Heather Christine Sears (28 September 1935 – 3 January 1994) was a British stage and screen actress.

Early life

Sears was the daughter of distinguished London doctor William Gordon Sears by his marriage to Eileen Gould."SEARS, Heather, actress", in Ian Herbert, Christine Baxter, Robert E. Finley, ''Who's Who in the Theatre: A Biographical Record'' (1977), p. 1108 Although not from an acting family, she was already performing in plays at the age of five, and even writing them at the age of eight. Sears had a long association with France and French culture, which began in her childhood when she spent summers in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

with her

pen pal Pen pals (or penpals, pen-pals, penfriends or pen friends) are people who regularly write to each other, particularly via postal mail. Pen pals are usually strangers whose relationship is based primarily, or even solely, on their exchange of let ...

Michelle, and she learned to speak fluent French. After leaving school, she spent time in Paris performing voiceover and dubbing work and socialising with artists and writers such as

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...

and

Arthur Koestler Arthur Koestler, (, ; ; hu, Kösztler Artúr; 5 September 1905 – 1 March 1983) was a Hungarian-born author and journalist. Koestler was born in Budapest and, apart from his early school years, was educated in Austria. In 1931, Koestler join ...

.Anne Sina
''Reach for the Top: The Turbulent Life of Laurence Harvey''
Lanham, Maryland, USA & Plymouth, UK: Scarecrow Press, 2003

007 The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

p. 233 Sears was educated at St Winifred's School, Llanfairfechan until she was 16, when she followed her elder sister Ann Sears (1933–1992) to the

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...

in London. During her last year there, she signed a seven-year contract with

Romulus Films Sir John Woolf (15 March 1913, London – 28 June 1999, London) and his brother James Woolf (2 March 1920, London – 30 May 1966, Beverly Hills, California) were British film producers. John and James founded the production companies Romulus Fil ...

, which allowed her six months per year to act on the stage and for television if she wished. This was made possible through film director

Jack Clayton Jack Isaac Clayton (1 March 1921 – 26 February 1995) was a British film director and producer who specialised in bringing literary works to the screen. Overview Starting out as a teenage studio "tea boy" in 1935, Clayton worked his way up ...

, her friend and mentor.

Early career

After graduating from drama school, Sears was active from 1955 onward in the Windsor repertory theatre. She made her film début with a minor role in

Michael Truman Michael Truman (25 February 1916, in Bristol, England – 11 July 1972, in Newbury, Berkshire) was a British film producer, director and editor. Educated at University of London, London University,Brian McFarlane (ed.) ''The Encyclopedia of ...

's '' Touch and Go'' (1955) followed by a part in

Maurice Elvey Maurice Elvey (11 November 1887 – 28 August 1967) was one of the most prolific film directors in British history. He directed nearly 200 films between 1913 and 1957. During the silent film era he directed as many as twenty films per year. He a ...

's film version of comedy ''

Dry Rot Dry rot is wood decay caused by one of several species of fungi that digest parts of the wood which give the wood strength and stiffness. It was previously used to describe any decay of cured wood in ships and buildings by a fungus which resul ...

'' (1956) as the naive Susan. Sears débuted on the London stage before the age of 22, replacing

Mary Ure Eileen Mary Ure (18 February 1933 – 3 April 1975) was a British stage and film actress. She was the second Scottish-born actress (after Deborah Kerr) to be nominated for an Academy Award, for her role in the 1960 film ''Sons and Lovers''. Ear ...

in the part of Alison in

John Osborne John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter and actor, known for his prose that criticized established social and political norms. The success of his 1956 play '' Look Back in Anger'' tr ...

's ''

Look Back in Anger ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956) is a realist play written by John Osborne. It focuses on the life and marital struggles of an intelligent and educated but disaffected young man of working-class origin, Jimmy Porter, and his equally competent yet i ...

'', playing alongside Richard Bates and Richard Pasco. Shortly thereafter, she played

Claire Bloom Patricia Claire Bloom (born 15 February 1931) is an English actress. She is known for leading roles in plays such as ''A Streetcar Named Desire,'' ''A Doll's House'', and '' Long Day's Journey into Night'', and has starred in nearly sixty film ...

's role in the television production of ''Ring Round the Moon''. Her title role in David Miller's film ''

The Story of Esther Costello ''The Story of Esther Costello'' is a 1957 British drama film starring Joan Crawford, Rossano Brazzi, and Heather Sears. The film is an exposé of large-scale fundraising. ''The Story of Esther Costello'' was produced by David Miller and Ja ...

'' (1957) marked her breakthrough in films and brought her international acclaim. In the film, Sears plays a blind, deaf and mute girl of 15 who is adopted by a rich American society lady played by

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...

, who also chose Sears for the part. After completing her work on ''The Story of Esther Costello'', Sears married Tony Masters, one of the two art directors of the film. A year later she was nominated for the

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

award and also received the

British Film Academy 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, ...

award for best British actress of the year in recognition for her role as Esther Costello. After this initial success, she alternated between film and theatre roles until the mid-1960s. In London, Sears appeared at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

with

Alan Bates Sir Alan Arthur Bates (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor who came to prominence in the 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from the popular children's story '' Whistle Down the Wind'' to the " kitchen sink" dram ...

and Richard Pearce in

Jean Giraudoux Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux (; 29 October 1882 – 31 January 1944) was a French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright. He is considered among the most important French dramatists of the period between World War I and World War II. His ...

's ''

The Apollo of Bellac ''The Apollo of Bellac'' (French title: ''L'Apollon de Bellac'' or ''L'Apollon de Marsac'') is a comedic one-act play written in 1942 by French dramatist Jean Giraudoux. Plot summary The play is set in the reception room of the International Bur ...

'' under the direction of

John Dexter John Dexter (2 August 1925 – 23 March 1990) was an English theatre, opera and film director. Theatre Born in Derby, Derbyshire, England, Dexter left school at the age of fourteen to serve in the British Army during the Second World War. F ...

, in Michael Hastings' ''Yes'' and at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith in Julien Green's play ''South''. On screen, she was cast in '' Room at the Top'' (1959) as Susan Brown, the naive daughter of an industrial magnate (

Donald Wolfit Sir Donald Wolfit, KBE (born Donald Woolfitt; Harwood, Ronald"Wolfit, Sir Donald (1902–1968)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, January 2008; accessed 14 July 2009 20 April 1902 ...

) who falls for social climber Joe Lampton (

Laurence Harvey Laurence Harvey (born Zvi Mosheh Skikne; 1 October 192825 November 1973) was a Lithuanian-born British actor and film director. He was born to Lithuanian Jewish parents and emigrated to South Africa at an early age, before later settling in th ...

). Sears had a lifelong friendship with Simone Signoret, who stars as her married rival for Joe Lampton's affections. Sears travelled to Australia to appear in the last

Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever ...

film, ''

The Siege of Pinchgut ''The Siege of Pinchgut'' (released in the US as ''Four Desperate Men'') is a 1959 British thriller filmed on location in Sydney, Australia, and directed by Harry Watt. It was the last film produced by Ealing Studios, and was entered into the ...

'' (1959), in which she played a hostage who forms a romantic liaison with an escaped convict. The film later became a classic of Australian cinema. One year later, in the film adaptation of Lawrence's semi-autobiographical novel ''

Sons and Lovers ''Sons and Lovers'' is a 1913 novel by the English writer D. H. Lawrence. It traces emotional conflicts through the protagonist, Paul Morel, and his suffocating relationships with a demanding mother and two very different lovers, which exert c ...

'' (1960) directed by

Jack Cardiff Jack Cardiff, (18 September 1914 – 22 April 2009) was a British cinematographer, film and television director, and photographer. His career spanned the development of cinema, from silent film, through early experiments in Technicolor, to f ...

, she appeared as Miriam, the girlfriend and intellectual companion of Paul Morel (

Dean Stockwell Robert Dean Stockwell (March 5, 1936 – November 7, 2021) was an American actor with a career spanning seven decades. As a child actor under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he first came to the public's attention in films including ''Anchors A ...

). 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 wi ...

's production of ''

The Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pier ...

'' (1962), Sears played the opera singer

Christine Charles Christine Charles is a physicist at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia, an inventor, researcher and science communicator. Her position at the Australian National University is director of the Space Plasma, Power and Propul ...

. Her singing voice was dubbed by opera performer Pat Clark. She appeared in ''

The Black Torment ''The Black Torment'' (a.k.a. ''Estate of Insanity'') is a 1964 British gothic horror film directed by Robert Hartford-Davis and starring John Turner, Heather Sears and Ann Lynn. The film is set in 18th-century Devon and was scripted by brot ...

'' (1964) as Lady Elizabeth, her last feature-film role for many years.

Later life and career

Sears reduced her work commitments to raise her three sons, but she continued to appear on television in many BBC and ITV dramas until 1981. She also appeared as Grusha in

Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

's ''

The Caucasian Chalk Circle ''The Caucasian Chalk Circle'' (german: Der kaukasische Kreidekreis) is a play by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. An example of Brecht's epic theatre, the play is a parable about a peasant girl who rescues a baby and becomes a ...

'' at the

Chichester Festival Theatre Chichester Festival Theatre is a theatre and Grade II* listed building situated in Oaklands Park in the city of Chichester, West Sussex, England. Designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, it was opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Mart ...

in 1969 and in

Alan Ayckbourn Sir Alan Ayckbourn (born 12 April 1939) is a prolific British playwright and director. He has written and produced as of 2021, more than eighty full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director o ...

's comedy ''

How the Other Half Loves ''How the Other Half Loves'' is a 1969 play in two acts by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn. It is a farce following the consequences of an adulterous affair between a married man and his boss’s wife and their attempts to cover their track ...

'' in London's West End. In the 1970s, Sears returned to provincial repertory theatre. She was based at the

Haymarket Theatre The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in ...

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

, where she played title roles in classical plays by

Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...

(''

Antigone In Greek mythology, Antigone ( ; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη) is the daughter of Oedipus and either his mother Jocasta or, in another variation of the myth, Euryganeia. She is a sister of Polynices, Eteocles, and Ismene.Roman, L., ...

'' and '' Elektra''), Shakespeare,

Goldsmith A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and servicea ...

Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

(''Hedda Gabler'') and

Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

(''Miss Julie''), as well as in the work of more modern playwrights such as Liane Aukin (''Little Lamb''), Brecht (''The Caucasian Chalk Circle''), Ayckbourn (''How the Other Half Loves''), Rattigan and

Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that span ...

. She also toured with the One-Woman-Show playing

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born ...

. She later appeared in a television film adaptation of

Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

' semi-autobiographical novel ''

Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. It depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip (Great Expectations), Pip (the book is a ''bildungsroman''; a coming-of-age story). It ...

'' (1974) as Biddy. In 1989, she made her final screen appearance in ''The Last Day of School'', in which she played a working mother and entrepreneur. In the last ten years of her life, Sears travelled extensively, spending many months in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, China, Italy, North Africa and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

. Her husband Tony Masters died in May 1990 while on holiday with her in the

south of France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', ...

, where the couple would visit every year during the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

. She did not remarry. Sears died at the age of 58 in early 1994 of

multiple organ failure Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) is altered organ function in an acutely ill patient requiring medical intervention to achieve homeostasis. Although Irwin and Rippe cautioned in 2005 that the use of "multiple organ failure" or "multisy ...

caused by cancer at the family home in

Hinchley Wood Hinchley Wood is a suburb in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England, approximately 13 miles (21 km) south-west of Charing Cross in central London, and within the Greater London Urban Area. It developed largely around its railway station at i ...

near

Esher Esher ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London near the London-Surrey Border, and with Esher Commons at its southern end, the town marks one limit of the Greater London Built-Up ...

, Surrey. Her son Adam Masters became a film and television editor while his brothers Giles and Dominic became feature-film art directors.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

Bibliography

* cf. Obituary ''Heather Sears''. In: The Times, 27 January 1994, Features * cf. Robin Midgely: ''An early coming of age''. In: Manchester Guardian Weekly, 30 January 1994, p. 10 * cf. Adam Benedick
Obituary: ''Heather Sears''
In: The Independent, 19 January 1994, p. 14 * cf. Biography from Allmovie * Internet Movie Database

References

External links

*
Biography from Allmovie
at movies.nytimes.com
Photoportraits of Heather Sears
in The National Portrait Gallery * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sears, Heather 1935 births 1994 deaths English film actresses Best British Actress BAFTA Award winners 20th-century English actresses English stage actresses People from Kensington Actresses from London Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama People educated at St Winifred's School