Hazel Court, an English beauty who co-starred with the likes of Boris Karloff and Vincent Price in "The Raven" and other popular horror movies of the 1950s and '60s, has died. She was 82.
Court died on Tuesday at her home near Lake Tahoe from a heart attack, her daughter, Sally Walsh of Los Angeles, said on 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 a Roger Corman take on the classic Edgar Allen Poe poem.
Corman directed her in five movies. 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," "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 reply 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 February 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.
{{/usCountry}}"She'd probably get over 100 pieces of fan mail a month and she would reply 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 February 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.
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