Background
Penhaligon was born in Manila but returned with her family to Cornwall, aged 6. After her parents divorced, her father went to live in San Francisco.
Penhaligon was born in Manila but returned with her family to Cornwall, aged 6. After her parents divorced, her father went to live in San Francisco.
Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Artist
She is known for her role in the drama series Bouquet of Barbed Wire (1976), and for playing Helen Barker in the sitcom A Fine Romance (1981-1984). She also appeared in the soap opera Emmerdale (2006). Her film appearances include Number Sex Please, We"re British (1973) and Paul Verhoeven"s Soldier of Orange (1977).
She spent her formative years living in Saint Ives and Falmouth.
Aged 11 she was sent to boarding school in Bristol where her acting ambitions were encouraged. While training at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, Penhaligon shared a flat with Peter Hammill.
She is mentioned in the lyrics of the Van der Graaf Generator song "Refugees" and the Peter Hammill song "Easy to Slip Away". Tagged the "British Bardot" in the 1970s, Clive Aslet in The Daily Telegraph wrote that Penhaligon "was the face of the decade".
Theatre roles Her novel Foreign the Love of Angel, published in 2008 by Truran Books, is set in Cornwall in the 1880s.
She is a cousin of the late David Penhaligon, a former Liberal member of parliament in Cornwall.