Hazel Court

Hazel Court
Hazel Court in The Premature Burial (1962)
Born	(1926-02-10)10 February 1926 Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, England
Died	15 April 2008(2008-04-15) (aged 82) Lake Tahoe, California, United States
Cause of death	Heart attack
Years active	1944–1981
Spouse(s)	Don Taylor (1963–98) (his death) 2 children Dermot Walsh (1949–63) (divorced) 1 child

Hazel Court (10 February 1926 – 15 April 2008) was an English actress best known for her roles in horror films during the 1950s and early 1960s.

Court was born in Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, lived in the Boldmere area and attended Boldmere School and Highclare College. Her father was G.W. Court, a cricketer who played for Durham CCC. At the age of fourteen, she studied drama at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Alexandra Theatre, also in Birmingham, England.

At the age of sixteen, Court met film director Anthony Asquith in London, which won her a brief part in Champagne Charlie (1944). Court won a British Critics Award for her role as a crippled girl in Carnival (1946) and also appeared in Holiday Camp (1947) and Bond Street (1948). Her first role in a fantasy film was in Ghost Ship (1952). One of Court's most remembered films is the cult classic Devil Girl from Mars (1954). She trained at the Rank Organisation's "charm school".

Court wanted to act in comedy films but she also continued to appear in horror films and, in 1957, had what was to become a career-defining role in the first colour Hammer Horror film The Curse of Frankenstein.