Premier Pop C Pop Culture News – Movies, Comics, Television, Books, Toys, Games, and More It is with deep sadness comes the news that Elisabeth Sladen of Doctor Who fame has passed away today, April 19th, at the age of 63.
Ms. Sladen, affectionately known as Lis to her many friends and fans, joined the widely popular Doctor Who series in 1973 as investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith. She became one of the Doctors’ most loved companions of when she joined John Pertwee as the Third Doctor and Tom Baker as the Fourth, and appeared in the series from 1973-1976.
Throughout her career, she returned to the role time and again. First in 1981 for the Doctor Who spin-off pilot K-9 and Company and then in the Doctor Who 20th Anniversary story, The Five Doctors. She also reprised the role for several Doctor Who audio plays.
In 2005, new generations of Doctor Who fans met Sarah Jane when Sladen guest starred in “School Reunion”. Based on the success of that episode, Sladen went on to star in The Sarah Jane Adventures for four years.
“I absolutely loved Lis” said Russell T Davis, the creator of The Sarah Jane Adventures of her passing today.”She was funny and cheeky and clever and just simply wonderful. The universe was lucky to have Sarah Jane Smith; the world was lucky to have Lis.”
“‘Never meet your heroes’ wise people say” said executive producer of Doctor Who, Steven Moffat. “They weren’t thinking of Lis Sladen. Sarah Jane Smith was everybody’s hero when I was younger, and as brave and funny and brilliant as people only ever are in stories. But many years later, when I met the real Sarah Jane – Lis Sladen herself – she was exactly as any child ever have wanted her to be. Kind and gentle and clever; and a ferociously talented actress, of course, but in that perfectly English unassuming way.”
At this moment, there is no cause of death known, although she had been suffering from cancer for some time. She leaves behind her husband of 43 years, Brian Miller and their daughter Sadie.
