Veronica Patricia Hurst (born Patricia Wilmshurst; 11 November 1931 – 15 November 2022) was a British film, stage and television actress. Hurst was born in Malta and brought up in Tooting, London.

Early career

Hurst was awarded the Leverhulme Scholarship to

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...

and made her film debut as Joan Webb in ''

Laughter in Paradise ''Laughter in Paradise'' is a 1951 British comedy film, starring Alastair Sim, Fay Compton, George Cole, and Guy Middleton. The film was remade as ''Some Will, Some Won't'' (1970). Plot In his will, notorious practical joker Henry Russell leave ...

'' (1951) with director Mario Zampi describing her as "one of the greatest potential screen stars I have ever seen". The film featured

Alastair Sim Alastair George Bell Sim, CBE (9 October 1900 – 19 August 1976) was a Scottish character actor who began his theatrical career at the age of thirty and quickly became established as a popular West End performer, remaining so until his ...

Fay Compton Virginia Lilian Emmeline Compton-Mackenzie, (; 18 September 1894 – 12 December 1978), known professionally as Fay Compton, was an English actress. She appeared in several films, and made many broadcasts, but was best known for her stage per ...

and

Guy Middleton Guy Middleton Powell (14 December 1906 – 30 July 1973), better known as Guy Middleton, was an English character actor, film character actor. Biography Guy Middleton was born in Hove, Sussex, and originally worked in the London Stock Exch ...

. She was then contracted to the

Associated British Picture Corporation Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), originally British International Pictures (BIP), was a British film production, distribution and exhibition company active from 1927 until 1970 when it was absorbed into EMI. ABPC also owned appro ...

for seven years. In 1952, she appeared in the critically-acclaimed

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 ...

film ''

Angels One Five ''Angels One Five'' is a 1952 British war film directed by George More O'Ferrall and starring Jack Hawkins, Michael Denison, Dulcie Gray, John Gregson, Cyril Raymond and Veronica Hurst. Based on the book ''What Are Your Angels Now?'' by Pelham G ...

'', directed by

George More O'Ferrall Edward George More O'Ferrall (4 July 1907 – 18 March 1982) was a pioneering British film and television producer and director, as well as an actor. Biography More O'Ferrall was born in Bristol, England, to an aristocratic Anglo-Irish family. ...

and starring alongside

Jack Hawkins John Edward Hawkins, CBE (14 September 1910 – 18 July 1973) was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was known for his portrayal of mili ...

and

John Gregson Harold Thomas Gregson (15 March 1919 – 8 January 1975), known professionally as John Gregson, was an English actor of stage, television and film, with 40 credited film roles. He was best known for his crime drama and comedy roles. He was cr ...

. In one of her most popular roles, as Kitty Murray in '' The Maze'' (1953), she was on loan to Allied Artists. ''The Maze'' was based on a novel by Maurice Sandoz and directed by

William Cameron Menzies William Cameron Menzies (July 29, 1896 – March 5, 1957) was an American film production designer (a job title he invented) and art director as well as a film director and producer during a career spanning five decades. He began his career ...

. Hurst, then 21, co-starred with Richard Carlson. They were supported by

Hillary Brooke Hillary Brooke (born Beatrice Sofia Mathilda Peterson; September 8, 1914 – May 25, 1999) was an American film actress. Career A 5′6″ blonde from the Astoria neighborhood of New York City's borough of Queens, Brooke, who was of Swedish an ...

and

Lilian Bond Lilian Bond (January 18, 1908 – January 25, 1991) was an English-American actress based in the United States. Life and career Bond was born in London and made her first professional stage appearance at the age of 14 in the pantomime ''Dic ...

, among others. Like ''

It Came from Outer Space ''It Came from Outer Space'' is a 1953 American science fiction horror film, the first in the 3D process from Universal-International. It was produced by William Alland and directed by Jack Arnold. The film stars Richard Carlson and Barbara ...

'', ''The Maze'' is a cult film and helped introduce the

3D film 3D films are motion pictures made to give an illusion of three-dimensional solidity, usually with the help of special glasses worn by viewers. They have existed in some form since 1915, but had been largely relegated to a niche in the motion pict ...

to film audiences.

Films

Allied Artists retained Hurst for a second film, ''

The Royal African Rifles '' The Royal African Rifles'' is a 1953 American Cinecolor First World War adventure film directed by Lesley Selander and starring Louis Hayward, Veronica Hurst and Michael Pate. It is set in British East Africa but filmed on location in the Lo ...

'' (1953). Her second American feature was directed by

Lesley Selander Lesley Selander (May 26, 1900 – December 5, 1979) was an American film director of Western (genre), Westerns and adventure film, adventure movies. His career as director, spanning 127 feature films and dozens of TV episodes, lasted from 1936 to ...

and had a screenplay by Daniel Ullman. Hurst played the daughter of a traitor who assists in smuggling German arms to

British East Africa East Africa Protectorate (also known as British East Africa) was an area in the African Great Lakes occupying roughly the same terrain as present-day Kenya from the Indian Ocean inland to the border with Uganda in the west. Controlled by Britai ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Some of her other film credits include '' The Yellow Balloon'' (1953), '' Will Any Gentleman...?'' (1953), ''

Bang! You're Dead ''Bang! You're Dead'' is a 1954 British psychological drama film directed by Lance Comfort and starring Jack Warner, Anthony Richmond, Veronica Hurst, Derek Farr and Sean Barrett. The film takes as its subject the accidental killing of a m ...

'' (1954), ''Don't Blame The Stork'' (1954), '' The Gilded Cage'' (1955), ''

Peeping Tom Lady Godiva (; died between 1066 and 1086), in Old English , was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively well documented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron of various churches and monasteries. Today, she is mainly reme ...

'' (1960), ''

Dead Man's Evidence ''Dead Man's Evidence'' is a 1962 British crime thriller film directed by Francis Searle. Its plot follows a British spy sent to Ireland to investigate the death of a former colleague who defected and who has been found dead on a beach. Cast * C ...

'' (1962), '' Live It Up'' (1963), '' Licensed to Kill'' (1965) and ''

The Boy Cried Murder ''The Boy Cried Murder'' is a 1966 British thriller film directed by George P. Breakston and starring Fraser MacIntosh, Veronica Hurst, and Phil Brown. The film is based on the novelette of the same name by Cornell Woolrich. The movie is a remak ...

'' (1965).

Television

Hurst appeared in fifteen films in the 1950s and '60s. By the early 1960s she began to act frequently in both British and American television series. She had roles in ''The Pursuers'' (1961), ''

Public Eye Public Eye or The Public Eye may refer to: * ''Public Eye'' (TV series), a British television series that ran from 1965 to 1975 * ''The Public Eye'' (TV series), a Canadian television public affairs television series which aired on CBC Televisio ...

'' (1966), '' The Baron'' (1967), ''

Man in a Suitcase ''Man in a Suitcase'' is a British television private eye thriller series produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment. It originally aired in the United Kingdom on ITV from 27 September 1967 to 17 April 1968. ABC broadcast episodes of ''Man in a ...

'' (1968), ''

Detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

'' (1968), ''

Market in Honey Lane ''Market in Honey Lane'' was an ATV British television weekly series, which switched to a twice weekly soap opera format (shown at varying times around the ITV regions) after the first year. It was broadcast between April 1967 and March 1969. ...

'' (1967), ''

The Troubleshooters ''The Troubleshooters'' (titled ''Mogul'' for the first series) is a British television series made by the BBC between 1965 and 1972, created by John Elliot. It recounted events in an international oil company – the "Mogul" of the title. Th ...

'' (1969), ''Fraud Squad'' (1970), ''

The Persuaders! ''The Persuaders!'' is an action-comedy series starring Tony Curtis and Roger Moore, produced by ITC Entertainment, and initially broadcast on ITV and ABC in 1971. The show has been called 'the last major entry in the cycle of adventure serie ...

'' (1971), ''

Dixon of Dock Green ''Dixon of Dock Green'' was a BBC police procedural television series about daily life at a fictional London police station, with the emphasis on petty crime, successfully controlled through common sense and human understanding. It ran from 19 ...

'' (1968–71), ''

The Flaxton Boys ''The Flaxton Boys'' is a British historical children's television series set in the West Riding of Yorkshire and covering a timespan of almost a century. The series was made by Yorkshire Television and was broadcast on ITV between 1969 and 1 ...

'' (1971), and ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...

'' (1972–75).

Death

Hurst died on 15 November 2022, just four days after her 91st birthday. Her last screen appearance was an interview with

Talking Pictures TV Talking Pictures TV (TPTV) is a British free-to-air vintage-film and nostalgia television channel. It was launched on 26 May 2015 on Sky channel 343, but later also became available on Freeview, Freesat, and Virgin Media. It is on air for 24 ho ...

that year, which left a tribute after the programme announcing her death.

Filmography

* ''

'' (1951) * ''

'' (1952) * '' The Maze'' (1953) * '' The Yellow Balloon'' (1953) * '' Will Any Gentleman...?'' (1953) * '' Storm Over Africa'' (1953) * ''

The Girl on the Pier ''The Girl on the Pier'' is a 1953 British crime film produced by John Temple-Smith, directed by Lance Comfort and starring Veronica Hurst, Ron Randell, Brian Roper, Campbell Singer and Anthony Valentine. Plot Inspector Chubb (Charles Vict ...

'' (1953) * '' Don't Blame the Stork'' (1954) * ''

'' (1954) * '' The Gilded Cage'' (1955) * ''

'' (1960) * ''

'' (1962) * '' Live It Up!'' (1963) * '' Licensed to Kill'' (1965) * ''

'' (1966)

Television

* ''

BBC Sunday Night Theatre ''Sunday Night Theatre'' was a long-running series of televised live television plays screened by BBC Television from early 1950 until 1959. The productions for the first five years or so of the run were re-staged live the following Thursday, p ...

'' - (Episode: "Caesar's Wife") (1951) * ''The Venus of Bainsville'' (1952) (TV Movie) * ''The Three Musketeers'' (1954) * ''

ITV Television Playhouse ''ITV Television Playhouse'', often simplified to ''Television Playhouse'', was a British anthology television series produced by and airing on the ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, ...

'' - (Episode: "To Dorothy, a Son") (1956) * ''

Wire Service A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and radio and television broadcasters. A news agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswire, ...

'' - (Episode: "Atom at Spithead") (1957) * ''Knight Errant Limited'' - (Episodes: "Man on the Pier"/ "Never More the Raven") (1960–1961) * ''The Persuers'' - (Episodes: "Breakout"/ "The Hunt") (1961) * ''Riviera Police'' - (Episode: "Here Comes a Point") (1965) * ''

'' - (Episode: "It Had To Be a Mouse") (1966) * '' Love Story'' - (Episode: "Barefoot and in the Kitchen") (1966) * ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

'' (1 Episode) (1966) * ''

No Hiding Place ''No Hiding Place'' is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967. It was the sequel to the series ''Murder Bag'' (1957–1958) an ...

'' - (Episodes: "You Don't Think Twice"/ "A Through and Through with Powder") (1966–1967) * '' Turn Out the Lights'' (Episode: "The Happy Medium") (1967) * '' The Baron'' - (Episode: "The High Terrace") (1967) * ''Seven Deadly Virtues'' - (Episode: "Surface of Innocence") (1967) * '' Honey Lane'' (3 episodes, 1967, 1969) * ''

Sexton Blake Sexton Blake is a fictional character, a detective who has been featured in many British comic strips, novels and dramatic productions since 1893. Sexton Blake adventures were featured in a wide variety of British and international publications ...

'' - (Episodes: "The Invicta Ray") (1968) * ''

'' - (Episode: "Which Way Did He Go, McGill?") (1968) * ''Detective'' - (Episode: "The Golden Dart") (1968) * ''

'' - (Episode: "Number 13") (1968) * ''

'' - (Episode: "A Very Special Relationship") (1969) * ''Who-Dun-It'' - (Episode: "A High Class Death") (1969) * ''

'' - (Episode: "Breaking Point") (1969) * ''Fraud Squad'' - (Episode: "Remission-Negative") (1970) * ''Crime of Passion'' - (Episode: "Louis") (1971) * ''

'' - (Episode: "Take Seven") (1971) * ''

'' - (Episode: "The Man from the Ministry") (1971) * ''

'' (1971) * ''

New Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

'' - (Episode: "Fire in a Honey Pot") (1972) * '' Late Night Theatre'' - (4 Episodes - "Steely Jack"/ "Death to the General"/ "The Kong Ting Ruby"/ "The Gypsy's Revenge") (1972–1973) * ''

'' (1973–1975)

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurst, Veronica 1931 births 2022 deaths Actresses from London Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art English film actresses English television actresses People from Tooting 20th-century English actresses English stage actresses