Sandra Dickinson (born 20 October 1948) is an American actress, born in Washington DC.
She has often played the dumb blonde with the high pitch voice in the UK – notably commencing in the St. Bruno TV advertisements in the early 1970s.
Her roles include:
Sandra Dickinson said in an interview in The Making of The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy that when she heard that she had been suggested for the role of Trillian, she thought it completely mad - Sandra Dickinson was blond and fair-skinned, and in the Hitch Hiker book, Trillian is described as dark and looking "slightly Arabic". However, during the screen test, Douglas Adams was sufficiently impressed with her acting skills that when Dickinson suggested wryly, "I've got to get my Union Jack lenses in" (i.e., practice my English accent), Douglas Adams asked her to use her natural voice and accent. Dickinson later returned to the "Hitchhiker's" universe to play Tricia MacMillan in the fifth and final radio series produced by Above the Title for BBC Radio 4.
Both Dickinson and then husband Peter Davison appeared together in former Doctor Who producer John Nathan-Turner's production of the holiday pantomime Cinderella in 1983.
Dickinson has also appeared in an episode of HBO's Tales from the Crypt series, also starring Malcolm McDowell as a neurotic vampire who prefers bloodbanks to actual victims.
She is played Queen Camilla in Carlisle pantomime production of Snow White & The Seven Dwarves in 2007 and In 2008 she will be playing Fairy Godmother at Towngate Theatre Basildon in the Pantomime Cinderella.
Dickinson married the actor Peter Davison in 1978 and they were divorced in 1994. Together they composed and performed the theme tune to the 1980s children's programme Button Moon. They have a daughter Georgia Moffett who has followed her parents into an acting career (she guest starred in the Doctor Who episode The Doctor's Daughter).
Sandra Dickinson lives in Chiswick, West London. In interviews appearing on the DVD version of the Hitchhikers TV series, it is apparent that in the 10+ years since the series, Dickinson had developed a slight English accent as well as some English word usage.
