Brittish Actors
Bradley Walsh was born in 1960 in Watford. He began his working life as a professional footballer with Brentford Football Club in the early 1980’s. In 1994 he was a television presenter on “The National Lottery”. In 1994 he was cast was Danny Baldwin in “Coronation Street”. He remained with the popular show until 2006. He is currently one of the stars of the hughly successful “Law & Order U.K.”.
Diana Quick
Diana Quick was born in 1946 in London. Came to international prominence in her role as ‘Julia’ in “Brideshead Revisited” in 1982 with Jeremy Irons. Her movies include Ridley Scott’s “The Duelists” in 1977 and “The Big Sleep” in 1978.
Interesting article on Diana Quick in the Guardian newspaperwhcich can be accessed here.
Diana Quick
Diana Quick was born in 1946 in London. Her best known role is as Julia Flyte in the television classic “Brideshead Revisited” in 1981. Her film debut was in 1971 in “Nicholas and Alexandra”. Other films include “The Duellists”, “The Big Sleep” and “Saving Grace”.
IMDB entry:
Eclectic British stage actress Diana Quick was trained at Oxford University and has included both the classics and musical theatre in her repertoire over the years, ranging from “Troilus and Cressida” to “The Threepenny Opera”. Though not a potent name in America, she has occasionally graced films and TV. Specializing in aristocratic roles, she stood out among a highly formidable cast in the classic epic mini-series Brideshead Revisited (1981) and received both Emmy and BAFTA nominations for her efforts. She had a long-standing relationship with actor Bill Nighy, and they have one daughter.
– IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net
Anna Neagle proved to be a box-office sensation in British films for over 25 years. She was noted for providing glamour and sophistication to war-torn London audiences with her lightweight musicals, comedies and historical dramas. She won several awards as Britain’s favourite actress and biggest female box-office draw. Almost all of her films were produced and directed by Herbert Wilcox, whom she married in 1943.
In her historical dramas, Anna Neagle was renowned for her portrayals of real-life British heroines, including Nell Gwynn (Nell Gwynn, 1934), Queen Victoria (Victoria the Great, 1937, and Sixty Glorious Years, 1938) and Edith Cavell (Nurse Edith Cavell, 1939)
Her IMDB entry:
Dame Anna Neagle, the endearingly popular British star during WWII, was born Florence Marjorie Robertson and began dancing as a professional in chorus lines at age 14. She starred with actor Jack Buchanan in the musical “Stand Up and Sing” in the West End and earned her big break when producer/director Herbert Wilcox, who had caught the show purposely to consider Buchanan for an upcoming film, was also taken (and smitten) by Anna, casting her as well in the process.
Thus began one of the most exclusive and successful partnerships in the British cinema.
Under Wilcox’s guidance (they married in 1943), Anna became one of the biggest and brightest celebrities of her time. Always considered an actress of limited abilities, the lovely Anna nevertheless would prove to be a sensational box-office commodity for nearly two decades.
She added glamour and sophistication for war-torn London audiences and her lightweight musicals, comedies and even costumed historical dramas provided a nicely balanced escape route.
The tasteful, ladylike heroines she portrayed included nurses Edith Cavell and Florence Nightingale, flyer Amy Johnson and undercover spy Odette; Nell Gwyn and Queen Victoria also fell within her grasp. She appeared in a number of frothy post-war retreads co-starring Michael Wilding that the critics turned their noses on but the audiences ate up – including Piccadilly Incident (1946), Kathy’s Love Affair (1947), Spring in Park Lane (1948) and The Lady with a Lamp (1951).
She tried to extend her fame to Hollywood and briefly appeared there in three musicals in the early 40s, but failed to make a dent. Anna’s appeal faded somewhat in the late 50s and, after producing a few film efforts, retired altogether from the screen.
She returned to her theatre roots, which culminated in the long-running “Charlie Girl”, a 1965 production that ran with Anna for nearly six years. She was bestowed with the honor of Dame of the British Empire in 1969 for her contributions to the theatre. Anna continued to perform after her husband’s death in 1977, later developing Parkinson’s disease in her final years. She died in 1986 of complications.
– IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net
Her IMDB entry can also be accessed here.
Dame Anna Neagle, a British stage and screen actress whose career spanned more than half a century, died in a nursing home near London yesterday. She was 81 years old.
Miss Neagle was one of Britain’s leading film stars in the late 1930’s and 40’s, specializing in romantic comedies and costume biographies. She played Queen Victoria twice – in ”Victoria the Great” and ”Sixty Glorious Years” – and also portrayed the World War I nurse Edith Cavell.
Other of Miss Neagle’s films include ”Goodnight Vienna,” ”Nell Gwynn,” ”Piccadilly Incident,” ”Girl in the Street,” ”A Yank in London,” ”Spring in Park Lane,” ”Irene” and a film version of the musical ”No No Nanette.” She had a close working relationship with the director and producer Herbert Wilcox, whom she met in the early 1930’s and to whom she was married for 34 years until his death in 1977. She worked for only two other directors during her long career.
She was not a particular critical favorite: Some found her acting wooden, her voice reedy, and her dancing only adequate. But she was enormously popular with British audiences and was voted most popular actress for seven straight years after World War II. For her part, Miss Neagle said she never read her notices.
In the 1960’s Miss Neagle returned to the stage and appeared in 2,062 performances of ”Charlie Girl” in the West End between 1965 and 1971. Began in Chorus Line
Miss Neagle, whose given name was Marjorie Robertson, was born in London on Oct. 20, 1904, and began her career as part of a dance troupe called ”The Young Ladies.” In a scene that could have come from a Hollywood musical, Miss Neagle was picked from a chorus line in 1931 to appear opposite Jack Buchanan in a West End show, ”Stand Up and Sing.” Other stage appearances included ”Magic Night” and ”The Little Damozel.”
Mr. Wilcox saw her in the latter play and chose her to appear in ”Goodnight Vienna.” Her portrayal of a British Secret Service agent in ”Odette” was considered by many to be her finest performance, although ”Piccadilly Incident,” with Michael Wilding, a melodramatic tale of love and war, may have been her biggest success.
In recent years, Miss Neagle’s film work had undergone a revival, and she came to New York last year for a retrospective of her films presented by the Museum of Modern Art. She was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth in 1979.
Miss Neagle last appeared on stage earlier this year in a variety show that ran three months at the Palladium in London. She entered a nursing home 10 days ago, suffering from exhaustion
Charles Lawson plays the part of Jim McDonald in “Coronation Street” so he does. He has been playing the role since 1989. He was born in Belfast in 1959. In 1982 he had a featured role in the terrific series “Harry’s Game”. His first film role was in “Ascendancy” in 1983. Other films include “Four Days in July”, “Up Line” and TV series like “Boon”, “Dalziel & Pascoe”, “Holby City” and “Casualty”.
Charles Lawson interview here.
Aoife Mulholland was born in 1978 in Galway. On the London stage she starred as Roxie Hart in the muscial “Chicago” and as Maria Von Trapp in “The Sound of Music”. She was featured in the film “Malicious Intent”. Her “Wikipedia” entry can be accessed here.
Fionnuala Elwood was born in 1964 in Dublin. One of her first major acting roles was in “Prime Suspect” in 1991 on television. Other roles include nine years in “Emmerdale Farm” and roles in such shows as “Coronation Street” and “Casualty”.
Julie Christie’s entrance in “Billy Liar” is one of the most beguiling things in 60’s cinema, a long fugue in which she wanders gaily through the streets of a Northern ton, swinging a large handbag. The sequence owes something to the nouvelle vague and as that was a liberating movement so is she a liberating spirit. She is Billy’s escape route. He can pour out his troubles to her. She is the girl who has been around, who takes off when she feels like it and returns just as simply to the nest. She throws the film off balance. She adds a touch of stardust but she is so strong and bewitching that it does not matter. She has a quality of love. She looks at George C. Scott in the same way in “Petulia”. She is warm and protective. She is sunny and desirable. Momentarily there is a pinched hurt look in her eyes then she smiles that marvellous smile again. It was said hen she appreared that she represented the new young girl of the 60’s. Mabye, but none of the subsequent imitations came anywhere near her.” – David Shipman – “The Great Movie Stars – The International Years” (1972).
Julie Christie was to the forefront of British cinema of the 1960’s and has made significant movies in every decade since then. She was born in 1941 in Aasam, India. She had amajor role opposite Stanley Baxter in “The Fast Lady” in 1962. She starred opposite Tom Courtney in “Billy Liar”, Dirk Bogarde in “Darling”, Terence Stamp and Alan Bates in “Far From the Madding Crowd” and Omar Sharif in “Dr Zhivago”. In the 70’s she starred opposite Warren Beatty in “McCabe and Mrs Miller”, “Heaven Can Wait” and “Shampoo”. In the 1990’s she was in “Fools of Fortune” and “Afterglow” and just recently she gave a stunning performance in “Away From Her”.
TCM Overview:
An iconic figure of the 1960s, actress Julie Christie was an Academy Award-winning actress who appeared in a small but substantial number of classic films in her native England and America during the ’60s and early 1970s. She was perhaps best known to international audiences as Lara in David Lean’s “Doctor Zhivago” (1965), but also enjoyed memorable leading roles in Robert Altman’s “McCabe and Mrs. Miller” (1971) and “Shampoo” (1975), both starring her longtime romantic companion Warren Beatty. An independent attitude and interest in political affairs reduced her screen appearances in the 1980s, but she made a triumphant return to film in the mid-1990s in Kenneth Branagh’s “Hamlet” (1996). Since then, she made several notable movies, including “Afterglow” (1997) with Altman, which netted her third Academy Award nomination, before playing the mother of Achilles in “Troy” (2004), Madame Rosmerta in “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” (2004), and Kate Winslet’s disapproving mother in “Finding Neverland” (2004). In “Away from Her” (2006), she gave a moving performance as a woman stricken with Alzheimer’s that earned her high praise and a number of critics awards, all of which solidified Christie’s standing as one of the finest veteran actresses of her time.
Christie was born Julie Frances Christie on April 14, 1941, in Assam, India, on her father’s tea plantation. Her education began at a convent in India before she was sent to England and France to complete her studies. A fascination with the artist’s lifestyle led to her enrolling in London’s Central School of Speech and Drama training, where she made her professional debut on stage in 1957. Her first brush with fame came via a television series, “A for Andromeda” (BBC, 1961), in which she played an artificial human created from the DNA of a deceased science lab assistant. She made several more television appearances before making her film debut in a pair of comedies for the legendary Ealing Studios, “The Fast Lady” (1962) and “Crooks Anonymous” (1962). Her near-flawless features and discernible talent caught the attention of producer Albert Broccoli, who considered her for the role of Honey Rider in their debut James Bond film, “Dr. No” (1962). Unfortunately, her svelte figure put her out of the running and the part famously went to the more voluptuous Ursula Andress.
When an actress dropped out of the role of Liz, the supremely confident friend and love interest to Tom Courtenay’s full-time dreamer in “Billy Liar” (1963), director John Schlensinger chose her to take over the part. It was perfect casting, as audiences around the world fell deeply for her smart and sexy persona. The success of the film ushered Christie into the major leagues, where she found herself working with the iconic American director John Ford in one of his final projects, a biopic about Irish playwright Sean O’Casey titled “Young Cassidy” (1963). Christie again stepped in for another actress – in this case, Shirley MacLaine – for “Darling” (1965), a provocative drama about a manipulative young actress and jet setter that reunited her with director John Schlesinger. This time, the results were even greater than before. Christie took home the Academy Award and BAFTA for her performance, with her portrayal of the rise and fall of a swinging sixties British girl helping to make her a pop culture icon. This image was further cemented by her appearance in the 1967 documentary “Tonite Let’s All Make Love in London,” which covered the hipster scene in England.
Charlton Heston wanted Christie for his historical drama “The War Lord” (1965), but to his dismay, discovered that her rapid ascent to stardom had put her out of the studio’s price range. Instead, Christie signed on to play Lara, the love object of Omar Sharif’s “Doctor Zhivago” in the David Lean epic. A worldwide smash hit, the film further solidified Christie’s status as an “It Girl” of the moment, but in a move that would be echoed throughout her career, she decided to move away from Hollywood productions and concentrate on more artistic endeavors for her next film. Her fascination with French New Wave director Francois Truffaut led to her being cast in a dual role as the obedient wife of fireman Guy Montag (Oskar Werner) as Clarisse, a young woman who breaks the rules of a future society by hoarding books in “Fahrenheit 451” (1966). At the time of the production, Christie was deeply involved with another sixties movie icon, actor Terence Stamp, whom she had met while making “Far From the Madding Crowd” (1967) for Schlesinger. Stamp was originally cast in the role of Montag, but stepped away from the film due to the intensity of his romance with Christie. The two were later enshrined as lovers in The Kinks’ masterpiece single, “Waterloo Sunset.”
“Far from the Madding Crowd” was Christie’s first taste of negative publicity. Critics lambasted her for what they called a “mod” interpretation of Thomas Hardy’s 19th-century heroine, Bathsheba Everdyne. But Christie’s attention had been drawn away by the arrival of American actor Warren Beatty, with whom she began a seven-year relationship that reduced her screen appearances dramatically over the next decade. In fact, her last box-office hit came just one year after “Madding” with “Petulia,” a romantic drama about the romance between a staid doctor (George C. Scott) and a flighty but vulnerable socialite (Christie). Christie’s relationship with Beatty became the dominant interest in her life as the Sixties came to a close. She turned down numerous parts for films that later became substantial hits, like “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” (1969), “Anne of a Thousand Days” (1969), and “Nicholas and Alexandra” (1971), preferring instead to devote her infrequent performances to loftier projects like “The Go-Between” (1971), which was written by playwright Harold Pinter, and “McCabe and Mrs. Miller” (1971), a Western drama by Robert Altman that also starred Beatty. For her work as a shrewd madam in the Old West, Christie netted her second Academy Award nomination, but the film’s critical success did not lure her back to moviemaking on a full-time basis.
Instead, she continued to pick and choose her projects with care, and for the most part, her eye for quality material proved dead-on. She raised eyebrows in a graphic sex scene with Donald Sutherland in the eerie horror film “Don’t Look Now” (1973); played herself in Altman’s “Nashville” (1975); and that same year, starred again with Beatty in “Shampoo,” a devastating look at the soulless culture of wealthy Southern Californians at the dawn of the 1970s. Prior to its production, Christie’s relationship with Beatty had come to an end, but the pair remained close friends, collaborating several years later in his charming update of “Heaven Can Wait” in 1978. Christie also helped inspire Beatty to pursue his epic masterpiece, “Reds” (1981) after a trip to Russia in the ’70s. He had offered her the role of Louise Bryant, but she refused it, with the part going instead to Beatty’s then-girlfriend, Diane Keaton. It was for her inspiration, that Beatty extended grateful thanks to Christie his Oscar acceptance speech and in the film’s credits.
Christie relocated to England after the collapse of her relationship with Beatty, subsequently becoming involved with journalist Duncan Campbell, with whom she remained for the next 30 years. True to form, she continued to turn down projects; she was offered $1 million to star in “The Greek Tycoon” (1978) but refused, passed on “The Verdict” (1982), and quit “American Gigolo” (1980) after John Travolta briefly replaced Richard Gere. Instead, Christie became deeply involved in the nuclear disarmament movement, as well as a passionate campaigner for animal rights, a cause she took up after seeing farm animals abused during “Far from the Madding Crowd.” Her sporadic film roles reflected her political consciousness as well. She appeared in “The Gold Diggers” (1983), Sally Potter’s experimental film about culture, commerce, and cinema; as well as narrated “The Animals Film” (1981), an animal rights documentary.
She also found the time to appear in a handful of notable art house projects, including the Merchant-Ivory drama, “Heat and Dust,” and earned a Cable ACE award for her turn in “Separate Tables” (1983), another collaboration with old pal Schlesinger. But for the most part, Christie’s onscreen appearances were few and far between for the next decade. She did, however, cause a stir in London’s West End in 1995 when she appeared in a revival of Pinter’s “Old Times,” her first theatrical turn in decades. In 1996, she made a rare return to a Hollywood film in Rob Cohen’s absurd but exciting fantasy film “Dragonheart.” The project seemed to signal a revived interest in acting for Christie, who quickly followed this project with a string of quality film and television productions. She co-starred with Albert Finney and Richard E. Grant in the Dennis Potter-scripted miniseries, “Karaoke” (1997), as well as, more famously, taking on the role of Queen Gertrude in “Hamlet” (1997) for the chance to work with its director and star, Kenneth Branagh. Her greatest success in decades came a year later when she starred in Alan Rudolph’s best film to date, “Afterglow” (1997), which was produced by her old friend, Robert Altman. Her performance as a neglected wife who falls for a younger man earned her a third Academy Award nomination. But in typical Christie form, she did not pursue further fame or notable parts, preferring instead to handpick those scripts that interested her as an artist.
In 2001, Christie appeared in “No Such Thing,” Hal Hartley’s offbeat retelling of “Beauty and the Beast.” Her co-star, Canadian actress Sarah Polley – who was something of an iconoclast herself – was immediately taken with Christie’s independent stance, and formed a close relationship with her. From there, Christie enjoyed supporting roles in three widely seen Hollywood productions, playing the mother of Achilles (Brad Pitt) in Wolfgang Petersen’s “Troy” (2004); Kate Winslet’s disapproving mother in the moving “Finding Neverland” (2004), starring Johnny Depp as playwright J.M. Barrie; and Madam Rosemerta, the landlady of the Three Broomsticks pub, in “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” (2004). Following the art house drama, “The Secret Life of Words” (2005), Polley cast her in her feature directorial debut, “Away from Her” (2006), a role she had specifically written for the actress. Christie’s performance as a woman stricken with Alzheimer’s who develops an affection for a fellow patient (Michael Murphy) at a rest home – much to the concern of her husband (Canadian actor Gordon Pinset) – received almost universal critical acclaim and netted the veteran actress a Golden Globe win for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama in 2008. The momentum earned Christie an Oscar nomination from the Academy for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, the fourth of her illustrious career. She followed up with an appearance in the ensemble romance “New York, I Love You” (2009), the British thriller “Glorious 39” (2009), and the disappointing “Twilight” knockoff “Red Riding Hood” (2011).
The above TCM overview can also be accessed online here.
Shane Richie was born in 1964 in London to Irish parents. He began his career in comedy but then also began to do straight acting. He has played Alfie Moon in “Eastenders”. He has also starred in insuch TV series as “Skins”, “The Good Samaratian” and “Father Frank”.
If there was ever proof of the value of knocking on doors, it’s the life story of actress Suzanna Leigh.
Born plain Sandra Smith in Berkshire, to a property developer mother and professional gambler dad, the convent-educated schoolgirl was aged just 11 when she acted on a family legend that her godmother was Vivien Leigh. When she turned up on the actress’s doorstep in London’s Eaton Place, the original Ms Leigh said she had attended so many christenings that she had no idea if Sandra was her goddaughter or not, but she encouraged the aspiring actress to use her name.
“It was really exciting,” the actress, who has died aged 72, told The Independent in 1999, which noted a black-and-white photo of Vivien Leigh in her kitchen. “She was so fantastic to me. She said that so many of my dreams seemed like hers.”
With her glamorous new pseudonym, Suzanna Leigh was 13 when she made her film debut in the 1958 George Pal film Tom Thumb.
It’s said that Leigh was following Vivien’s example when she later knocked on the door of Hollywood producer Hal Wallis. Captivated by her beauty, he cast her opposite Tony Curtis in Boeing Boeing and sent her to Hawaii to play Elvis Presley’s love interest in 1966’s Paradise, Hawaii Style. The rock’n’roll star, whom Leigh once called a “fabulous actor”, became a firm friend.
After playing opposite Elvis, Leigh’s ascent to mega-stardom seemed assured, but while she went on to play the lead in several horror films, including The Deadly Bees (1967), and had her own series in France, Trois étoiles en touraine (1966),politics were to bring her Hollywood acting career to a halt. A dispute between the American Screen Actors Guild and its UK equivalent Equity saw Leigh lose a number of possibly pivotal roles. And while she continued to act in films in the UK, including Son of Dracula (1974), in which she played opposite Ringo Starr, she never recovered the stellar trajectory of her early career.
Bad luck also played its part. In 1972, she became involved with Tim Hue Williams, father of her only child, Natalia. Hue Williams abandoned Leigh during her pregnancy and refused to pay child support. Natalia became Leigh’s sole focus. She sold all her assets to pay for treatment of Natalia’s childhood illness, saying, “It’s only money and I have my daughter.”
Leigh’s early resourcefulness came to the fore again as she fought to ensure her daughter’s health and happiness. She gave classes in diction and etiquette and even sold encyclopaedias – knocking on those doors again – before falling back on her friendship with Elvis to become a celebrity guide at Graceland.
In 2000 Leigh published her biography, Paradise, Suzanna Style. Her friendship with Elvis had continued to define her career. Later she became “plagued with doubts” about the manner of his death. In 2011 Leigh suggested Elvis had been murdered by the mob. As she uncovered evidence, Leigh claims she herself became a target. The wheel nuts on her truck were loosened.
Throughout her life, Leigh was sustained by notions of spirituality. In 2014 compilation book Chicken Soup For The Soul: Touched by an Angel, she recounted several instances in which divine guidance had supposed saved her life.
Nearly 50 years earlier she had refused to board a doomed flight from London to Rome. A year later, she claimed to have heard a voice saying “slow down” just before all four tyres on her car burst. Recalling her friendship with Sharon Tate, she said, “If I’d stayed in Hollywood I might have died! …I’d have been at that lunch where the guests were murdered by Charles Manson… My god, aren’t I lucky!”
Leigh’s career was just beginning to warm up again when she was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer in 2016. She had recently published two more books, and had appeared in 2015’s Grace of the Father.
Suzanna Leigh in 1965 CREDIT: Pierluigi Praturlon/REX/Shutterstock
Suzanna Leigh, who has died aged 72, was a British- born Sixties starlet who dated, among others, Richard Harris, Steve McQueen and Michael Caine; but it was her friendship with Elvis Presley, for whom she supplied the love interest in the 1966 film Paradise, Hawaiian Style, that dominated her life.
In her late teens, she was signed by the Hollywood producer Hal Wallis, who cast her as a beautiful air stewardess in Boeing Boeing (1965) opposite Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis (an “unpleasant snob”, she recalled in her 2000 autobiography Paradise, Suzanna Style), before teaming her with Elvis.
She had been in love with the King since the age of 11, but during the making of the film, in which she played an aviatrix and love interest to Elvis’s helicopter pilot hero, she and Presley were allowed to meet only on the set to avoid any hint of scandal. Except, that is, for an occasion when, in front of photographers, he swept her up and kissed her. “That won’t do your career any harm, baby,” drawled the star.
Although their kisses were otherwise confined to the set, Suzanna Leigh claimed in her autobiography that they “held an intensity that melted my very being. I slipped my arms around his neck and our bodies entwined. This was all madness, but we didn’t stop. A person could go to the gallows with such a kiss lingering on their lips, knowing life had been good.”
Screen kisses aside (she admitted later that her publishers had asked her to spice them up), she claimed that they had a brother-and-sister relationship, bonding over their shared belief in guardian angels. It had been Elvis who advised her to break off her affair with the “Long John Silverish” Richard Harris (of whom she wrote: “Everything about him was larger than life”), because Harris was a married man.
“I was supposed to be a huge, huge star,” she said. But the dream did not last. She had been scheduled to make another film with Presley and had hopes of being cast in Barefoot in the Park (1967, the role eventually went to Jane Fonda) when “out of the blue came an edict from the Screen Actors’ Guild saying that I couldn’t take the part. British Equity had refused to allow Charlton Heston to film his scenes as Gordon of Khartoum in Britain, so the Guild had retaliated by making it very difficult for British actors to get parts in Hollywood.” Nor did it help that Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis’s manager, never liked her.
Assuming it would take a while to sort out the problem, she flew back to England, effectively ending her Hollywood career.
She was born Sandra Eileen Anne Smith to well-to do parents in Berkshire on July 26 1945 and educated in convent schools. At the age of five she decided she wanted to be a film star, an ambition encouraged by her father, a professional gambler. He died when she was six, but not before telling her that she was the god-daughter of Vivien Leigh. At the age of 11 she trotted round from her mother’s house in Cadogan Square to the actress’s house in Eaton Place and introduced herself. “She said … she had been to hundreds of christenings and didn’t remember mine [but] didn’t mind a bit if I used her name.”
Suzanna Leigh spent only two terms at drama school, recalling that “there was no chance in Hollywood to turn up at 22. You had to hit it quick when you were very young.” She began with bit parts in The Saint and was given her own television series in France. But when her agent rang her to tell her that Hal Wallis was in London looking for the new Shirley MacLaine, she jumped on a plane, rushed to the Dorchester where Wallis was staying, and burst into his room, exclaiming: “I’m the one you’re looking for”.
During her brief Hollywood career, Suzanna Leigh lived the high life, mixing with beautiful people and driving a Rolls-Royce. She visited a clairvoyant with Natalie Wood, hobnobbed with Sharon Tate, had a one-night stand with Michael Caine, dated Steve McQueen and Patrick Lichfield, was the recipient of the unwanted attentions of Harry Cohn, Roman Polanski (who told her he could only direct women with whom he had slept) and Peter Finch (“I kneed him in the groin and whacked him on the jaw and he passed out on the floor.”), and was presented to the Queen at a Royal Command Performance, though the Queen apparently only wanted to talk about Elvis. “It happened exactly the way it did in Sunset Boulevard,” she said. “I thought ‘That’s it, I need no more’. It’s the most amazing feeling when all your dreams come true.”
Back in London after the Screen Actors Guild debacle, she won a cult following as a “Hammer Glamour” girl. In The Deadly Bees (1966) she was a resting pop star doing entomological battle on an island infested with the eponymous insects. She acquired a gay following for her performance in The Lost Continent (1968), a high camp horror in which she was seen being squeezed by sausage-like sea monster tentacles in a series of frocks which she designed herself. In Lust for a Vampire (1971) she played a gym mistress puzzled as to why her students keep disappearing, and in the dire musical comedy Son of Dracula (1974), she appeared opposite the singer Harry Nilsson as Count Downe and Ringo Starr as Merlin the Magician. Her television credits at this time included The Persuaders.
“And that,” she recalled, “was it really.”
Her daughter Natalia Leigh Denny, who also became an actress, wrote of her mother’s death: “The world will forever be a little less light and magical.”
In the early 1980s she had a daughter by a man with whom she subsequently became involved in a protracted legal battle over his failure to pay maintenance. Her daughter, Natalia, suffered from health problems as a child, and, struggling to make ends meet, Suzanna Leigh started an interior design firm which failed; gave lessons in etiquette; ran elocution classes; sold the Encyclopaedia Britannica at Heathrow Airport and flogged many of her possessions.
By 1997 she was reported by be “struggling to keep Natalia on £72 a week income support” and two years later, according to the Independent, was living in a small rented flat in “an unlovely London suburb, just across from the grey concrete bulk of the Northolt Swimarama leisure centre, with her daughter and her sheltie dog Sukie.”
After publishing her memoir, however, she returned to the United States, moving to Memphis for several years in hopes of capitalising on her Elvis Presley connection. In 2011 she was reported to be intending to publish a book claiming that Elvis had been killed by the Mafia to prevent him from testifying in a big Mob trial.
For all the problems she encountered, Suzanna Leigh remained irrepressibly upbeat: “Who knows, if I’d stayed in Hollywood I might have died! Sharon Tate was my best friend; perhaps I’d have been at that lunch where the guests were murdered by Charles Manson … My god, aren’t I lucky! I made it this far!”
Her daughter survives her.
Suzanna Leigh, born July 26 1945, died December 11 2017
Suzanna Leigh, actress, born 26 July 1945, died 11 December 2017
Anyone who knows me are aware that I am a bit of a movie buff. Over the past few years I have been collecting signed photographs of my favourite actors. Since I like movies so much there are many actors whose work I like.