Eileen Bennett obit

Eileen Bennett, actress who starred with George Formby on screen and lit up the West End in the war

When Formby’s wife was off the set, ‘suddenly [he] started uttering all sorts of endearments and moving closer until our legs were touching’ 

She was not on the list.

Eileen Bennett, who has died aged 105, was known to George Formby fans as his love interest in the 1942 comedy Much Too Shy and, during the war, played the ingénue lead, from 1942 to 1945, at the Strand Theatre in the West End production of Arsenic and Old Lace, when she was described by one critic as “the very essence of blonde pulchritude."

Eileen Bennett, a British actress known for her role in the 1942 film Much Too Shy and the West End play Arsenic and Old Lace, has died at age 105. She was a prominent figure during World War II.

Bennett married American soldier Col Thomas Hammond in July 1945, ending her acting career to focus on family life. She was born in London and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1936.

During her career, Bennett also performed in BBC radio plays and early television broadcasts. She is survived by her two sons, including Nicholas, who acted in The Sound of Music.

She was the mother of actor Nicholas Hammond

Eileen Mary Bennett was born in London, England on 8 July 1919. She attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and started her career as a model.

Bennett made her uncredited screen debut in the 1939 film The Outsider. She played Eve in the thriller Trunk Crime later that year. Also, in 1939, she deputised as a television announcer for Jasmine Bligh when she was on leave. She was described as "Britain's new screen star" in 1942. She had significant roles in the comedy Much Too Shy (1942) and Thursday's Child (1943).

 

Actress

Thursday's Child (1943)

Thursday's Child

5.9

Phoebe Wilson

1943

 

Much Too Shy (1942)

Much Too Shy

6.2

Jackie Somers

1942

 

Clive Brook and Judy Campbell in Adventure in Blackmail (1942)

Adventure in Blackmail

6.3

(uncredited)

1942

 

Back-Room Boy (1942)

Back-Room Boy

6.2

Bit (uncredited)

1942

 

He Found a Star (1941)

He Found a Star

5.2

Sleepy (uncredited)

1941

 

Cæsar's Friend

TV Movie

Marcella

1939

 

Manning Whiley in Design for Murder (1939)

Design for Murder

6.1

Eve

1939

 

Edward Everett Horton, Jack Buchanan, and Otto Kruger in The Amazing Mr. Forrest (1939)

The Amazing Mr. Forrest

6.0

Cigarette Seller (uncredited)

1939

 

Laurence Olivier and Valerie Hobson in Clouds Over Europe (1939)

Clouds Over Europe

6.5

Minor Role (uncredited)

1939

 

George Sanders and Mary Maguire in The Outsider (1939)

The Outsider

5.7

(uncredited)

1939