Posted on 12/21/2014 8:11:55 PM PST by EveningStar
Acclaimed actress Billie Whitelaw, famous for her roles on stage and screen, has died at the age of 82.
The Coventry-born star, who was made a CBE in 1991, worked in close collaboration with playwright Samuel Beckett, who described her as a perfect actress ...
She was well known for her role as Mrs Baylock in horror film The Omen ...
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
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Wow. Had no idea she was so old. I liked her as Josephine in NAPOLEON AND LOVE. Also as Ivy in the Jack Palance version of DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE. And of course, Mrs. Baylock. R.I.P., Billie.
The news reports say she died of ‘nervous exhaustion. What the heck does that mean? Does that mean that images from all her years of acting in creepy satanic movies came back to haunt and prohibit her from getting a nightly restful shuteye to the point where she died of exhaustion? Hmmmm.....
Nervous exhaustion has had multiple meanings. In the past it was more of a mental diagnosis. Today it isn’t used often, but when it is used, it typically refers to an exceptionally weak and frail person who also has some type of neuralgia (nerve pain) and/or loss of motor nerve function (e.g., an elderly person too weak and frail to get out of bed).
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Liked her on The Omen.
RIP.
"I thought it was a costume ball."
RIP.
I remember the “Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde” movie made by Dan Curtis (Dark Shadows) with her in it! That was one of the scariest movies he made! It was violent, but not really graphic, and very suspenseful! The woman she played in that one was name Gwen, though.
Yeah, I was guessing about the name because in two previous versions (Frederic March and Spencer Tracy), the woman that Hyde abuses is named Ivy. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen the Curtis version. I need to watch it soon.
I’ve seen the Spencer Tracy version before, though not the other. There was one with Michael Caine and Sheryl Ladd too. I saw most of that one. That one came out almost 10 years ago, I think? Anyway, in the Spencer Tracy one, Ingrid Bergman played the female victim, I remember that one-it was pretty spooky too! It was much like the Jack Palance one was. There was something about the dark, atmospheric tone in the old, black and white movies, I guess!
I’ve seen the Spencer Tracy version before, though not the other. There was one with Michael Caine and Sheryl Ladd too. I saw most of that one. That one came out almost 10 years ago, I think? Anyway, in the Spencer Tracy one, Ingrid Bergman played the female victim, I remember that one-it was pretty spooky too! It was much like the Jack Palance one was. There was something about the dark, atmospheric tone in the old, black and white movies, I guess!
They used a clever technique to help with the transformations. In addition to the dissolve that are always used in movies like this, they applied some makeup to March's face that could only be picked up on film when certain filters were used. that way, they could start the transformation without using dissolves. March starts out looking quite handsome:
Then, they begin the painted on make-up:
Finally, he becomes this ape-like creature:
March even adopted ape-like movements and posture as Hyde. He was such a hideous brute I suppose it unlikely that he could have flourished as he did in Victorian society. Late in the film, Hyde becomes even more grotesque. The make-up people used appliances to pull on March's eyelids to give them an unhealthy rheumy look:
By the end of the film, Hyde is little more than a ravening beast, climbing everywhere in apelike fashion. It is considered a pre-code film, so it is probably more hard-hitting and disturbing than films of that era usually are.
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