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Hazel Court

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Hazel Court
Court in thetrailerforThe Curse of Frankenstein(1957)
Born(1926-02-10)10 February 1926
Sutton Coldfield,Warwickshire, England
Died15 April 2008(2008-04-15)(aged 82)
Lake Tahoe,California, U.S.
Occupations
  • Actress
  • artist
Years active1944–1981
Spouses
​
​
(m.1949;div.1963)​
​
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(m.1963; died 1998)​
Children3

Hazel Court(10 February 1926 – 15 April 2008) was an English actress. She is known for her roles in British and Americanhorror filmsduring the 1950s and early 1960s, includingTerence Fisher'sThe Curse of Frankenstein(1957) andThe Man Who Could Cheat Death(1959) forHammer Film Productions,and three ofRoger Corman'sadaptationsofEdgar Allan Poestories forAmerican International Pictures:The Premature Burial(1962),The Raven(1963) andThe Masque of the Red Death(1964).

Early life

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Court was born inSutton Coldfield,Warwickshire. Her father, G.W. Court, was a cricketer who played forDurham CCC.[1]She attended Boldmere School and Highclare College, and later studied drama at theBirmingham Repertory Theatreand theAlexandra Theatre.[2]

Career

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At sixteen, Court met film directorAnthony Asquithin London; the meeting gained her a brief part inChampagne Charlie(1944). Court won a British Critics Award for her role as a crippled girl inCarnival(1946). She also appeared inHoliday Camp(1947) andBond Street(1948). Her first role in afantasy filmwas inGhost Ship(1952).Devil Girl from Mars(1954) was a low-budget film produced by theDanziger Brothers.

Court trained at theRank Organisation's"charm school".She wanted to act incomedy filmsbut also continued to appear in horror films and, in 1957, had what was to become a career-defining role in the first colourHammer HorrorfilmThe Curse of Frankenstein(1957).

In the 1957–58 television season, she co-starred in aCBSsitcom filmed in Britain,Dick and the Duchess,as Jane Starrett, apatricianBritish woman married to an insurance claims investigator (Patrick O'Neal).[3]Court appeared in an episode of The Buccaneers in 1957 titled Gentleman Jack and the Lady. Court travelled back and forth between North America and Britain, appearing in four episodes ofAlfred Hitchcock Presents.She had parts inA Woman of Mystery(1958);The Man Who Could Cheat Death(1959); an entry in the British film series theEdgar Wallace Mysteries(USA:The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre),The Man Who Was Nobody(1960); and inDoctor Blood's Coffin(1961) among others.

By the early 1960s, Court was based in the USA. She featured in theEdgar Allan Poehorror filmsThe Premature Burial(1962) withRay Milland,The Raven(1963) withPeter LorreandBoris KarloffandThe Masque of the Red Death(1964), the last two withVincent Price.She appeared on occasion in the early 1960s TV anthology series,The Dick Powell Show(aka,The Dick Powell Theatre).

Court also appeared in episodes of several TV series, includingAdventures in Paradise,Mission: Impossible,Bonanza,Dr. Kildare,Danger Man,Twelve O'Clock High,Burke's LawwithGene Barry,Sam BenedictstarringEdmond O'Brien,GidgetwithSally Field,McMillan and WifewithRock Hudson,Mannix,The Wild Wild West,Thrillerhosted by Boris Karloff,Rawhide( "Incident of the Dowry Dundee" ) withClint Eastwood,and inThe Fear,the penultimate episode of the original 1959-1964The Twilight Zonehosted byRod Serling.

Court appeared briefly inOmen III: The Final Conflict(uncredited, 1981).

In addition to acting, she studied sculpting in Italy and was a painter and sculptor.

Personal life

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Court was married to actorDermot Walshfrom 1949 until 1963.[1]They had a daughter, Sally Walsh, who appeared with her mother inThe Curse of Frankenstein.In 1964, Court married actor and directorDon Taylor,whom she met while they were shooting an episode ofAlfred Hitchcock Presents.They had two children. They were married until Taylor's death in 1998.

Death

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Court died of a heart attack at her home nearLake Tahoe,California, on 15 April 2008, aged 82.[4][5]Her autobiography,Horror Queen,was released in the UK by Tomahawk Press a week after her death.[6]

Selected filmography

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Works

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  • Court, Hazel (23 April 2008).Horror Queen: An Autobiography.Tomahawk Press.ISBN978-0-9531926-8-7.

References

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  1. ^abJohnson, Erskine (12 March 1959). "British TV Queen Demoted—Had To Settle For Duchess".The Bristol Daily Courier.Pennsylvania, Bristol. NEA. p. 24.
  2. ^Brady, Emma (18 April 2008)."Hollywood or Bust for City's Scream Queen".Birmingham Post.Archived fromthe originalon 8 April 2020.Retrieved30 January2010.
  3. ^Terrace, Vincent (2011).Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010.McFarland & Company, Inc.ISBN978-0-7864-6477-7.P. 258.
  4. ^"Horror actress Court dies aged 82".BBC News.17 April 2008.
  5. ^Vallance, Tom (18 April 2008)."Hazel Court: Forties film heroine who later became a cult favourite as a horror movie 'Queen of Scream'".The Independent.Archivedfrom the original on 9 May 2022.
  6. ^Bergan, Ronald (21 April 2008)."Hazel Court".The Guardian.Retrieved7 October2019.
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