Sarah Douglas (born 12 December 1952) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Ursa in Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980), Queen Taramis in Conan the Destroyer (1984), Pamela Lynch in Falcon Crest (1983–85), and Jindah Kol Rozz in Supergirl (2018).
Douglas was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, the second daughter of Beryl ( Smith), a physiotherapist who often worked upon RSC actors, and Edward Douglas, a career member of the Royal Air Force. She attended Alcester Grammar School before training with the National Youth Theatre and the Rose Bruford College.
Eventually, Douglas's career took her in front of the camera with small appearances in the 1973 film The Final Programme (alternatively known as The Last Days of Man on Earth) and Rollerball in 1975. After this, she became known to British television audiences in the 1970s by appearing in The Howerd Confessions, the 1973 television edition of Dracula, The Inheritors, ', and Return of the Saint, and appeared in the film The People That Time Forgot (1977) and the controversial film The Brute (1977), in which she played an abused wife.
After an intensive casting call in which she beat out over 600 actresses for the part, including Caroline Munro and Marilù Tolo, Douglas secured her first major feature film role as the supporting antagonist Ursa in Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980); her performance garnered critical acclaim and became her signature role. She then accepted the role of the main antagonist Queen Taramis opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger, Grace Jones and Olivia d'Abo in the sword-and-sorcery epic fantasy film Conan the Destroyer (1984).
Douglas also continued to appear on television, and was a series regular in the short-lived British sitcom Thundercloud in 1979. Throughout the 1980s, she went on to appear in a variety of guest roles in UK and US series such as The Professionals, Bergerac, Hotel, Magnum, P.I., Sledge Hammer! and Remington Steele. However, her most prominent television role was that of Pamela Lynch in the primetime soap opera Falcon Crest, which she played for two seasons from 1983 to 1985. She also played Pamela in the 1984 television miniseries V: The Final Battle and portrayed supporting characters in The Return of Swamp Thing (1989), ' (1991) and Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993) among others.
In the 1990s, she returned to science fiction, guest starring in Babylon 5 (in the 1994 episode "Deathwalker"), and in Stargate SG-1 (in the 1998 two-part episode "The Tok'ra"). She also voiced characters in episodes of several animated TV series, including Iron Man, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, ', ', and Batman Beyond.
In 2003, Douglas returned to the UK to appear in a nationwide tour of Hamlet playing alongside actress Emily Lloyd. The following year, she completed a run in London's West End in the play Roast Beef playing the role of Clytemnestra. Also in 2004, Douglas completed an audio commentary for the Special Edition DVD of Conan the Destroyer.
In 2006, she performed in the audio drama Sapphire and Steel: The Mystery of the Missing Hour alongside David Warner, and she was reunited with many of her Superman co-stars in Los Angeles as a new version of Superman II (known as ') was released with previously unseen footage. At the same time, a new Superman DVD boxset was released, featuring an interview with Douglas and her original screen test.
Douglas' later appearances included the television films Gryphon (2007), Witchville (2010) and Strippers vs Werewolves (2012), and she participated in the audio recordings for Stargate Atlantis. Additionally, Douglas completed work on a series of radio plays for the BBC and voiced Scar in '. After this, she returned to the London stage, appearing in The Hallowe'en Sessions at the Leicester Square Theatre from 29 October to 3 November 2012 to positive reviews. She has continued to appear on film, stage, television and radio, in addition to appearing in Supergirl (2018) continued the tradition of re-casting former Superman stars, and cast Douglas as Jindah Kol Rozz in the episode "Fort Rozz".. In 2017 Douglas appeared as Mrs. Averill in the Netflix production A Christmas Prince and its two subsequent sequels.
Douglas married actor Richard LeParmentier in 1981. They divorced in 1984; he died in 2013.