This biography of a living person includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (January 2013) |
Pik-Sen Lim (Chinese: 林碧笙; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lîm Phaik-seng, born 15 September 1944) is a Malaysian-British actress. According to the British Film Institute, Lim was "the most familiar Chinese actor on British television screens in the 1970s and 80s."[1]
Pik-Sen Lim | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | Lim Phaik-Seng 15 September 1944 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | London School of Dramatic Art | ||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Actress, voice artist | ||||||||||||||||||
| Years active | 1964–present | ||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 林碧笙 | ||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
Her notable roles include Chin Lee in the 1971 Doctor Who serial The Mind of Evil, Chung Su-Lee on the ITV sitcom Mind Your Language (1977–79), Tsai Adams on the military drama Spearhead (1978–81), and the killer cleaner in Johnny English Reborn (2011). She was also the narrator for the Dark Souls video game series.[2]
Early life
editLim was born to Malayan Chinese parents in Penang, Straits Settlements (occupied by Japan at the time), and was the daughter of the palm oil millionaire Lim Cheng-Teik. She attended convent school in Penang, where she was nicknamed "Pixie". Since young, Lim found a love for acting, but her parents and relatives were not supportive of her desire to pursue it as a profession. Against the wishes of her family, she moved to the United Kingdom in 1961 at the age of 16 to study at the London School of Dramatic Art.[3]
Her birth name was romanized Lim Phaik-Seng, but she changed her given name to "Pik-Sen" since her British friends would mispronounce "Phaik" as "fake".
Career
editIn 1964, she appeared in the hospital drama series Emergency Ward 10, playing a nurse. There she met scriptwriter Don Houghton, whom she married in 1968.[4] The couple's daughter, Sara Houghton, is also an actress;[1] the two women once portrayed characters with the same relationship in Three Thousand Troubled Threads.[5] Sara also appeared in a serial of Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures called The Curse of Clyde Langer.
She also appeared in Don Houghton scripted Doctor Who serial The Mind of Evil in 1971 as Chin Lee (a role she later reprised in an audiodrama from Big Finish Productions), and the first three seasons of the sitcom Mind Your Language speaking Penang Hokkien as her Chinese language.[6][7] Here, she was obliged to speak in an exaggerated, stereotyped Chinese accent. Her later appearances are roles in the short lived soap operas Albion Market (1985) and Night and Day (2003), as well as Arabian Nights (2000), The Bill (2005), and as a character in the comedy series Little Britain (2004).[8]
She is the narrator of the Dark Souls series of video games.[2]
In 1966, she was invited to be Rye Fawkes at the Rye Bonfire celebrations. This involved being seated in a sedan chair, hoisted aloft and being carried down from the Landgate in Rye to the bonfire, where she was presented with a burning torch with which she set the bonfire alight.
Filmography
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Das Mädchen aus dem Dschungel | Amina | East German mini-series |
| 1964–1967 | Emergency Ward 10 | Nurse Kwei | |
| 1967 | Sorry I'm Single | Suzy | Series regular |
| 1969 | The Gladiators | C-2 | |
| 1970 | The Flaxton Boys | Su Ling | |
| 1971 | Doctor Who | Captain Chin Lee | The Mind of Evil (3 episodes) |
| 1972 | Madame Sin | Nikko | |
| 1972 | General Hospital | Prem. Unit Nurse | |
| 1974 | Within These Walls | Sister Ling | |
| 1976 | The New Avengers | Sing - The Chinese Attache | "The Midas Touch" |
| 1977–1979 | Mind Your Language | Chung Su-Lee | Series regular |
| 1978–1981 | Spearhead | Tsai Adams | Series regular |
| 1979 | Angels | Dr. Yeo | |
| 1980 | The Professionals | Chai Ling | "Take Away" |
| 1980 | Shoestring | Phone Girl | "Mocking Bird" |
| 1985 | Albion Market | Ly Nhu Chan | |
| 1996 | Cracker | Wei Wei | "White Ghost" |
| 1998 | London's Burning | Mrs. Lau | |
| 2000 | Arabian Nights | Aladdin's Mother | Mini-series |
| 2004 | Little Britain | Simone | |
| 2005 | The Bill | Dora Sim | |
| 2006 | The Ruby in the Smoke | Madame Sheng | |
| 2010 | Spirit Warriors | Beggar Woman | |
| 2010 | Casualty | Reiko Reid | Episode "Clean Slate" |
| 2011 | Johnny English Reborn | Killer Cleaner | |
| 2012 | A Civil Arrangement | Madam Rene | TV movie |
| 2013 | Holby City | Amy Cardle | "The Journey Home" |
| 2015 | Roald Dahl's Esio Trot | Mrs Wu | |
| 2015 | The Dumping Ground | PoPo | 1 episode: "Coming Round" |
| 2019 | This Way Up | Chien | |
| 2022 | Vampire Academy | The Queen | 9 episodes |
| 2023 | The Nevers | Madame Tam | 1 episode: "It's a Good Day" |
Theatre
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | The Bacchae of Euripides | Chorus | |
| 2012 | The Sugar-Coated Bullets of the Bourgeoisie | Mrs Gao | Produced by Finborough Theatre. |
References
edit- Ooi, Teresa (16 February 1984), Good times, bad times, The Straits Times
- ^ a b "BFI Screenonline: Lim, Pik-Sen (c. 1944- ) Biography". www.screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
- ^ a b "Dark Souls' narrator lends her voice for a Let's Play channel from former IGN staffers". PCGamesN. 22 January 2019.
- ^ Kek, Soo Beng (30 April 1978). "Penang girl takes on the big roles in London". The Straits Times. p. 8.
- ^ "Fantastic!". www.eresources.nlb.gov.sg.
- ^ "The mother of inspiration". www.scotsman.com.
- ^ "BBC - Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide - The Mind of Evil - Details". www.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "BFI Screenonline: Mind Your Language (1977-79, 1986) Credits". www.screenonline.org.uk.
- ^ "Pik-Sen Lim". BFI. Archived from the original on 28 May 2018.
External links
edit- Pik-Sen Lim at IMDb
- Pik-Sen Lim at the BFI's Screenonline