# Hazel Court
**Hazel Court** (10 February 1926 – 15 April 2008) was an English actress best known for her roles in horror films of the 1950s and early 1960s, including Hammer Films' *The Curse of Frankenstein* (1957) and three [Roger Corman](https://www.edgepedia.org/roger-corman) adaptations of [Edgar Allan Poe](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgar-allan-poe), which made her a cult favorite among genre fans and earned her the label "the Queen of Scream".[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/199145/hazel-court-1926-2008) • [2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/hazel-court-forties-film-heroine-who-later-became-a-cult-favourite-as-a-horror-movie-queen-of-scream-811187.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | 10 February 1926, Birmingham, England; 15 April 2008, Lake Tahoe, aged 82, of a heart attack[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/199145/hazel-court-1926-2008) |
| Discovery | At 18, found by a talent agent from the J. Arthur Rank Organisation and given the "Rank treatment" grooming-for-stardom contract[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/199145/hazel-court-1926-2008) |
| First film | *Champagne Charlie* (1944), with the single line "I never drank champagne before"[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/apr/22/obituaries.mainsection) |
| Signature role | Elizabeth, the cousin-fiancée of Baron Frankenstein (Peter Cushing), in *The Curse of Frankenstein* (1957), directed by Terence Fisher[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/apr/22/obituaries.mainsection) |
| Corman Poe films | *The Premature Burial* (1962), *The Raven* (1963), and *The Masque of the Red Death* (1964)[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/199145/hazel-court-1926-2008) |
| Marriages | Irish actor Dermot Walsh, 1949 to 1963 (divorced); American actor-director Don Taylor, 1964[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/hazel-court-forties-film-heroine-who-later-became-a-cult-favourite-as-a-horror-movie-queen-of-scream-811187.html) |
| Autobiography | *Hazel Court – Horror Queen*, published by Tomahawk Press in the week of her death[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/apr/22/obituaries.mainsection) |
## Early life and the Rank contract
Court was born in [Birmingham](https://www.edgepedia.org/birmingham) in 1926, the daughter of the professional cricketer G.W. Court, and her family moved to [Sutton Coldfield](https://www.edgepedia.org/sutton-coldfield) when she was six months old.[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/hazel-court-forties-film-heroine-who-later-became-a-cult-favourite-as-a-horror-movie-queen-of-scream-811187.html) She gained her first stage experience with the Birmingham repertory company and studied acting at the London Academy of Dramatic Art.[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/hazel-court-forties-film-heroine-who-later-became-a-cult-favourite-as-a-horror-movie-queen-of-scream-811187.html) • [3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/apr/22/obituaries.mainsection)
**Entry into film.** After Court's sister forwarded a photo of her to the filmmaker Anthony Asquith, he directed her to [Ealing Studios](https://www.edgepedia.org/ealing-studios), where an interview led to a bit part in *Champagne Charlie* (1944), a tribute to Edwardian music halls featuring Tommy Trinder and [Stanley Holloway](https://www.edgepedia.org/stanley-holloway).[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/hazel-court-forties-film-heroine-who-later-became-a-cult-favourite-as-a-horror-movie-queen-of-scream-811187.html) At 18 she was also discovered by a talent agent from the J. Arthur Rank Organisation, then the premier movie organization in Britain, which owned several studios and more than 600 cinemas across the UK; under contract, she received the "Rank treatment", a grooming-for-stardom phase that other Rank ingenues such as [Honor Blackman](https://www.edgepedia.org/honor-blackman) and Diana Dors also experienced.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/199145/hazel-court-1926-2008)
Her early films were mostly light comedies and period musicals: *Dreaming* (1945) opposite Flanagan and Allen, *Gaiety George* (1946), *Meet Me at Dawn* (1947), and *Forbidden* (1948).[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/199145/hazel-court-1926-2008) • [3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/apr/22/obituaries.mainsection) One of her most memorable early performances came in Ken Annakin's *Holiday Camp* (1947), in which she played the daughter of Jack Warner in the film that introduced the Huggett family to British screens; the director later wrote that among the young actresses lent to Rank, "the most outstanding and beautiful was Hazel Court".[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/hazel-court-forties-film-heroine-who-later-became-a-cult-favourite-as-a-horror-movie-queen-of-scream-811187.html)
## British genre films of the 1950s
In 1949 Court married the Irish actor Dermot Walsh, and the two co-starred in a series of second features, including *Ghost Ship* (1952) and *Counterspy* (1953).[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/hazel-court-forties-film-heroine-who-later-became-a-cult-favourite-as-a-horror-movie-queen-of-scream-811187.html) In 1954 she appeared in the low-budget science-fiction film *Devil Girl from Mars*, the first of her "cult" movies, in which a leather-clad Martian (Patricia Laffan) comes to Earth seeking men for her female-dominated domain. Court said in a 1990 interview, "That film haunts me! Everywhere I go people say, 'Oh, I saw you in Devil Girl from Mars!' I think it only took about two weeks to shoot and it was made on a shoestring."[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/hazel-court-forties-film-heroine-who-later-became-a-cult-favourite-as-a-horror-movie-queen-of-scream-811187.html)
**The Curse of Frankenstein.** The film that redefined her persona was Terence Fisher's *The Curse of Frankenstein* (1957), in which she played Elizabeth, the naive cousin-fiancée of Baron Victor Frankenstein ([Peter Cushing](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-cushing)), whose life is threatened by the Creature ([Christopher Lee](https://www.edgepedia.org/christopher-lee)).[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/apr/22/obituaries.mainsection) The film launched the Hammer horror cycle, stretched the existing boundaries of screen gore, and teamed Cushing and Lee for the first time.[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/hazel-court-forties-film-heroine-who-later-became-a-cult-favourite-as-a-horror-movie-queen-of-scream-811187.html) Her second Hammer role was Fisher's *The Man Who Could Cheat Death* (1959), opposite Anton Diffring as a sculptor who had halted his own aging; while posing for him, Court bared her breasts in a scene cut from the British and American releases and used only for the foreign film market.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/apr/22/obituaries.mainsection) She also appeared in *Doctor Blood's Coffin* (1961) as the nurse to a mad doctor played by Kieron Moore.[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/hazel-court-forties-film-heroine-who-later-became-a-cult-favourite-as-a-horror-movie-queen-of-scream-811187.html)
Between films she worked in American television: from the late 1950s she was a frequent guest star on series including *Dr Kildare*, *The Dick Powell Show*, and *Alfred Hitchcock Presents*, and she had her own sitcom for a brief season, *Dick and the Duchess* (1957–58), opposite Patrick O'Neal.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/199145/hazel-court-1926-2008) • [3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/apr/22/obituaries.mainsection)
## The Corman Poe films
The most fruitful part of Court's career came through her work with the American director Roger Corman on three adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/199145/hazel-court-1926-2008) In *The Premature Burial* (1962) she played Emily Gault opposite [Ray Milland](https://www.edgepedia.org/ray-milland), whose character shovels dirt on her at the climax as she lies in a grave.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/apr/22/obituaries.mainsection) In *The Raven* (1963), a comedy-horror, she starred with [Boris Karloff](https://www.edgepedia.org/boris-karloff), Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and a young [Jack Nicholson](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-nicholson).[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/199145/hazel-court-1926-2008) • [4](https://blackholereviews.blogspot.com/2008/04/hazel-court-sensual-horror-heroine.html?m=0)
**The Masque of the Red Death.** Her last major film role, and the most admired of her Corman films, was *The Masque of the Red Death* (1964), in which she played Juliana, the jealous mistress of Prince Prospero ([Vincent Price](https://www.edgepedia.org/vincent-price)), who intends to marry Satan; her character's demise comes when her throat is torn out by a falcon.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/apr/22/obituaries.mainsection) Court recalled that Price joked between takes but flipped back into character when shooting began, and that he encouraged her painting, which eventually led to sculpting, buying a number of her works.[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/hazel-court-forties-film-heroine-who-later-became-a-cult-favourite-as-a-horror-movie-queen-of-scream-811187.html) She described her approach to the genre plainly: "I think, that I always played with great conviction. When I did all these horror films, I did not camp around."[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/apr/22/obituaries.mainsection)
## Later life
After her divorce from Walsh in 1963, Court married the American actor-director Don Taylor in 1964 and settled in California permanently, giving up her career in favor of her family, charitable works, and sculpture.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/apr/22/obituaries.mainsection) • [5](https://www.britishpictures.com/stars/Court_Hazel.htm) She made a final, uncredited cameo as the Champagne Woman in *Omen III: The Final Conflict* (1981).[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/apr/22/obituaries.mainsection) • [6](https://cultsirens.com/court/court.htm) After Taylor's death in 1998 she traveled to Italy each year to carve, exhibited her sculpture in public galleries, and enjoyed attending movie conventions and corresponding with fans.[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/hazel-court-forties-film-heroine-who-later-became-a-cult-favourite-as-a-horror-movie-queen-of-scream-811187.html)
Court died of a heart attack on 15 April 2008 at her [Lake Tahoe](https://www.edgepedia.org/lake-tahoe) home, aged 82, only a week before the release of her autobiography *Hazel Court – Horror Queen*, published by Tomahawk Press.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/199145/hazel-court-1926-2008) • [3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/apr/22/obituaries.mainsection) She was survived by her daughter Sally, from her first marriage, and a son and a daughter from her second.[1](https://www.tcm.com/articles/199145/hazel-court-1926-2008)
## Legacy
Court's reputation rests on a narrow but durable body of genre work. Her performances in *The Curse of Frankenstein*, *Devil Girl from Mars*, *The Premature Burial*, *The Raven*, and *The Masque of the Red Death* propelled her to cult status and brought her fan mail even in her later years.[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0183764/bio/) Unlike many actresses who distanced themselves from horror, she embraced the association, titling her autobiography after the genre that made her famous.[4](https://blackholereviews.blogspot.com/2008/04/hazel-court-sensual-horror-heroine.html?m=0) On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, her highest-rated film is *The Masque of the Red Death* (1964) at 92 percent and her lowest is *The Premature Burial* (1962) at 50 percent.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/hazel_court)
## References
1. [Hazel Court (1926–2008), Turner Classic Movies, by Michael T. Toole, 17 April 2008](https://www.tcm.com/articles/199145/hazel-court-1926-2008)
2. [Hazel Court: Forties film heroine who later became a cult favourite as a horror movie 'Queen of Scream', The Independent, by Tom Vallance, 18 April 2008](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/hazel-court-forties-film-heroine-who-later-became-a-cult-favourite-as-a-horror-movie-queen-of-scream-811187.html)
3. [Hazel Court, obituary by Ronald Bergan, The Guardian, 21 April 2008](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/apr/22/obituaries.mainsection)
4. [Hazel Court – horror heroine nevermore, Black Hole Reviews, by Mark Hodgson, 27 April 2008](https://blackholereviews.blogspot.com/2008/04/hazel-court-sensual-horror-heroine.html?m=0)
5. [Hazel Court (1926–2008), British Pictures](https://www.britishpictures.com/stars/Court_Hazel.htm)
6. [Hazel Court, Cult Sirens](https://cultsirens.com/court/court.htm)
7. [Hazel Court – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0183764/bio/)
8. [Hazel Court Movies & TV Shows List, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/hazel_court)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Film actors and performers › Character actors, B-movie and genre-circuit performers › American performers, early era*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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