Janina Faye Smigielski (born 1948) is an English actress and director. She is a daughter of Florence Louisa Jonathan and Jan Smigielski. Her father was a Polish pilot from

No. 303 Squadron RAF No. 303 Squadron RAF, also known as the 303rd "Tadeusz Kościuszko Warsaw" Fighter Squadron, was one of two Polish Air Forces in France and Great Britain, Polish squadrons that fought during the Battle of Britain along with No. 302 Polish Fight ...

during the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

. Faye began her career as an actress in 1956, and it includes theatre and television work in addition to many film appearances. She appeared in several major

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

and

horror films 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, apoc ...

when she was young, such as Hammer Films' original version of ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...

'' (1958), as well as the same company’s ''

Never Take Sweets from a Stranger ''Never Take Sweets from a Stranger'' (US ''Never Take Candy from a Stranger'') is a 1960 British film, directed by Cyril Frankel and released by Hammer Film Productions. The screenplay was developed by John Hunter from the play ''The Pony Trap ...

'' (1960) and ''

The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll ''The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll'' is a 1960 British horror film produced by Hammer Film Productions. It was directed by Terence Fisher, and stars Paul Massie as Dr. Jekyll, and co-stars Dawn Addams, Christopher Lee and David Kossoff. The scree ...

'' (1960). In 1961 she appeared on stage as Helen Keller in the

William Gibson William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his ...

play '' The Miracle Worker'', and in 1962 she appeared in the film thrillers ''

Don't Talk to Strange Men ''Don't Talk to Strange Men'' is a 1962 black and white British crime thriller film directed by Pat Jackson and produced at Marylebone Film Studios and on location in Buckinghamshire. Plot As a prologue an unseen driver gives a lift to a woman. ...

'' and ''

The Day of the Triffids ''The Day of the Triffids'' is a 1951 post-apocalyptic novel by the English science fiction author John Wyndham. After most people in the world are blinded by an apparent meteor shower, an aggressive species of plant starts killing people. A ...

''. In 1998, she teamed up with director Paul Cotgrove and Hammer co-star

Ingrid Pitt Ingrid Pitt (born Ingoushka Petrov; 21 November 193723 November 2010) was a Polish-British actress and writer best known for her work in horror films of the 1970s. Early life Ingoushka Petrov was born in Warsaw, Poland, one of two daughters ...

to make the short British horror film ''Green Fingers'', a story about a spinster whose garden has strange properties with an ability to grow anything, even things that are no longer living. She often appears at signings.

Filmography

References

External links

Official Website
* Living people 1948 births 20th-century English actresses Actresses from London People from Hammersmith English film actresses English people of Polish descent English television actresses {{England-actor-stub