Alice Krige

She was born on June 28, 1954, in Upington, Cape Province, South Africa, to Louis Krige and his wife Patricia. Her father was a physician and her mother was a professor of psychology.

She was raised along with her two brothers in Port Elizabeth. One of her brothers grew up to be a professor of surgery and the other became a physician. Recollecting about her early life, Alice once mentioned that she grew up in a "very happy family."

Initially, she wished to be a clinical psychologist and enrolled at ‘Rhodes University’ in Grahamstown, South Africa.

Things took a different turn when she developed a keen interest in acting after attending an acting class at ‘Rhodes University.’ This led her to obtain a ‘Bachelor of Arts’ degree and an ‘Honors’ degree in drama (1975), with distinction. She then relocated to London and attended the ‘Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.’ ‘Rhodes University’ later awarded her an honorary ‘Litt.D.’ degree in April 2004.

She made her big-screen debut with the 1976 musical drama ‘Vergeet My Nie,’ playing the role of ‘Welma de Villiers.’

The 1980 American made-for-television historical drama ‘A Tale of Two Cities,’ a film adaptation of Charles Dickens’s famous historical novel of the same title, saw her featuring in the starring role of an ideal pre-Victorian lady, ‘Lucie Manette.’

In 1980, she appeared in an episode of the British TV anthology ‘Play for Today,’ titled ‘The Happy Autumn Fields.’ The same year, she featured in an episode of the British TV crime drama ‘The Professionals,’ titled ‘Operation Susie.’

She gained immense attention as ‘Sybil Gordon’ in the ‘Academy Award’-winning 1981 British historical drama ‘Chariots of Fire.’ The film, set in 1924, was a fact-based story on two Olympic athletes, Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell.

The 1981,American horror ‘Ghost Story,’ based on Peter Straub’s 1979 book of the same title, featured Alice in the dual role of ‘Eva Galli/Alma Mobley.’