Friday, April 18, 2008

RIP Hazel Court, the Horror Queen of Scream…

Hazel Court, the redheaded, green-eyed beauty, one of England’s top film actresses in the 1950’s, passed away Tuesday, April 14. Ms. Court died in Lake Tahoe, California, of a heart attack.


The talented Ms. Court, renowned for her ample cleavage and horrified scream, was the only actress to have worked with all of horror films' leading men - Boris Karloff, Peter Cushing, Vincent Price and Christopher Lee.

The former pinup girl was best known for her performances in movies such as “Devil Girl from Mars” (1954), “The Curse of Frankenstein” (1957), “Dr. Blood's Coffin” (1961), Roger Corman’s treatments of three works by Edgar Allan Poe: “The Masque of the Red Death ” (1962), “The Comedy of Terrors/The Raven” (1963), “The Premature Burial” (1964) and “Omen 3: The Final Conflict” (1981). She also had a long and varied career in American television, appearing in such series as General Electric Theatre, The Twilight Zone, Dr. Kildare, Gidget, The Wild Wild West, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Mannix, Mission Impossible and McMillan and Wife.



After her career in film, television and stage, she took up a successful second career as a sculptor in the 1970’s, and also wrote an autobiography, "Hazel Court - Horror Queen: An Autobiography", to be published this month by Tomahawk Press.

“Just in case I should pop off to Heaven in the night, I always remember to wash up, punch up the cushions, and straighten up after a dinner party,” she wrote. “I wouldn’t want everyone to come in and find it a mess. It’s very English of me.”

Hazel Court is survived by two daughters, two stepdaughters and a son.

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