Victoria Hopper (24 May 1909 – 22 January 2007) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

-born

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

stage and film actress and singer.

Biography

Victoria Evelyn Hopper was born in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, British Columbia,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and brought up in

North East England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authorit ...

. She studied acting and singing at the Webber-Douglas School of Singing, and was talent spotted in a school production and cast in the title role in a West End play, ''Martine'' in 1933. She was at the peak of her popularity during the 1930s. She was married from August 1934 until 1939 to

Basil Dean Basil Herbert Dean CBE (27 September 1888 – 22 April 1978) was an English actor, writer, producer and director in the theatre and in cinema. He founded the Liverpool Repertory Company in 1911 and in the First World War, after organising unoff ...

, a British stage and film writer, director and producer. Dean reportedly grew interested in Hooper due to her resemblance to a former lover of his, actress

Meggie Albanesi Margherita Cecilia Brigida Lucia Maria Albanesi (8 October 1899—9 December 1923) was a British stage and film actress. Life and career She was born in London on 8 October 1899. Her father was Italian-born Carlo Albanesi (1856-1926), a piani ...

(died 1923). Dean promoted Hopper's career and cast her as the leading lady in several major films for

Associated Talking Pictures Associated may refer to: *Associated, former name of Avon, Contra Costa County, California * Associated Hebrew Schools of Toronto, a school in Canada *Associated Newspapers, former name of DMG Media, a British publishing company See also *Associati ...

in the mid-1930s. However, the films did badly at the

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicke ...

and her career waned. Two films she was scheduled to appear in, ''Grace Darling'' and ''Come Live with Me'', never materialised.Sweet, p. 142

Filmography

* '' The Constant Nymph'' (1933) as Tess Sanger * ''

Lorna Doone ''Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor'' is a novel by English author Richard Doddridge Blackmore, published in 1869. It is a romance based on a group of historical characters and set in the late 17th century in Devon and Somerset, particularly ar ...

'' (1934) as Lorna Doone * '' Whom the Gods Love'' (1936) as

Constanze Mozart Maria Constanze Cäcilia Josepha Johanna Aloysia Mozart (née Weber; 5 January 1762 – 6 March 1842) was a trained Austrian singer. She was married twice, first to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; then to Georg Nikolaus von Nissen. She and Mozart had six ...

* '' Lonely Road'' (released in the US as ''Scotland Yard Commands'') (1936) as Molly Gordon * ''

Laburnum Grove ''Laburnum Grove'' is a 1936 British comedy film directed by Carol Reed and starring Edmund Gwenn, Cedric Hardwicke and Victoria Hopper. It was based on the 1933 play of the same name written by J. B. Priestley. Plot summary To rid himself of ...

'' (1936) as Elsie Radfern * ''

The Mill on the Floss ''The Mill on the Floss'' is a novel by George Eliot, first published in three volumes in 1860 by William Blackwood. The first American edition was published by Harper & Brothers, Publishers, New York (state), New York. Plot summary Spanning a ...

'' (1937) as Lucy Deane * ''The Constant Nymph'' (1938, TV film) as Tessa Sanger * ''Nine Till Six'' (1938, TV film) * ''Cornelius'' (1938, TV film) * ''London Wall'' (1938, TV film) as Pat Milligan * ''Magic'' (1939, TV film) as Patricia Carleon * ''

The Rose Without a Thorn ''The Rose Without a Thorn'' is a 1933 historical play by the British writer Clifford Bax. It portrays the courtship and marriage of Henry VIII and his fifth wife Catherine Howard. It ran in the West End for 128 performances, debuting at the Duke ...

'' (1947, TV film) * ''

Escape from Broadmoor ''Escape from Broadmoor'' is a 1948 British short film featuring John Le Mesurier, in one of his earliest screen appearances. He plays Pendicost, a man escaped from an asylum, whom police are hunting down. The title is a reference to Broadmoor h ...

'' (1948)

Theatre roles

* Three Sisters (1934) as Mary (Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London) (from 30 April) * Cornelius (1935) as Judy Evison (Duchess Theatre, Aldwych, London) (from 8 April) * The Melody That Got Lost (1936) as Edith (Embassy Theatre, Swiss Cottage, London) (26 December) * ''

Autumn Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September ( Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Sou ...

'' (1937) as Monica Brooke (St. Martin's Theatre, London) * Autumn (1938) as Monica Brooke (Touring production, Leeds - 19 May for one week) * Drawing Room (1938) as Sylvia (Touring production) (Theatre Royal, Brighton, 19 June for one week) *''

Johnson Over Jordan ''Johnson Over Jordan'' is a play by J.B. Priestley. ''Johnson Over Jordan'' focuses on Robert Johnson, a meek businessman who has recently died. Now in limbo, Johnson looks back over his life while trying to reach the Inn at the End of World. On ...

'' (1939) as Freda Johnson (Saville Theatre, London) * The Dominant Sex (1941) as Angela Shale (Touring production?) (Theatre Royal, Hanley, from 2 March) * '' The Shop on Sly Corner'' (1945) as Margaret Heiss (St. Martin's Theatre, London) * Vanity Fair (1946) as Amelia Sedley (Comedy Theatre, London) (29 October 1946 - 21 December 1946) * Once Upon a Crime (1948) (Theatre Royal Birmingham) (Commenced Monday, 21 June) * Serious Charge (1955) as Hester Byfield (Garrick Theatre, London) (From 17 February)

Bibliography

* Sweet, Matthew. ''Shepperton Babylon: The Lost Worlds of British Cinema'', Faber and Faber (16 February 2006); /

References

Sources

Obituary: Victoria Hopper
independent.co.uk; 3 February 2007.

External links

*
Victoria Hopper website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopper, Victoria 1909 births 2007 deaths Actresses from Vancouver Canadian emigrants to the United Kingdom Canadian musical theatre actresses Canadian film actresses Canadian stage actresses Canadian television actresses English musical theatre actresses English film actresses English stage actresses English television actresses Musicians from Vancouver Actors from Gateshead Actresses from Tyne and Wear Musicians from Tyne and Wear 20th-century English women singers 20th-century English singers 20th-century Canadian women singers