Alexandra Pigg was born Sandra E McKibbin in Mill Road Hospital in 1962 but later changed her name to Alexandra Pigg for her acting career. She was brought up in Knotty Ash, Liverpool and attended the Holly Lodge Girls' Grammar School, later to be the Holly Lodge Girls' College. To finance and gain a union card to enable her acting career, she became a nightclub dancer and would dance alongside her pet snake, named Emma. Then in 1982 she became one of 'Brookside's' original characters, Petra Taylor, when she debuted on-screen during the episode broadcast on the 23rd of November 1982. Aged twenty when she joined the cast, Mark Thomas from the Liverpool Echo reported than Petra would be introduced into 'Brookside' a few weeks after its premiere episode. Alexandra was optimistic about being cast in a new show and told Thomas that "I think people will watch it right away in Liverpool, because it is set here, down south it might take a bit longer." The episode dealing with Petra's suicide was broadcast on the 25th of January 1984, when her death occurred off-screen at a North Wales boarding house. In 1987, she told Peter Grant from the Liverpool Echo that "after playing the depressing Petra in Brookside it was a relief believe me, to be away from the soap character - even though I am proud of my involvement in 'Brookside'."
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| With husband Gavin Taylor (Daniel Webb) - far right |
Then came the cult romantic comedy film, 'Letter to Brezhnev' (1985), shot over three weeks in Liverpool on a shoe-string budget and filmed in the State nightclub which helped launch the careers of its young stars and made some of them household names. The film is about working class life in Liverpool and starred Alexandra as Elaine and Margi Clarke as Theresa, it was written by Frank Clarke, and presented Liverpool as a city that had fallen on tough times during Thatcher's Britain. It revolved around two Soviet sailors, Peter and Sergei, who go ashore in Liverpool to spend one night on the town. Peter can speak a minimal amount of English but it's enough to make contact with two Liverpudlian natives, Elaine and Theresa. Elaine and Peter immediately fall in love with each other, but the night is short and they must leave with the ship. Elaine can't forget him and writes a letter to Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev, asking him to make it possible for them to reunite.
Following her role in the 1985 film she starred in the BBC film 'Smart Money' (1986), as Zina in the TV series 'Ticket for the Titanic' (1988), in 'Strapless' (1989) with Bridget Fonda and Spencer Leigh and 'A Chorus of Disapproval' (1989) with Anthony Hopkins and Jeremy Irons. Following 'Chicago Joe and the Showgirl' (1990) with Kiefer Sutherland and Emily Lloyd, she was in the series 'Making Out' (1990), again alongside Margi Clarke in this mixed comedy and drama portraying the factory floor women at New Lyne Electronics in Manchester. The same year she played a car hire girl in 'Bullseye!' (1990) starring Michael Caine and Roger Moore. Three more appearances followed, firstly in the TV movie 'Murder East - Murder West' (1990), the TV series 'El C.I.D.' (1991) and finally in 'Immortal Beloved' (1994) with Gary Oldman.
Alexandra was originally cast in the role of Kochanski in the pilot episode of 'Red Dwarf' but was unavailable for new recording dates following an electricians' strike, so the part then went to Glaswegian actress and lead singer of the new wave band 'Altered Images', Clare Grogan. During her successful film career, she has been married three times. Firstly to film director Bernard Rose with whom she has a daughter, Ruby Rose. When Bernard was developing 'Candyman', Alexandra was down to play the lead character Helen, with their friend Virginia Madsen to play to role of Helen's friend, Bernie. However the choice was then made to make the character of Bernie African American so Virginia lost the part, but as shooting was about to commence, Alexandra discovered that she was pregnant so the role of Helen was offered to Madsen. Following her divorce from Bernard she was then married to producer Tarquin Gotch with whom she has a daughter, Lucia and a son, Roman Gotch. Having been divorced twice, in a satisfying twist, she was interviewed with her 'Letter to Brezhnev' co-star Peter Firth (who played Peter, Elaine's love interest) on BBC Breakfast in April 2017. During the interview, Firth explained that they dated briefly after making the film and that they have been in a relationship since 2010. The couple married in London on Christmas Eve in 2017.
see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/08/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians-craig.html
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