Former Dynasty star Kate O'Mara has died at the age of 74, her agent said.

The actress was best known for playing Alexis Colby's scheming sister Cassandra 'Caress' Morrell in the US soap in the mid 1980s, along with roles in British series Doctor Who, Howards' Way and Triangle.

Her agent Phil Belfield said she died this morning in a Sussex nursing home after a short illness.

 

Kate O'Mara, pictured in 2013, has died following a short illness, her agent confirmed today. She was 74

 

Kate O'Mara in Dynasty alongside Joan Collins, John Forsythe and Christopher Cazenove. The actress died in a Sussex nursing home this morning

 

He said: 'She was extraordinary, she had so much energy and vitality with a love for theatre and acting.'

He added: 'A shining star has gone out and Kate will be dearly missed by all who knew and have worked with her.'

O'Mara's first television roles were in the 1960s. But it was in the 1980s that she landed her biggest and longest-running roles.  

As well as Dynasty she starred as a ruthless businesswoman in BBC drama Howards' Way, which was dubbed the 'Dallas of the Seas'.

She also appeared in the original run of Doctor Who opposite both Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy as renegade Time Lord The Rani.

Last year, which was Doctor Who's 50th anniversary, she said she would like to reprise the role.

She told the Huffington Post: 'I'd love to come back as The Rani another time around.

'To have a much older woman as your adversary, there's something interesting about that.'

In the 1990s she starred in the comedy show Absolutely Fabulous as Jackie, the sister of Joanna Lumley's character Patsy.

 

 

 

Kate in Dr Who, left, in 1987 with Bonnie Langford and Sylvester McCoy and in Cluedo in 1990

 

The actress appearing in British soap Crossroads in 2002. She was also known for appearing in Absolutely Fabulous and Dr Who

More recently she had appeared in ITV soap Benidorm and a 2012 stage adaptation of Agatha Christie's Death On The Nile.

Kate had been married and divorced three times and had one son.

Tragically in January 2013, Dixon O'Mara was found dead in a garage at his mother's home.

It is thought he had been dead for up to three weeks when his body was discovered.

An inquest in to his death heard how he had spiralled into a life of drink and drug abuse after suffering brain damage when he was run over three years earlier.

 

Kate poses for a publicity shot along with the other cast members of Howards' Way in 1989.