Christina Pickles

In 1989, she became a US citizen.

Since the mid-1980s, she was romantically associated with American stage, film, and TV actor Herb Edelman, her co-star from ‘St. Elsewhere.’ Their relationship continued till Edelman’s death in July 1996.

She was born on February 17, 1935, in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England, to Arthur Pickles and his wife, Gladys (née Crampton) Pickles. Her father was a British architect and ‘Liberal Party’ politician who served as the ‘Mayor of Halifax’ for a year.

At age 15, she enrolled at the ‘Royal Academy of Dramatic Art’ in London, England. Her classmates included Brian Bedford, Peter O’Toole, and Albert Finney. Following her graduation in the late 1950s, she relocated to New York City, where she lived with her classmate and friend Donald Moffat and his wife.

English actor and radio presenter Wilfred Pickles was her uncle. Her brother James Pickles was an English barrister and circuit judge. Carolyn Pickles, her niece, is also an English actor.

She began her acting career in 1961 with the play ‘Look Back in Anger,’ staged at the ‘Arena Stage’ in Washington DC. She appeared in the William Shakespeare play ‘Measure for Measure,’ staged at the outdoor festival ‘Shakespeare in the Park’ and originally conceived by theatrical director–producer Joseph Papp.

She auditioned for the role of a maid in the play ‘The Way of the World’ by George Devine and ended up playing the lead role.

She made her ‘Broadway’ debut in 1964 with the play ‘A Severed Head,’ adapted from Iris Murdoch’s 1961 novel of the same name. She went on to perform in other ‘Broadway’ productions such as ‘Sherlock Holmes,’ ‘Hamlet,’ ‘Inadmissible Evidence,’ ‘War and Peace,’ ‘You Can't Take It with You,’ and ‘The Misanthrope.’

She made her TV debut in 1970 with the American soap opera ‘Guiding Light,’ in which she played the role of ‘Linell Conway’ till sometime in 1972.

Her first feature film was the 1974 Canadian–American black comedy ‘Seizure,’ where she essayed the part of ‘Nicole Blackstone.’ It marked the directorial debut of Oliver Stone, an ‘Academy Award’-winning American writer and filmmaker.