The British actress was best known for her role as sister to Joan
Collins' Alexis Colby in the US soap.
She also had prominent roles in the '80s series Howards' Way and
Triangle, and in Doctor Who.
Her agent said she died in a Sussex nursing
home following a short illness.
He praised her "energy and vitality" and her
"love for theatre and acting".
"A shining star has gone out and Kate will be
dearly missed by all who knew and have
worked with her," said agent Phil Belfield, who
labelled the actress "extraordinary".
O'Mara's first television roles were in the
1960s, but she came to public attention
playing the manipulative Cassandra "Caress"
Morrell in Dynasty.
She played a ruthless businesswoman in BBC
drama Howards' Way and was briefly a regular
on the North Sea ferry drama Triangle.
She also appeared in Doctor Who, opposite
both Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy, as
renegade Time Lord The Rani – a role she said
she would love to return to.
"If you put a much older woman in Doctor
Who, they can identify with it," she told
Digital Spy ahead of the 50th anniversary
celebrations for the show, where she tweeted
images of herself with former co-stars.
"I think it's quite an interesting concept and if
you remember things like Grimm's Fairytales,
the older woman is often the villainess, often
the terrifying figure – why I do not know, but
often she is. I think it's an idea to be
exploited."
On hearing the news of her death, Doctor Who
co-star Baker tweeted: "Oh my goodness. Kate
O'Mara is no longer with us. Sad sad news. A
delightful, committed and talented lady and
actress. We are the poorer."
In the 1990s, O'Mara starred in BBC comedy
Absolutely Fabulous as Joanna Lumley's on-
screen sister Jackie, and in 2001, she made a
string of appearances in ITV drama Bad Girls.
More recently she had appeared in ITV soap
Benidorm and a 2012 stage adaptation of
Agatha Christie's Death On The Nile.
One of her final public appearances saw her
hosting An Evening With Kate O'Mara in
London last October.
She published two autobiographies and two
novels, When She Was Bad and Good Time Girl.
She was married to actors Richard Willis and
Jeremy Young and leaves a sister, actress
Belinda Carroll. Her son Dickon died last year.
The actress last posted a message on Twitter
on 17 March.
"Thank you so much for your kind tweets," she
wrote.
"It's both humbling and completely
overwhelming to read all of your messages.
Much Love x."
