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Leslie Ann Down. Who the hell is Lesley Ann Down I hear you say? Well if you're not into the realm of American daytime soaps, kids films or spotting guest stars on TV series then this lovely English lady may well have passed you by. Lesley first came to prominence in the UK in the incredibly popular TV costume drama 'Upstairs Downstairs'. Then for a while she seemed to disappear from UK screens only for her to start appearing in imported American TV series. Her biggest success in the USA has to be her role in the daytime soap 'Sunset Beach'. If truth be told this series was a pretty awful, low budget piece of TV featuring all the melodrama, storylines and over the top acting you'd expect from a daytime soap. However it was worth it just to see Lesley ham her way through it. Here she is, gun in hand, making a house call on one of her rivals.
The children's film 'The Secret Agent Club ' featured Hulk Hogan in a kid's version of the Arnold Schwarzenegger film 'True Lies'. Lesley Ann Down played the villain(ess) of the film and was the only reason to watch a film which was too violent to be a true kids film and too dumb to be aimed at an older audience. Having said that it gave us the opportunity to see Lesley as a hissable villain resplendent in either evening dress or thigh high leather boots.
You are probably gathering that Lesley Ann Down hasn't picked her roles too carefully and you'd be right but, hey, actors need to eat like everyone else. One such example of poor selection is 'Behind Closed Doors', supposedly an erotic thriller. However it wildly missed the mark on both counts neither being erotic or thrilling. In a convoluted plot about matricide and double crosses Leslie Ann Down plays a wheelchair bound victim of a murder plot who isn't quite all she seems.
To round things off for Lesley Ann Down here are a few vidcaps from a few TV series she has guested, the majority are from an episode of the always entertaining 'Diagnosis Murder' where Lesley plays a cold hearted murderess.
Kim Cattrall. Kim Cattrall was born in Liverpool, England but most of her acting career has taken place in the US. She is now one of the major stars in 'Sex and the City' but Kim has been a regular player in low budget films for some time now. The film 'Running Delilah' had her cast as a part-human, part-cyborg law enforcement officer. The film also featured Billy Zane but wasn't very good. However just to see Kim forcing information out of an informant at gunpoint was worth the rental money.
The femme fatale role Kim Cattrall will always be remembered for (at least for those of us who have seen it) is 'Exception to the Rule'. Here Kim is a ruthless jewel thief. She seduces a gems broker in order to advance her schemes and then takes revenge on his family when he reveals all to his wife. In 'Above Suspicion' she played a wife with murder on her mind and of course in 'Star Trek 6 - The Undiscovered Country' she played a Vulcan working against the best interests of Star Fleet. Finally to finish off the Kim Cattrall images are some from the Oliver Stone TV series 'Wild Palms'.
Nancy Kwan. And to finish off we have Nancy Kwan and guess what - she's English. Okay she isn't English (she is from Hong Kong) but given the prevalence of English villains and villainesses she should be. Nancy, in fact, did study at the London Royal Ballet School before finding fame in the film 'World of Suzie Wong'. She adorned many films during the sixties and her best femme fatale role was as the chief henchwoman (along with Elke Sommer) Yu-Rang in the 'The Wrecking Crew'.
After the sixties Nancy Kwan's rate of film appearances fell and became more low budget. However she still popped up as an oriental mastermind in Eastern cheapo films such as 'Wonder Women' and 'Fowl Play' (sorry no pics). In 'Walking the Edge' Nancy played an avenging angel character who, with gun in hand, seeks revenge on those who murdered her gangster husband.
Nancy Kwan still makes the occasional film and TV appearance though not enough for my liking. In an episode of 'The A Team' she once again reverted to type to play a power hungry Chinese supercriminal, this time trying to get her hands on a radioactive isotope (old recordings so sorry about the quality).
