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Hazel Court 1926 - 2008

Hazel Court Taylor of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California was born on February 10, 1926 in England United Kingdom, and died at age 82 years old on April 15, 2008.

Hazel Court Taylor

Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California 90049

February 10, 1926

England, United Kingdom

April 15, 2008

Female

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Hazel Court Hazel Taylor (1926 - 2008)

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Hazel Court Taylor's History: 1926 - 2008

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Introduction

Hazel Court Born 10 February 1926 Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, England Died 15 April 2008 (aged 82) Lake Tahoe, California, U.S. Occupation Actress Years active 1944–1981 Spouse(s) Dermot Walsh (m. 1949; div. 1963) Don Taylor (m. 1963; died 1998) Children 3 Hazel Court (10 February 1926 – 15 April 2008) was an English actress. She is known for her roles in British and American horror films during the 1950s and early 1960s, including Terence Fisher's The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959) for Hammer Film Productions, and three of Roger Corman's adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories for American International Pictures: The Premature Burial (1962), The Raven (1963) and The Masque of the Red Death (1964). Early life Court was born in Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire. Her father, G.W. Court, was a cricketer who played for Durham CCC.[1] She attended Boldmere School and Highclare College, and later studied drama at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Alexandra Theatre. Career At the age of sixteen, Court met film director Anthony Asquith in London; the meeting gained her a brief part in Champagne Charlie (1944). Court won a British Critics Award for her role as a crippled girl in Carnival (1946) and also appeared in Holiday Camp (1947) and Bond Street (1948). Her first role in a fantasy film was in Ghost Ship (1952). Devil Girl from Mars (1954) was a low-budget film produced by the Danziger Brothers. Court trained at the Rank Organisation's "charm school". She wanted to act in comedy films but also continued to appear in horror films and, in 1957, had what was to become a career-defining role in the first colour Hammer Horror film The Curse of Frankenstein (1957). In the 1957–58 television season, she co-starred in a CBS sitcom filmed in Britain, Dick and the Duchess, as Jane Starrett, a patrician British woman married to insurance claims investigator (Patrick O'Neal). Court travelled back and forth between North America and Britain, appearing in four episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. She had parts in A Woman of Mystery (1958), The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959), an entry in the British film series the Edgar Wallace Mysteries (US: The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre) being The Man Who Was Nobody (1960), and in Doctor Blood's Coffin (1961). By the early 1960s, Court was based in the United States. She featured in the Edgar Allan Poe horror films The Premature Burial (1962) with Ray Milland, The Raven (1963) with Peter Lorre and Boris Karloff and The Masque of the Red Death (1964), the last two with Vincent 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, including Adventures in Paradise, Mission: Impossible, Bonanza, Dr. Kildare, Danger Man, Twelve O'Clock High, Burke's Law with Gene Barry, Sam Benedict starring Edmond O'Brien, Gidget with Sally Field, McMillan and Wife with Rock Hudson, Mannix, The Wild Wild West, Thriller hosted by Boris Karloff, Rawhide (Incident of the Dowry Dundee) with Clint Eastwood, and in The Fear, the penultimate episode of the original 1959-1964 The Twilight Zone hosted by Rod Serling. Court appeared briefly in Omen III: The Final Conflict (uncredited, 1981). In addition to acting, she studied sculpting in Italy and was a painter and sculptor. Personal life Court was married to actor Dermot Walsh from 1949 until 1963. They had a daughter, Sally Walsh, who appeared with her mother in The Curse of Frankenstein. In 1964, Court married actor and director Don Taylor, whom she met while they were shooting an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. They had two children. They were married until Taylor's death in 1998. Death Court died of a heart attack at her home near Lake Tahoe, California, on 15 April 2008, aged 82. Her autobiography, Horror Queen, was released in the UK by Tomahawk Press a week after her death. Selected filmography 1944: Champagne Charlie - Tipsy Champagne Drinker (uncredited) 1944: Dreaming - Miss Grey / Wren / Avalah 1946: Gaiety George (a.k.a. Showtime) - Elizabeth Brown 1946: Carnival - May Raeburn 1947: Hungry Hill - Minor Role (uncredited) 1947: The Root of All Evil - Rushie 1947: Meet Me at Dawn - Gabrielle Vermorel 1947: Dear Murderer - Avis Fenton 1947: Holiday Camp - Joan Huggett 1948: My Sister and I - Helena Forsythe 1948: Bond Street - Julia Chester-Barrett 1949: Forbidden - Jeannie Thompson 1952: Ghost Ship - Margaret Thornton 1953: Counterspy (a.k.a. Undercover Agent) - Clare Manning 1954: Devil Girl from Mars - Ellen 1954: The Scarlet Web - Susan Honeywell 1954: A Tale of Three Women - Trude (segment "Wedding Gift' story) 1956: The Narrowing Circle - Rosemary Speed 1956: Behind the Headlines - Maxine 1957: Hour of Decision - Peggy Sanders 1957: The Curse of Frankenstein - Elizabeth 1958: A Woman of Mystery - Joy Grant 1958-1961: Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series) - Charlotte Jameson Rutherford / Helen Brathwaite / Lady Gwendolyn Avon / Phyllis Chaundry 1958: The Invisible Man (TV Series) - Penny Page 1959: Model for Murder - Sally Meadows 1959: Breakout - Rita Arkwright 1959: The Man Who Could Cheat Death - Janine Du Bois 1960: The Shakedown - Mildred Eyde 1960: Bonanza (Tv Series, Episode: "The Last Trophy") - Lady Beatrice Dunsford 1960: Edgar Wallace Mysteries (US: The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre), "The Man Who Was Nobody" - Marjorie Stedman 1960-1961: Danger Man (TV Series) - Francesca / Noelle Laurence 1961: Dr. Blood's Coffin - Nurse Linda Parker 1961: Thriller (TV Series) - Leonie Vicek 1961: Mary Had a Little... - Laurel Clive 1961: Stagecoach West (TV series) Episode: "Finn McCool" - Sybil Allison 1962: The Premature Burial - Emily Gault 1963: The Raven - Lenore Craven 1964: Rawhide (TV Series, Episode: "Incident of the Dowery Dundee") - Kathleen Dundee 1964: The Twilight Zone (TV Series, Episode: "The Fear") - Charlotte Scott 1964: The Masque of the Red Death - Juliana 1966: Mission: Impossible (TV Series, season 2 ep. 10: "Charity") - Catherine Hagar 1972: McMillan & Wife (TV Series, Episode: "The Face of Murder") - Frances Mayerling 1981: Omen III: The Final Conflict - Champagne Woman At Hunt (uncr
02/10

1926

Birthday

February 10, 1926

Birthdate

England United Kingdom

Birthplace

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Professional Career

Selected filmography 1944: Champagne Charlie - Tipsy Champagne Drinker (uncredited) 1944: Dreaming - Miss Grey / Wren / Avalah 1946: Gaiety George (a.k.a. Showtime) - Elizabeth Brown 1946: Carnival - May Raeburn 1947: Hungry Hill - Minor Role (uncredited) 1947: The Root of All Evil - Rushie 1947: Meet Me at Dawn - Gabrielle Vermorel 1947: Dear Murderer - Avis Fenton 1947: Holiday Camp - Joan Huggett 1948: My Sister and I - Helena Forsythe 1948: Bond Street - Julia Chester-Barrett 1949: Forbidden - Jeannie Thompson 1952: Ghost Ship - Margaret Thornton 1953: Counterspy (a.k.a. Undercover Agent) - Clare Manning 1954: Devil Girl from Mars - Ellen 1954: The Scarlet Web - Susan Honeywell 1954: A Tale of Three Women - Trude (segment "Wedding Gift' story) 1956: The Narrowing Circle - Rosemary Speed 1956: Behind the Headlines - Maxine 1957: Hour of Decision - Peggy Sanders 1957: The Curse of Frankenstein - Elizabeth 1958: A Woman of Mystery - Joy Grant 1958-1961: Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series) - Charlotte Jameson Rutherford / Helen Brathwaite / Lady Gwendolyn Avon / Phyllis Chaundry 1958: The Invisible Man (TV Series) - Penny Page 1959: Model for Murder - Sally Meadows 1959: Breakout - Rita Arkwright 1959: The Man Who Could Cheat Death - Janine Du Bois 1960: The Shakedown - Mildred Eyde 1960: Bonanza (Tv Series, Episode: "The Last Trophy") - Lady Beatrice Dunsford 1960: Edgar Wallace Mysteries (US: The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre), "The Man Who Was Nobody" - Marjorie Stedman 1960-1961: Danger Man (TV Series) - Francesca / Noelle Laurence 1961: Dr. Blood's Coffin - Nurse Linda Parker 1961: Thriller (TV Series) - Leonie Vicek 1961: Mary Had a Little... - Laurel Clive 1961: Stagecoach West (TV series) Episode: "Finn McCool" - Sybil Allison 1962: The Premature Burial - Emily Gault 1963: The Raven - Lenore Craven 1964: Rawhide (TV Series, Episode: "Incident of the Dowery Dundee") - Kathleen Dundee 1964: The Twilight Zone (TV Series, Episode: "The Fear") - Charlotte Scott 1964: The Masque of the Red Death - Juliana 1966: Mission: Impossible (TV Series, season 2 ep. 10: "Charity") - Catherine Hagar 1972: McMillan & Wife (TV Series, Episode: "The Face of Murder") - Frances Mayerling 1981: Omen III: The Final Conflict - Champagne Woman At Hunt (uncredited) (final film role) Bibliography Court, Hazel (23 April 2008). Horror Queen: An Autobiography. Tomahawk Press. ISBN 978-0-9531926-8-7.
04/15

2008

Death

April 15, 2008

Death date

Heart attack at home.

Cause of death

Unknown
Death location

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Obituary

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Hazel Court, an English actress who co-starred with the likes of Boris Karloff and Vincent Price in popular horror movies of the 1950s and '60s, has died. She was 82. Court died early Tuesday of a heart attack at her home near Lake Tahoe, daughter Sally Walsh said Wednesday. While she had a substantial acting career both in England and on American TV, Court was perhaps best known for her work in such films as 1963's "The Raven." She co-starred with Price, Karloff and Peter Lorre in director Roger Corman's take on the classic Edgar Allan Poe poem. Corman directed her in five movies. Like other "scream queens" of the era, Court often relied on her cleavage and her ability to shriek in fear and die horrible deaths for her roles. "The Premature Burial," "The Masque of the Red Death," "The Curse of Frankenstein" and "Devil Girl from Mars" helped propel her to cult status and brought her fan mail even in her later years. "She'd probably get over 100 pieces of fan mail a month and she would apply to every single one," her daughter said. Court had finished an autobiography, "Hazel Court - Horror Queen," which will be published in Britain, Walsh said. The daughter of a professional cricket player, Court was born Feb. 10, 1926, in the English town of Sutton Coldfield. As a teenager, she was appearing in stage productions when she was spotted and signed by the J. Arthur Rank Organisation, which owned movie studios and theaters. She got her first movie bit part by the time she was 18 and went on to become a popular actress and pinup girl, her daughter said. "She was one of the great beauties of all time," Walsh said. "She was a redhead with really green eyes and almost ... the perfect face. She was on the cover of almost every magazine." Court co-starred with Patrick O'Neal in the 1957 British TV comedy series "Dick and the Duchess." In the late 1950s, she came to the United States to work on the TV show "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." Besides acting, Court was a commissioned sculptor and painter whose works appeared in public galleries. Court is survived by daughters Walsh and Courtney Taylor, son Jonathan Taylor and stepdaughters Anne Taylor Fleming and Avery Taylor. Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press

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