Barbara Shelley

 Barbara Shelley, born Barbara T. Kowin (February 13, 1932 – January 4, 2021)

She appeared in more than 100 films and TV series and was particularly known for her work in horror films. In 1958, she made her first significant appearance in a film for Hammer, The Camp on Blood Island. She took a number of roles in gothic horror features for Hammer, such as Blood of the Vampire (1958), The Gorgon (1964) and Rasputin, the Mad Monk (1966). She became the company's top female star and was nicknamed the "Queen of Hammer". She also appeared in Village of the Damned (1960), Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1966), and Quatermass and the Pit (1967). Although she is known as a scream queen, her most famous scream (in Dracula) was dubbed by co-star Suzan Farmer. Her television appearances include the first Danger Man episode, "View from a Villa" (1960), plus a subsequent episode that season, "The Traitor" (also 1960); The Saint (1962), an episode of The New Phil Silvers Show (1963), two episodes of 12 O'Clock High (1965 and 1966); The Avengers episodes "Dragonsfield" (1961) and "From Venus with Love" (1967); the television series Prince Regent (1979); The Borgias (1981); the Blake's 7 episode "Stardrive" (1981); the Doctor Who serial Planet of Fire (1984), and EastEnders (1988). Shelley was admitted to hospital in December 2020 for a check-up and there contracted COVID-19. After recovery she fell ill with another infection. She died on January 4, 2021 at the age of 88.