Rula Lenska

Born: September 30 1947
Where: St Neots, Cambridgeshire, UK

A real Polish countess, she landed her breakthrough in Howard Schuman's hit 1976 British TV series Rock Follies.

The daughter of the head of Radio Free Europe in Poland, she was born Countess Roza-Marie Leopoldnya Lubienska.

Her mother was detained in a concentration camp during World War II and the family lost their estate as a result of the fighting.

As a teenager she and her sister worked on radio, translating Polish songs into English and hosting their own rock show.

After attending drama school she acted in a Francis Durbridge thriller before making her big screen debut in the 1974 Peter Sellers comedy Soft Beds, Hard Battles.

Subsequent appearances included the Brit-Smut outing Confessions of a Pop Performer, the tepid Alfie sequel Alfie Darling with Alan Price and the B-movie Queen Kong.

In 1976, she was cast as Nancy "Q" Cunard de Longchamps in the hit music business drama Rock Follies alongside Charlotte Cornwell and Julie Covington.

The following years saw her concentrating on TV work, including Minder (where she met future husband Denis Waterman), Doctor Who and Robin of Sherwood.

Recent small screen work has included EastEnders and One Foot in the Grave as well as extensive stage outings, including The Vagina Monologues.

In 2003, she returned to the big screen in the Jewish comedy Paradise Grove and went on to play an art dealer in the 2004 British drama Fakers.