skills, speaking Italian, Spanish, French and German. This skill brought her to the door of 10 Downing Street to assist with translations and landed her the role of co-presenter of Miss World competitions with Peter Marshall in the 1980s. In the early 1990s she appeared in an episode of Absolutely Fabulous playing a 1960's model associate of Edina and Patsy. In 1991 she appeared in a notable production of the psychological thriller Dangerous Obsession by N. J. Crisp, opposite Marc Sinden and John Challis, at the Mill at Sonning.