A History Of Liverpool Thespians - Sidonie Bond

 

Sidney Margaret Bond was born in 1937 in the Abercromby ward in the city centre of  Liverpool and became an actress under the name of Sidonie James Bond, acquiring her unusual James Bond surname when her father insisted she be christened James after her grandmother. Her first TV appearance was as Betty Clayton, the BD girl for 16 episodes in series 2 of the BBC police drama 'Z-Cars' (1963). Further TV appearances in the 1960s included 'Hugh and I' (1964), 'World of His Own', with Roy Kinnear and Deryck Guyler (1964-65), 'The Wild Affair' (1965) and 'The Avengers' (1966). More substantial roles followed with 3 episodes in 'The Marriage Lines' (1964-66), 8 episodes in 'Walter and Connie Reporting' (1965-66), 2 episodes in 'Steptoe and Son' ( 1965-70), 'Till Death Us Do Part' (1968) and 6 episodes of 'Castle Haven' (1969). Her last TV appearances were in 'London's Burning' (2000) and 'Sleep' (2001).

With Warren Mitchell in the 'Blood Donor' episode of Till Death Us Do Part.

Sidonie had moved to Brighton where she owned the exceptional Grade 1 listed townhouse, known as Angel House in the 1960s, which is one of the best examples of Regency architecture in the area, built in the 1820s. The house was known at that time for throwing legendary parties attended by rock stars, including John Lennon. She married Thomas Merrin in 1974 and they had 2 children. As well as her TV roles she also appeared on the big screen as Gillian in 'Darling' (1965) alongside Julie Christie, Dirk Bogarde and Laurence Harvey, plus the pseudo-documentary British sex comedy 'Suburban Wives' (1971) and she was in the Hammer film 'Demons of the Mind' (1972).  

'The Secretarial Assassins'

Her appearance in the episode of the TV series 'The Avengers' (how to succeed at murder) featured 'The Secretarial Assassins' , a group of villainesses.  The secretaries were led by Sara Penny (Angela Browne), Gladys Murkle (Anne Cunningham), and Liz Purbright (Zeph Gladstone). However, the group had many other unknown girls who made up the gang including: Mary Merryweather (Sarah Lawson); Annie (Sidonie Bond); and at least three others. 

Sidonie loved shopping at Hanningtons department store, located in Brighton and Hoves, so much so that she wrote a book about it, 'Hanningtons: A Brief History 1808-2001 by Sidonie Bond', produced by SB Publications. She liked Hanningtons from the moment she first visited Brighton as a youngster in the Sixties, so when she heard the much-loved city institution was to close in 2001 she decided to write a history of the store. She launched the book at her home in Brunswick Terrace, Hove. The actress-turned-author was heartbroken to discover Montmorency, or Monty, a near life-size statue of a lion, appeared to have been stolen from the front of her home in 2002. The two lion statues, Marmaduke and Montmorency had kept a silent guard outside one of Brighton and Hove's most prestigious addresses for 20 years and had been popular with visitors to Brunswick Terrace where they lent a regal air to the row of Regency houses since Ms Bond moved in. But Marmaduke is keeping a lone vigil at the doorway to Number One and has had to be chained up to keep the poachers away. Sidonie said, "The two lions must be more than 100 years old and are part of our history. In the summer all of the children who walk past come up to stroke them or sit on their backs. My children grew up with them and it was my daughter who named them. In the past we've had drunks try to move them but they've never got very far. It's just so sad." 

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2023/09/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians-rex.html