Sarah Douglas

British actress Sarah Douglas established herself on screen in a number of memorably villainous roles. Although a classically-trained stage performer, Douglas immediately began to gain onscreen recognition in genre material like the retelling of "Bram Stoker's Dracula" (CBS, 1974) and the Edgar Rice Burroughs pulp adventure "The People that Time Forgot" (1977). The following year, Douglas cemented her place as a pop-culture icon when she played the super-powered villainess Ursa in the blockbuster superhero epics "Superman" (1978) and "Superman II" (1980) opposite Terrence Stamp and Christopher Reeve. Another role as a scheming seductress for several seasons on the melodrama "Falcon Crest" (CBS, 1981-1990) further cemented her reputation as the "Queen of Mean." Firmly established as the sexy siren audiences loved to hate, Douglas was deliciously nasty as a reptilian alien invader in "V: The Final Battle" (NBC, 1984) and a power-hungry sorceress in the Schwarzenegger vehicle "Conan the Destroyer" (1984). For better or worse, B-movie sequels like "Return of the Swamp Thing" (1989) and "Return of the Living Dead III" (1993) occupied much of the actress' career throughout the 1990s. Having matured beyond her former vamp roles, she began a lucrative second career as a voice actress on animated series like "Batman Beyond" (The WB, 1999-2001) and occasionally returned to familiar territory with villainous roles in efforts like "Witchville" (Syfy, 2010). To the joy of many a convention-goer, Douglas remained eternally thankful for the genre material that had provided her with a lengthy career.