Suzanna Leigh obit

Suzanna Leigh, Elvis Presley’s Co-Star in ‘Paradise, Hawaiian Style,’ Dies at 72

The England-born actress also appeared in several Hammer horror films and said Vivien Leigh was her godmother.

 She was not on the list.

Suzanna Leigh, who co-starred with Elvis Presley in the 1966 musical comedy Paradise, Hawaiian Style, has died. She was 72.

Her daughter, actress Natalia Leigh, announced her death Monday in a Facebook post.

“My warrior and my heart died at 5:30PM, on her terms,” Natalia wrote. “It was time for JESUS to take her home. The world will forever be a little less light and magical. And my life has now and will be forever changed. I personally died a little today as she was my everything and I will never be the same.”

Her agent, Melanie Novy, said that she died in Winter Garden, Florida.

Leigh had been fighting Stage 4 liver cancer since September 2016, and a GoFundMe page had been set up in her name to assist with medical expenses.

In contrast to the colorful Presley film, Leigh worked in several Hammer horror productions, including The Lost Continent (1968) as a passenger on an ill-fated voyage besieged by carnivorous seaweed, an octopus, a shark and pirates.

In 1971, she appeared in the R-rated Lust for a Vampire, a rushed sequel to director Roy Ward Baker’s The Vampire Lovers. The title vampire was played by Danish actress Yutte Stensgaard. Leigh portrayed a gym teacher puzzled as to why her students kept disappearing.

Other roles were as a stewardess in Boeing Boeing (1965), a pop singer recovering from exhaustion on an island infested with killer insects in The Deadly Bees (1966) and a journalist in The Fiend (1972). She also appeared in the musical comedy Son of Dracula (1974) opposite Harry Nilsson and Ringo Starr.

In Paradise, Hawaiian Style, Presley romances Judy Hudson, played by Leigh, and along the way sings nine new songs, including “Scratch My Back (Then I’ll Scratch Yours),” “A Dog’s Life” and “Queenie Wahine’s Papaya.”

“Elvis and I were both under contract to Hal Wallis, who was known as the star maker,” Leigh once recalled. “I remember the day that Hal said that I would be making my next movie with Elvis. I was an incredible fan of his, and then he said you’ll be filming it in Hawaii. Wow. Elvis was a fabulous actor, very underrated by a lot of the conventional theater people.”

She was born Sandra Eileen Anne Smyth in Berkshire, England, in 1945. When she was 11, she took the surname of Leigh after her father told her that actress Vivien Leigh was her godmother. “She said she had known my father, though she had been to hundreds of christenings and didn’t remember mine. It was about 15 years after she’d done Gone With the Wind, and she was stunning, beautiful and slender with dark hair. She said she didn’t mind a bit if I used her name,” she told The Independent in 1999.

Leigh was the star of the 13-episode French TV series Trois étoiles en Touraine (1966). In later life, she settled in Memphis, Tennessee, organizing Elvis-themed events and charities.

In 2000, Leigh published her memoir, Paradise, Suzanna Style.

Filmography

Film

Year        Title        Role       Notes

1956     The Silken Affair Minor Role          Uncredited

1957     Man from Tangier                             Uncredited

1958     Tom Thumb        Extra in 'Dancing Shoes' sequence             Uncredited

1960     Oscar Wilde        Minor Role          Uncredited

1961     Bomb in the High Street Jackie   

1965     The Pleasure Girls             Dee       

1965     Boeing Boeing    Vicky Hawkins   British United

1966     Paradise, Hawaiian Style                Judy Hudson (Friday)     

1966     The Deadly Bees               Vicki Robbins    

1967     Deadlier Than the Male Grace    

1968     The Lost Continent          Unity Webster  

1968     Subterfuge          Donetta

1970     Docteur Caraïbes              Laura    

1971     Lust for a Vampire            Janet Playfair     

1972     The Fiend             Paddy Lynch      

1973     Son of Dracula   Amber 

2015     Grace of the Father          Judith Hudson   (final film role)

Television

Year        Title        Role       Notes

1963     It Happened Like This      Amanda Morris 1 episode

1964     The Saint              Lilla McAndrew 1 episode

1966     The Wednesday Play       Elaine    1 episode

1966     Trois étoiles en Touraine                TV movie

1969     Journey to the Unknown              Vickie    1 episode

1970     ITV Playhouse    Ingrid    1 episode

1971     Amicalement Vôtre!        Emily Major        1 episode

1973     Docteur Caraïbes              Laura     4 episodes

1978     The Chiffy Kids   Miss Armitage   1 episode