Sue Lloyd

She may be best known for her long-running role (1979 to 1985) as Barbara Hunter (née Brady) in the British soap opera Crossroads and Cordelia Winfield in the ITC series The Baron.

The daughter of a GP, Lloyd was born in Aldeburgh, Suffolk. She attended Edgbaston High School in Birmingham and studied dance as a child, attending Sadler's Wells Ballet School. In 1953, she won a scholarship to the Royal Ballet School at Sadler's Wells Theatre, but when she grew to 5 feet 8 inches [1.73 m] her possibilities for a career as a dancer diminished, and she became a showgirl and model, and, briefly, a member of Lionel Blair's dance troupe.

She was one of the last two debutantes to be presented to the queen at Buckingham Palace in 1958; the final such ceremony.

In 1965, Lloyd made her film debut in two espionage-themed films. As Jean Courtney, Lloyd proved an effective foil to Michael Caine's Harry Palmer in the spy thriller The Ipcress File.

In 1965, Lloyd played the regular role of secret agent Cordelia Winfield, alongside Steve Forrest in the 1965–1966 British ITC television series The Baron.

Having appeared in the TV series The Avengers (episode "A Surfeit of H₂O"), in 1971, Lloyd starred in a stage version of the TV series playing John Steed's sidekick Mrs Hannah Wild. She appeared with several other stars in the 1976 imitation James Bond film No. 1 of the Secret Service.

She made many guest appearances in several popular shows of the 1960s and 1970s, including The Saint, Department S, Jason King, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), The Persuaders! and The Sweeney.

Joan Collins and Lloyd co-starred in The Stud and The Bitch. On her Twitter page, Joan Collins said that she and Lloyd had to get drunk before their nude scenes. Her other film credits include Corruption and Revenge of the Pink Panther. She reunited with Michael Caine in Bullet to Beijing (1995), one of the later Harry Palmer films, recreating her role in The Ipcress File. Her scene was cut from the home VHS & DVD releases, but were later made available as DVD Extras.

Lloyd joined the long-running British soap opera Crossroads in 1979. She played Barbara Hunter until she and her on- and off-screen partner Ronald Allen were dropped from the series in 1985.

In Crossroads Lloyd played Barbara, the wife of David Hunter played by actor Ronald Allen, who was sacked on the same day she was. They were good friends, having met shortly after his partner, fellow Crossroads actor Brian Hankins, had died from cancer in 1978. The two became a couple, and made their relationship public when the British media started to intrude into their private lives. In March 1991, after Allen learned that he was dying of cancer, he and Lloyd got engaged and married in May 1991. Allen died six weeks later, on 18 June 1991.

Sue Lloyd died on 20 October 2011, aged 72, from cancer.

In the 2023 ITVX miniseries Nolly, which dramatised the life of her former Crossroads colleague Noele Gordon, Lloyd was portrayed by Clare Foster.

Movies

• Nothing but the Best (1964) – Debutante at Hunt Ball (uncredited)
• The Ipcress File (1965) – Jean Courtney
• Hysteria (1965) – French Girl
• Attack on the Iron Coast (1968) – Sue Wilson
• Corruption (1968) – Lynn Nolan
• Where's Jack? (1969) – Lady Darlington
• Twinky (1970) – Ursula – Scott's Deprived Girl
• Percy (1971) – Bernice
• Innocent Bystanders (1972) – Joanna Benson
• Go for a Take (1972) – Angel Montgomery
• Penny Gold (1973) – Model
• Spanish Fly (1975) – Janet Scott
• The Ups and Downs of a Handyman (1976) – The Blonde
• No. 1 of the Secret Service (1977) – Sister Jane
• Revenge of the Pink Panther (1977) – Claude Rousseau
• The Stud (1978) – Vanessa
• Lady Oscar (1979) – Comtesse Gabrielle de Polignac
• The Bitch (1979) – Vanessa Grant
• Correction, Please or How We Got into Pictures (1979) – Countess Skladanowsky
• Rough Cut (1980) – Female Guest
• Eat the Rich (1987) – Val
• U.F.O. (1993) – Judge
• Bullet to Beijing (1995) – Jean Courtney
• Beginner's Luck (2001) – (Last appearance)

Television

• The Saint series 2 ep. 19 "Luella" (1964–1967) – Marla Clayton / Luella
• Gideon's Way (1965) credited as Susan Lloyd– Mary Henderson / Det. Chief Insp. David Keene's love interest
• The Avengers series 4 ep. 8 "A Surfeit of H₂O" (1965) – Joyce Jason
• The Baron (1966–1967) – Cordelia Winfield
• The Saint series 5 ep. 22 "Island of Chance" (1967) – Marla Clayton / Luella
• Journey to the Unknown series 1 ep. 7 "The Madison Equation" (1969) – Barbara Rossiter
• Department S ep. "Black Out" (1969) – Brigitte
• The Persuaders! ep. 3 "Take Seven" (1971) – Maggie
• The Two Ronnies (1972) – Blanche
• That's Your Funeral (1972) – Miss Peach
• The Sweeney (1976) – Arleen Baker
• The Upchat Line (1977 - Episode 4 - "The One That Got Away") - Mona Lisa
• Crossroads (1979–1985) – Barbara Hunter / Barbara Brady
• Bergerac (1988–1990) – Eva Southurst
• Agatha Christie's Miss Marple: A Caribbean Mystery (1989) – Lucky Dyson
• Keeping Up Appearances (1993)