Barbara Leigh-Hunt (born 14 December 1935) is a British actress. Her numerous theatre credits include Broadway productions of ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' (1958) and '' Sherlock Holmes'' Justice (1973) (1974), and she won the 1993 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for the National Theatre production of ''

An Inspector Calls ''An Inspector Calls'' is a play written by English dramatist J. B. Priestley, first performed in the Soviet Union in 1945 and at the New Theatre in London the following year. It is one of Priestley's best-known works for the stage and is c ...

''. Her film appearances include ''

Frenzy ''Frenzy'' is a 1972 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is the penultimate feature film of his extensive career. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer was based on the 1966 novel ''Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Squa ...

'' (1972), '' Henry VIII and His Six Wives'' (1972), '' Bequest to the Nation'' (1973) and ''

Billy Elliot ''Billy Elliot'' is a 2000 British coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Daldry and written by Lee Hall. Set in County Durham in North East England during the 1984–1985 miners' strike, the film is about a working-class boy w ...

'' (2000).

Early life

Leigh-Hunt was born in Bath, Somerset.

Career

On stage, Leigh-Hunt has appeared in many productions as well those with 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 ...

, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre. Her early film roles have included Catherine Parr in '' Henry VIII and His Six Wives'' (1972), '' Bequest to the Nation'' (1973) and ''

Oh Heavenly Dog ''Oh! Heavenly Dog'' is a 1980 American fantasy comedy film written by Rod Browning and stars Benjean, billed here as Benji (she was the daughter of Higgins, who originated the role of Benji), Chevy Chase, Jane Seymour, and Omar Sharif. The f ...

'' (1980). Her most famous movie role is probably in Alfred Hitchcock's penultimate film ''

'' (1972), as a woman raped and strangled by a serial killer, that included the first graphically violent scene featuring visible nudity of Hitchcock's career. In 1983 Leigh-Hunt appeared as the Queen of Bavaria in the mini-series ''

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

'', sharing her scenes with Ralph Richardson, Laurence Olivier and

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Brit ...

as court ministers.

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...

played the composer Richard Wagner. Her husband,

Richard Pasco Richard Edward Pasco, (18 July 1926 – 12 November 2014) was a British stage, screen and TV actor. Early life Pasco was born in Barnes, London, the only child of insurance company clerk Cecil George Pasco (1897-1982) and milliner Phyllis Ir ...

, whom she married in 1967, appeared also. Leigh-Hunt played Jean Lawrence in the controversial BBC drama '' Tumbledown'' (1988), and Lady Catherine de Bourgh in '' Pride and Prejudice'' (1995), and provided the voices of the farmer's wife in ''

The Plague Dogs ''The Plague Dogs'' is the third novel by Richard Adams, author of ''Watership Down'', about the friendship of two dogs that escape an animal testing facility and are subsequently pursued by both the government and the media. It was first pub ...

'' (1982), and Captain Mildred and Mary the Hover Fairy in the 1987

Children's BBC BBC Children's and Education is the BBC division responsible for media content for children in the UK. Since the launch of specially dedicated television channels in 2002, the services have been marketed under two brands. CBBC (short for Chi ...

series '' Charlie Chalk''. In 1999, Leigh starred as Lady Cumnor in BBC's four-part series adaptation of the novel ''

Wives and Daughters ''Wives and Daughters, An Every-Day Story'' is a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell, first published in the ''Cornhill Magazine'' as a serial from August 1864 to January 1866. It was partly written whilst Gaskell was staying with the salon hostess M ...

'' (1999). More recently she has appeared in such films as '' Paper Mask'' (1990), ''

Keep the Aspidistra Flying ''Keep the Aspidistra Flying'', first published in 1936, is a socially critical novel by George Orwell. It is set in 1930s London. The main theme is Gordon Comstock's romantic ambition to defy worship of the money-god and status, and the dis ...

'' (1997), ''

'' (2000), ''

The Martins ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' (2001) and ''Vanity Fair'' (2004), and has had much work on television, mainly in guest character parts.

Personal life

Her cousin was the actor

Ronald Leigh-Hunt Ronald Leigh-Hunt (5 October 1920 – 12 September 2005) was a British film and television actor. His father was a stockbroker and he attended the Italia Conti Academy. He began acting whilst serving in the army. Though never a major star, he ...

Filmography

References

External links

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Selected performances in Theatre Archive University of Bristol
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leigh-Hunt, Barbara 1935 births English film actresses English radio actresses English stage actresses English television actresses Laurence Olivier Award winners Living people People from Bath, Somerset Royal Shakespeare Company members British Shakespearean actresses