Elisabeth Sladen

Elisabeth Clara Heath-Sladen (1 February 1946 – 19 April 2011) was an English actress best known for her role as Sarah Jane Smith in the British television series Doctor Who. She appeared as a regular cast member from 1973 to 1976, alongside Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, and reprised the role in subsequent decades on Doctor Who and its spin-offs, K-9 and Company (1981) and The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007–2011). Sladen began her career in the mid-1960s and won several television roles after moving to London in 1970. She had other roles on both television and radio before semi-retiring in the mid-1980s to raise a family.