York-born Veronica Carlson from Hammer horror films dies
She was not on the list.
VERONICA Carlson, the York-born actor who enjoyed enduring fame thanks to her roles in a string of Hammer horror films has died aged 77.
The much-loved performer began her career as a model and was also an accomplished artist, but it was her acting roles playing opposite Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing that made her a star.
Born Veronica Mary Glazer in York on September 18, 1944, she enjoyed a peripatetic childhood.
Her father was in the RAF and the family moved to wherever he was stationed, eventually settling down in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.
Although she studied art - and gained a National Diploma in Design - her striking looks made her a favourite for model photographers.
In 1968 when her picture appeared on the front page of The Daily Mirror she was spotted by Hammer boss James Carreras who was on the lookout for a new star to add glamour to the studio's third Dracula film, Dracula Has Risen From The Grave.
Carlson impressed during a meeting and was duly cast opposite Christopher Lee as the vampire Count.
Hammer's publicity material said "with her naturally blonde hair, peach cream complexion and vivid blue eyes, Veronica might be described as the typical English beauty".
She was also a very accomplished actress and her performance in the film - one of Hammer's most successful overseas exports - ensured she was remembered as more than just a damsel in distress.
Carlson was immediately cast opposite Hammer's other big star, Peter Cushing, in Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed.
Although considered one of the best of Hammer's outings for the Baron, the shooting was not without controversy due to the late addition of a rape scene which was bitterly opposed by Carlson, Cushing and even the film's director Terence Fisher.
Despite her voluble opposition to the scene - which, due to being filmed out of chronological order, rendered her character's subsequent dealings with Cushing's character nonsensical - Hammer cast Carlson in the next Frankenstein film, Horror of Frankenstein.
This time she was Frankenstein's bride-to-be, Elizabeth, and her beau was not Cushing, but Ralph Bates who was being groomed by Hammer to take over the role. The film was not a success.
Carlson resumed her partnership with Cushing in 1975's The Ghoul, made by Hammer wannabe Tyburn Films.
Having married in 1974 she moved to America, but was a frequent visitor to the UK where she remained a favourite at cult film conventions until her death.
Filmography
Title Year Role Notes
Film 1967 Casino Royale Tall Blonde Uncredited
1967 The Magnificent Two Revolutionary Uncredited
1967 Smashing Time Movie Actress at Premiere
1968 Hammerhead Ulla
1968 Dracula Has Risen from the Grave Maria
1969 Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed Anna Spengler
1969 The Best House in London Lily Uncredited
1969 Crossplot Dinah
1970 Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You Liz
1970 The Horror of Frankenstein Elizabeth Heiss
1974 Vampira Ritva
1975 The Ghoul Daphne
1994 Black Easter Psychiatrist
1995 Freakshow Grace Harmsworth
2016 Stellar Quasar and the Scrolls of Dadelia Sayang
2019 House of the Gorgon Anna Banning
2021 Night of the Devil Short film
TBA The Rectory Lady Whitehouse
Title Year Role Notes
Television 1968 ITV Playhouse Sally "The Photographer" (S1E18)
1969 The Saint Vanessa Longman "The Man Who Gambled with Life" (S6E18)
1969 Department S Gina "The Double Death of Charlie Crippen" (S2E20)
1969 Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) Suzanne "The Ghost Who Saved the Bank of Monte Carlo" (S1E11)
1971 Hine Amanda "Everything I Am I Owe" (S1EP12)
1972 Spyder's Web Wallis Ackroyd Season 1 (main role, all 13 episodes)
1975 Public Eye Ingrid Borg "Hard Times" (S7E7)
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