Hilary Dwyer (6 May 1945 – 30 March 2020), also known as Hilary Heath, was an English actress, businessperson, and film producer. She was best known for her acting roles in films such as '' Witchfinder General'' (1968) and ''

Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, initially published under her pen name Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their turbulent re ...

'' (1970). She also performed on the London stage. In 1974, she married the

talent agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, and other professionals in various entertainment or sp ...

Duncan Heath, with whom she had two children, and helped to found Duncan Heath Associates, which was later bought by ICM Partners. They divorced in 1989. Later in her career, under her married name, "Hilary Heath", she produced the feature film ''

An Awfully Big Adventure ''An Awfully Big Adventure'' is a 1995 British coming-of-age film directed by Mike Newell. The story concerns a teenage girl who joins a local repertory theatre troupe in Liverpool. During a winter production of ''Peter Pan'', the play quickly ...

'' (1995), as well as TV remakes of

Daphne du Maurier Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her grandfather was Geo ...

's ''

Rebecca Rebecca, ; Syriac: , ) from the Hebrew (lit., 'connection'), from Semitic root , 'to tie, couple or join', 'to secure', or 'to snare') () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical ...

'' (1997) and

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thr ...

's '' The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone'' (2003). Her final producing role was the 2014 miniseries '' Jamaica Inn''.

Early life

Born on 6 May 1945, in

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, England, Hilary Dwyer was the daughter of Frederick Dwyer, a South African-born orthopaedic surgeon noted for his pioneering

calcaneal In humans and many other primates, the calcaneus (; from the Latin ''calcaneus'' or ''calcaneum'', meaning heel) or heel bone is a bone of the tarsus of the foot which constitutes the heel. In some other animals, it is the point of the hock. S ...

osteotomy An osteotomy is a surgical operation whereby a bone is cut to shorten or lengthen it or to change its alignment. It is sometimes performed to correct a hallux valgus, or to straighten a bone that has healed crookedly following a fracture. It is ...

, who married Norah Eileen Milroy in 1940.Royal College of Surgeons Obiturary
Retrieved 19 April 2020 They had two daughters, Hilary and Patricia, the latter of whom would later marry the philosopher

Bernard Williams Sir Bernard Arthur Owen Williams, FBA (21 September 1929 – 10 June 2003) was an English moral philosopher. His publications include ''Problems of the Self'' (1973), ''Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy'' (1985), ''Shame and Necessity'' ...

. As a youth, Hilary practised ballet and became a talented pianist, winning a music scholarship to Lowther College in North Wales. At age 16 she attended the

Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art Webber may refer to: * Webber, Kansas, a US city *Webber Township, Jefferson County, Illinois, USA *Webber Township, Lake County, Michigan, USA *Webber International University, in Babson Park, Florida, USA *Webber (surname) Webber (/ˈwɛbər/) ...

(now part of the

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...

) in London.Savoy Theatre Programme No 37, October 1978 She trained in

repertory theatre A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawin ...

s and appeared on stage at the

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a f ...

Acting career

Vincent Price in House on Haunted Hill (cropped)

Dwyer is best known for appearing in several

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, ap ...

s distributed by

American International Pictures American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fi ...

in the late 1960s and early 1970s, most notably her first feature film, Michael Reeves' '' Witchfinder General'' (1968), starring

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...

, in which she played Sara Lowes, and gave a "sensitive performance...intelligent and articulate". Of the role, Dwyer later recalled "I don't think that I realised I was the star." Dwyer enjoyed working with Reeves, describing him as "terrific, we became really good friends". In a 2010 interview at the Southend Film Festival, Dwyer described her interview for ''Witchfinder General'' as her "first casting call", in which she was "absolutely terrified" because she "knew no-one".Hilary Dwyer interviewed about 'Witchfinder General' at the Southend Film Festival, May 2010
Retrieved 28 March 2020 Dwyer also appeared in '' The Oblong Box'' (1969) and ''

Cry of the Banshee ''Cry of the Banshee'' is a 1970 British horror film directed by Gordon Hessler and starring Vincent Price as an evil witchhunter. The film was released by American International Pictures. The film costars Elisabeth Bergner, Hilary Dwyer, and H ...

'' (1970), both again featuring Price. Of working with Price, she said "I adored Vincent...I played his mistress, his daughter and his wife. And he said, 'if you ever play my mother, I'll marry you'." Dwyer also performed in

Robert Fuest Robert Fuest (30 September 1927 – 21 March 2012) was an English film director, screenwriter, and production designer who worked mostly in the horror, fantasy and suspense genres. Biography Born in London, Fuest served his national servi ...

's ''Wuthering Heights'' (1970). ''Cry of the Banshee'' was her final feature film appearance. Her many television roles included ''

The Prisoner ''The Prisoner'' is a 1967 British television series about an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious coastal village, where his captors designate him as Number Six and try to find out why he abruptl ...

'', '' The Avengers'', '' Hadleigh'', '' Z Cars'', and '' Van der Valk''. Her last TV appearance was in a 1976 episode of '' Space: 1999''. Dwyer also had a successful career on the stage. In 1970 she appeared in ''

The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious ...

'' and in ''

Arms and the Man ''Arms and the Man'' is a comedy by George Bernard Shaw, whose title comes from the opening words of Virgil's ''Aeneid'', in Latin: ''Arma virumque cano'' ("Of arms and the man I sing"). The play was first produced on 21 April 1894 at the Aven ...

'' at the

Theatre Royal, Bath The Theatre Royal in Bath, England, was built in 1805. A Grade II* listed building, it has been described by the Theatres Trust as "One of the most important surviving examples of Georgian theatre architecture". It has a capacity for an audien ...

, and later on tour with the

. In 1978 Dwyer performed in the play '' Whose Life Is It Anyway?'' alongside

Tom Conti Tommaso Antonio Conti (born 22 November 1941) is a Scottish actor, theatre director, and novelist. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1979 for his performance in '' Whose Life Is It Anyway?'' and was nominated for the Academy Aw ...

at the

Mermaid Theatre The Mermaid Theatre was a theatre encompassing the site of Puddle Dock and Curriers' Alley at Blackfriars in the City of London, and the first built in the City since the time of Shakespeare. It was, importantly, also one of the first new th ...

in London, and later at the

Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Sa ...

Duncan Heath Associates, marriage and children

In 1973, she helped set up the talent agency Duncan Heath Associates with her then husband-to-be, Duncan Heath, working long hours to set up the business and even taking business calls on her wedding day. Duncan Heath Associates became a successful talent agency, and was later bought by ICM Partners. Today, Duncan Heath is co-chairman of the Independent Talent Group Ltd.The Times, Obituary, 18 April 2020 In a 2002 interview in the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'', Heath said of Dwyer "She introduced me to a lot of people – if it wasn't for her it wouldn't have happened." Dwyer married Heath in 1974; they had two children, Laura and Daniel.Article on Duncan and Laura Heath in 'Relative Values' in the ''Sunday Times'', 2009
Retrieved 29 August 2010 However, working with her husband was not always easy. The relationship was later described by Duncan Heath as “a nightmare”, in part because of her strong personality and also because she had begun to drink heavily.

Producing career

She began a career as a producer in the mid-1980s under her married name Hilary Heath. In 1988 she won a

CableAce Award The CableACE Award (earlier known as the ACE Awards; ACE was an acronym for "Award for Cable Excellence") is a defunct award that was given by what was then the National Cable Television Association from 1978 to 1997 to honor excellence in Am ...

for the TV movie ''

The Worst Witch ''The Worst Witch'' is a series of children's books written and illustrated by Jill Murphy. The series are primarily about a girl who attends a witch school and fantasy stories, with eight books published. The first, ''The Worst Witch'', was ...

'' (1986). Unfortunately her marriage did not prosper and she and her husband Duncan separated, and were divorced in 1989. Despite the divorce, she retained a relationship with her ex-husband, which continued to be the most important in her life, and the two continued to speak and meet regularly. She also embraced sobriety, giving up alcohol. Heath is credited as either producer or executive producer for a number of feature films, including ''

Criminal Law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law ...

'' (1988) and ''

'' (1995), starring

Hugh Grant Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960) is an English actor. He established himself early in his career as both a charming, and vulnerable romantic lead and has since transitioned into a dramatic character actor. Among his numerous a ...

and

Alan Rickman Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016) was an English actor and director. Known for his deep, languid voice, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and became a member of the Royal Shakesp ...

. She co-produced Gary Oldman's 1997 film '' Nil by Mouth''. She also produced TV-remakes of

's ''

'' (1997) and

's '' The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone'' (2003). In 2014 she executive produced the miniseries '' Jamaica Inn''. As a producer, she was skilled at managing talent. Jonathan Powell, former controller of BBC 1, said of her: “Everybody knew Hilary. And if they didn’t, they couldn’t stop her from getting to know them. She had a complete incapacity to understand what the word ‘no’ meant.”

Addiction counselling

In her mid 60s Dywer returned to education, studying cognitive behaviour therapy for a master’s degree at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, and forging a new career as an addiction counsellor. She was reportedly a good counsellor, thanks to her frankness, and her openness about her own past struggles with addiction.

Death and legacy

Dwyer died on 30 March 2020, aged 74, from complications related to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

. The health crisis caused by the virus meant that Dwyer's funeral did not take place as she had hoped or planned. The only individuals present were her daughter Laura and the presiding vicar.''How covid-19 is changing funerals'' at www.economist.com
Retrieved 14 April 2020 She was survived by her two children, Laura and Daniel. Laura Heath founded the Hope-Martin Animal Foundation in

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estima ...

. Daniel Heath is a Los Angeles-based film composer, writing songs for artists such as

Lana Del Rey Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, with frequent r ...

Filmography

Feature films

Television (incomplete)

Notes

References

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy P ...

Programme No 37, October 1978 *The Times, Obituary Saturday 18 April 2020