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Quick Facts
Biography
Anne Heywood (born 11 December 1931) is a critically acclaimed British film actress, who is best known for her Golden Globe-nominated performance in The Fox.
Early life and career
Born as Violet Joan Pretty in Handsworth, Birmingham, England, she won the Miss Great Britain title under her real name in 1950.
At one time she was the personal assistant of Radio's Talent Spotter Carroll Levis, a show which toured the main theatres throughout Britain. Later she also attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. She began acting in films in the early 1950s, first in supporting roles but gradually evolving into a leading lady.
One of her more prominent film roles was in a film adaptation of a D. H. Lawrence novel, The Fox, co-starring Sandy Dennis, made in 1967, which caused controversy at the time due to its lesbian theme. In the 1970s, she appeared in several giallo-type thrillers made in Italy.
Her career declined in the 1980s. Her penultimate role was in a two-part episode of the popular United States television series The Equalizer, which starred actor Edward Woodward, in 1988 as Manon Brevard Marcel.
Personal life
Heywood was married to producer Raymond Stross, who produced most of her movies; including A Terrible Beauty, The Brain, The Very Edge, Ninety Degrees in the Shade, The Fox, Midas Run, I Want What I Want, and Good Luck Miss Wyckoff.
After Stross died in 1988, Heywood retired and has never appeared onscreen since. In 1990, she married her second husband, George Danzig Druke, a former Assistant Attorney General of New York State. The couple resides in Beverly Hills, California.
Filmography
Year | Film | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1951 | Lady Godiva Rides Again | Dorothy Marlowe (beauty contestant) | (as Violet Pretty) |
1956 | Find the Lady | Receptionist | |
Checkpoint | Gabriela | ||
1957 | The Depraved | Laura Wilton | |
Doctor at Large | Emerald | ||
Dangerous Exile | Glynis | ||
1958 | Violent Playground | Catherine Murphy | |
1959 | The Heart of a Man | Julie | |
Floods of Fear | Elizabeth Matthews | ||
Upstairs and Downstairs | Kate | ||
1960 | Carthage in Flames | Fulvia | |
A Terrible Beauty | Neeve Donnelly | ||
1961 | Petticoat Pirates | Chief Officer Anne Stevens | |
1962 | Stork Talk | Lisa Vernon | |
The Brain | Anna Holt | ||
1963 | The Very Edge | Tracey Lawrence | |
1965 | Ninety Degrees in the Shade | Alena | Nominated — Golden Globe Nominee for Best English-Language Foreign Film |
1967 | The Fox | Ellen March | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama |
1969 | The Lady of Monza | Virginia de Leyva | Winner — Maschera D'Argento (Silver Mask) Award – Best Actress (Italy) |
Midas Run | Sylvia Giroux | ||
The Chairman | Kay Hanna | ||
1972 | The Killer Is on the Phone | Eleanor Loraine | |
I Want What I Want | Roy/Wendy | ||
1973 | The Nun and the Devil | Mother Giulia | |
Trader Horn | Nicole Mercer | ||
1974 | Love Under the Elms | Entered into the 25th Berlin International Film Festival | |
1979 | Ring of Darkness | Carlotta Rhodes | Also known as Satan's Wife |
Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff | Evelyn Wyckoff | ||
1984 | What Waits Below | Frieda Shelley |