- Born
- Died
- Nicknames
- The Queen of Scream
- The Gothic Fox
- Born in Birmingham, England, Hazel Court carried on a love affair with the world of movies and make-believe that made her a leading student at her hometown's School of Drama and later helped her land a contract with the J. Arthur Rank Organisation. Graduating from bits to supporting roles to leads, Court worked in English films from the mid-'40s until the early 1960s, when she relocated to Hollywood. The flame-haired Court was married to Irish actor Dermot Walsh before she married American actor-director Don Taylor.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Tom Weaver <[email protected]>
- SpousesDon Taylor(March 25, 1963 - December 29, 1998) (his death, 2 children)Dermot Walsh(September 10, 1949 - February 7, 1963) (divorced, 1 child)
- ChildrenCourtney TaylorJonathan David Taylor
- ParentsG.W. Court
- Red hair and green eyes
- Seductive deep voice
- Substantial Bosom
- While she had a substantial acting career both in England and on American television, Court was perhaps best known for her work in such films as The Raven (1963). She co-starred with Vincent Price, Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre in a Roger Corman take on Edgar Allan Poe's classic poem. Like other "scream queens" of the era, Court's roles often relied on her cleavage and her ability to shriek in fear and die horrible deaths. The Premature Burial (1962), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and Devil Girl from Mars (1954) helped propel her to cult status and brought her fan mail, even in her later years. Court had finished an autobiography, "Hazel Court - Horror Queen", which will be published in Britain, said her daughter, Sally Walsh.
- One of Court's biggest fans was horror writer Stephen King who mentions her in his various novels.
- Her "horror queen" popularity officially started with her role as Elizabeth in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957). Real-life daughter Sally Walsh played Elizabeth as a child.
- According to her good friend Ingrid Pitt, Court was Hammer Films' first major star.
- In her last years, she was strongly critical of the increase of sex, violence, gore and bad language in films, singling out the films of Quentin Tarantino for special dislike.
- 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. I wouldn't want everyone to come in and find it a mess. It's very English of me.
- I always thought [Edgar Allan Poe's] work were wonderful, and I loved Gothic tales--so I guess I was a natural for those films-to-come . . . I used to stand in line with my parents at the local theater.
- [on The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959)] The producers just said, "We would like you to do this scene, where Anton Diffring is sculpting you, and we would like to make it a nude scene. Would you do it?" It would only be shown in the European version, not in England. It really was just a lovely scene with him sculpting me, and I had no objection to that. But that nude scene is in the European version--out there, somewhere!
- [about her roles in the early 1950s] It's very funny. In those days we did it all as a job. it was our job to go out and do the very best we could. We'd take each film as it came. Then analyze it, work on it, and do it. Never any tantrums . . . You enjoyed doing it, and you didn't ever think of yourself as special. We were all just actors, together; we were glad of a job, and we did it.
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