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Sylvia Anderson, best known for co-creating the British puppet TV show Thunderbirds, has died. She was 88.
The film and TV producer, who also provided the voice of Lady Penelope in the hit children’s science-fiction series, died after a short illness in her home in Buckinghamshire, her family confirmed.
Thunderbirds, which originally aired in the U.K. for two seasons from 1965-66, was co-created by Anderson and her then-husband Gerry Anderson, whom she divorced in 1981. He died in 2012.
The show, which achieved cult status in Britain, centered on the Traceys, a family of adventurers who respond to disasters through their International Rescue service.
Anderson would later go on to work on shows including Joe 90 and Captain Scarlet, as well as a working as a U.K. talent scout for HBO for 30 years. In 1994, she reprised her voice role as Lady Penelope for an episode of the hit British TV series Absolutely Fabulous and provided the voice of the smaller role of Great Aunt Sylvia in last year’s Thunderbirds reboot, Thunderbirds Are Go!, produced by ITV Studios and New Zealand animation banner Pukeko Pictures.
“She was one of the first really prominent women in the film and television industry,” Nick Williams, chairman of the Fanderson club, which is dedicated to Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s legacy, told the BBC.
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