`Scream queen' Hazel Court dies at 82
LOS ANGELES (AP) - April 17, 2008 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.