Carol Drinkwater

Carol Drinkwater (born 22 April 1948) is a British actress, writer and filmmaker residing in France. She portrayed Helen Herriot (née Alderson) in the television adaptation of the James Herriot books All Creatures Great and Small, which led to her receiving the Variety Club Television Personality of the Year award in 1985.

Drinkwater is the daughter of the bandleader and agent Peter Regan (born Peter Albert Drinkwater) and Irish nurse Phillis McCormack; her sister is actress and author Linda Regan.Drinkwater was born in London, and acquired Irish citizenship later in life as she felt vulnerable when travelling on a British passport in certain countries, including those in North Africa.During the 1978–1980 first run of All Creatures Great and Small, she had an affair with her on-screen husband, Christopher Timothy, which Drinkwater claims resulted in negative behaviour towards her by members of the general public.She is married to French television producer Michel Noll, and has two stepdaughters from Noll's first marriage.In 2017, Drinkwater accused the late American film director Elia Kazan of sexual harassment and attempted rape which she alleges to have occurred in 1975 when she was under consideration for a part in Kazan's film The Last Tycoon.