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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →British actor Samantha Eggar died on October 15, 2025, at 86. Her death was reported by the Los Angeles Times on October 17 and in a Guardian obituary on October 21, 2025—not as a new event in 2026. Eggar was best known for her Oscar-nominated performance as Miranda Grey in William Wyler’s psychological drama The Collector (1965), but her career also spanned film, television and voice work.
Who was Samantha Eggar?
Eggar was born in London on March 5, 1939, and became a British actor whose screen career crossed several decades and genres. The Television Academy lists her birth and death dates and selected credits in its 2025 In Memoriam.
Why was she known for The Collector?
In Wyler’s 1965 film, adapted from John Fowles’s novel, Eggar played Miranda Grey, a young woman held captive by a socially awkward butterfly collector. The role brought her an Academy Award nomination. The Guardian also reports that Eggar and co-star Terence Stamp received acting prizes at Cannes.
The performance was demanding. Recalling the film’s rehearsals in a 1965 interview quoted by The Guardian, Eggar said: “All during the rehearsals I felt as if certain people were trying to stab me in the back.” The line “If you let me go now, I shall begin to admire you” is spoken by Miranda in the film; it is character dialogue, not a statement Eggar made about herself.
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What else did Samantha Eggar appear in?
Her credits show a career beyond the film that made her most widely recognized. These selected roles offer several ways into her work:
- Family musical comedy: Doctor Dolittle (1967).
- Drama: Walk, Don’t Run (1966) and The Molly Maguires (1970).
- Horror: David Cronenberg’s The Brood (1979).
- Television: appearances in Columbo and Murder, She Wrote, followed by roles in All My Children and Commander in Chief.
- Voice work: credits included The Legend of Prince Valiant and Hercules.
The Television Academy’s list is a selection, not a complete filmography.
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What was the cause of her death?
The Los Angeles Times reported on October 17, 2025, that a cause of death had not been revealed. Eggar’s daughter, Jenna Stern, remembered her as “beautiful, intelligent, and tough enough to be fascinatingly vulnerable,” in a tribute relayed by the newspaper.
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