Yutte Stensgaard (born 14 May 1946) is a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

actress born in

Thisted Thisted is a town in the municipality of Thisted in the North Denmark Region of Denmark. It has a population of 13,461 (1 January 2022)Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, best known for her starring role in

Hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as w ...

's ''

Lust for a Vampire ''Lust for a Vampire'', also known as ''Love for a Vampire'' or ''To Love a Vampire'' (the latter title was the one used on American television), is a 1971 British Hammer Horror film directed by Jimmy Sangster, starring Ralph Bates, Barbara Jeffo ...

'' (1971).

Career

Born Jytte Stensgaard, she moved to the United Kingdom to improve her English in 1963. She worked as an

au pair An au pair (; plural: au pairs) is a helper from a foreign country working for, and living as part of, a host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family's responsibility for childcare as well as some housework, and receive a monet ...

, studied stenography and became a model for a time. Stensgaard began her acting career in the film ''La Ragazza con la pistola'' (''

The Girl with the Pistol ''The Girl with the Pistol'' ( it, La ragazza con la pistola) is a 1968 Italian comedy film directed by Mario Monicelli. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Monica Vitti won the David di Donatello as Best Actr ...

'', 1968). She then played parts in diverse UK TV-series: ''

The Saint The Saint may refer to: Fiction * Simon Templar, also known as "The Saint", the protagonist of a book series by Leslie Charteris and subsequent adaptations: ** ''The Saint'' (film series) (1938–43), starring Louis Hayward, George Sanders an ...

'' (1968; episode: "The Desperate Diplomat"); '' Broaden Your Mind'' (1969); ''

Doctor in the House ''Doctor in the House'' is a 1954 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and produced by Betty Box. The screenplay, by Nicholas Phipps, Richard Gordon and Ronald Wilkinson, is based on the 1952 novel by Gordon, and follows a group of st ...

'' (1969/70) - in which she played the recurring role of Helga, Dave Briddock's girlfriend; ''

On the Buses ''On the Buses'' is a British television sitcom that was broadcast on ITV from 1969 to 1973. It was created by Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe, who wrote most of the episodes. It spawned three spin-off feature films and a stage version. Desp ...

'' (1970; episode: "The New Uniforms", as Ingrid, a Swedish tourist); ''

Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...

'' (1970; episode: "Miss International" as Nina Sareth); sci-fi comedy series ''

The Adventures of Don Quick ''The Adventures of Don Quick'' is a science fiction comedy television series that ran from October–December 1970, on ITV. Starring Ian Hendry and Ronald Lacey, six 50 minute episodes were made, shown in a 60-minute time slot. As of 2008, only ...

'' (1970; as Flosshilda); '' Jason King'' (1971; as Arlene in the episode "As Easy as A.B.C."); ''

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; playing Bibi, a Judo instructress who assists Danny Wilde (

Tony Curtis Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor whose career spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s (Kansas Raiders, 1950) and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 f ...

) in the episode "The Morning After"); ''

The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine ''The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine'' is a 1971 comedy-variety sketch series, starring British comedian Marty Feldman. Co-produced by ATV in the UK and ABC TV in the United States, it was recorded at ATV's Elstree Studios. It features opening ...

'' (1972), and anthology series ''

Dead of Night ''Dead of Night'' is a 1945 black and white British anthology horror film, made by Ealing Studios. The individual segments were directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. It stars Mervyn Johns, Googie W ...

'' (1972; as Gertrude Wickett in the episode "Bedtime"). Her film parts include the

Bulldog Drummond Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond is a fictional character, created by H. C. McNeile and published under his pen name "Sapper". Following McNeile's death in 1937, the novels were continued by Gerard Fairlie. Drummond is a First World War veteran who, ...

film ''

Some Girls Do ''Some Girls Do'' is a 1969 British comedy spy film directed by Ralph Thomas. It was the second of the revamped Bulldog Drummond films (following 1967's ''Deadlier Than the Male'') starring Richard Johnson as Drummond, made following the success ...

'' (1969) as Robot One; she played small parts in ''

If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium ''If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium'' is a 1969 American DeLuxe Color romantic comedy film made by Wolper Pictures and released by United Artists. It was directed by Mel Stuart, was filmed on location throughout Europe, and features many came ...

'' (1969), ''

Scream and Scream Again ''Scream and Scream Again'' is a 1970 British science fiction conspiracy thriller film starring Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Alfred Marks, Michael Gothard, and Peter Cushing. It is based on the novel ''The Disorientated Man'' (1967) attribute ...

'' (1970) and ''

Doctor in Trouble ''Doctor in Trouble'' is a 1970 British comedy film, the seventh and last film in the ''Doctor'' series. It was directed by Ralph Thomas and stars Leslie Phillips as a doctor who gets accidentally trapped on an outgoing cruise ship while it begin ...

'' (1970). She also appeared in the low-budget sci-fi sex comedy ''

Zeta One ''Zeta One'' is a 1969 British comedy science fiction film directed by Michael Cort and starring James Robertson Justice, Charles Hawtrey and Dawn Addams. Plot A spy for Section 5, James Word, finds a secretary for the section waiting as he re ...

'' (1969). Stensgaard's most famous role is that of the vampire Carmilla/Mircalla in

's ''

'' (1971). The film was the sequel to ''

The Vampire Lovers ''The Vampire Lovers'' is a 1970 British Gothic horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Ingrid Pitt, Peter Cushing, George Cole, Kate O'Mara, Madeline Smith, Dawn Addams and Jon Finch. It was produced by Hammer Film Productions. ...

'' (1970), which had starred

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 ...

as Mircalla. The original film was an adaptation of ''

Carmilla ''Carmilla'' is an 1872 Gothic fiction, Gothic novella by Irish author Sheridan Le Fanu and one of the early works of vampire fiction, predating Bram Stoker's ''Dracula'' (1897) by 26 years. First published as a Serial (literature), serial in ' ...

'' by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. However, ''Lust for a Vampire'' shared little with the novel; it only used the vampire characters, and was thus a completely new story. In the film, the

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

Carmilla infiltrates an all-girl boarding school while falling in love with a novelist. Stensgaard auditioned for the part of the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' companion Jo Grant, alongside third Doctor

Jon Pertwee John Devon Roland "Jon" Pertwee (; 7 July 1919 – 20 May 1996) was an English actor, comedian, entertainer, cabaret performer and TV presenter. Born into a theatrical family, he served in the Royal Navy and the Naval Intelligence Division during ...

in 1970. Towards the end of her career she appeared in pantomime and the stage-farce '' Boeing-Boeing'' (1971). She also appeared on TV as a hostess on the popular game show ''

The Golden Shot ''The Golden Shot'' is a British television game show produced by ATV for ITV between 1 July 1967 and 13 April 1975, based on the German TV show '' Der goldene Schuß''. It is most commonly associated with host Bob Monkhouse, but three other ...

'' hosted by

Bob Monkhouse Robert Alan Monkhouse (1 June 1928 – 29 December 2003) was an English comedian, writer and actor. He was the host of television game shows including ''The Golden Shot'', '' Celebrity Squares'', '' Family Fortunes'' and '' ''Wipeout'. Ear ...

Personal life

Stensgaard has married three times: first to

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Tony Curtis; second to John Kerwin. She left acting in 1972, went to live in the U.S. and had a son. She became a Christian and for years worked at a radio station selling air-time and refusing to discuss her acting career. She married Paul Walter in June 2012 in Oregon, USA. She was tracked down by a Danish horror fan, Nicolas Barbano, and eventually agreed to an interview (which appeared in ''

Video Watchdog ''Video Watchdog'' was a bimonthly, digest size film magazine published from 1990 to 2017 by publisher/editor Tim Lucas and his wife, art director and co-publisher Donna Lucas. Although devoted chiefly to the horror, science fiction, and fantas ...

''). Soon after, she was guest of honour at a horror convention. Stensgaard's image continues to feature on the covers of numerous book and magazine publications; for instance, Marcus Hearn's book ''Hammer Glamour'' (2009), which contains a chapter on her.

Selected filmography

References

;Citations ;Literature * Tim Greaves : ''Yutte Stensgaard: A Pictorial Souvenir'' ( 1-Shot Publications, England 1992) *Tim Greaves: ''Yutte Stensgaard: Memories of a Vampire'' ( 1-Shot Publications, England 1993) *Nicolas Barbano: ''The Strange Loves of Yutte Stensgaard: An Interview with the Vampire'', in

#117 (USA 2005)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stensgaard, Yutte 1946 births Living people Danish expatriates in England Danish film actresses Danish television actresses People from Thisted