Hy Hazell

Hy Hazell

in Up in the World (1956)
Born Hyacinth Hazel O'Higgins
4 October 1919
Streatham, London, England, UK
Died 10 May 1970 (aged 50)
London, England, UK
Occupation Actress
Singer

Hy Hazell (4 October 1919 – 10 May 1970), was a British actress of theatre, musicals and revue as well as a contralto singer and film actress .[1][2] Allmusic described her as "an exuberant comic actor and lively singer and dancer".[3] A pretty brunette, with long legs, she was billed as Britain's answer to Betty Grable.[4]

Early life and Theatre career

Hazell was born as Hyacinth Hazel O'Higgins, in London in 1919 (although the British Film Institute cites 1920 and The Oxford Reference cites 1922). As a teenager, Hy Hazell started life as a performer in the chorus of the West End production of Rodgers and Hart's On Your Toes (1937). She later had a long and successful run of leading roles in musicals, including Expresso Bongo at the Saville Theatre in 1958, as heartless Dixie Collins; as Mrs Squeezum in the Mermaid Theatre's Lock Up Your Daughters in 1959 (playing for almost 2,000 performances); as ex-Cochran girl Kay Connor in Charlie Girl at the Adelphi Theatre from 1965 ; and as Mrs Peachum in a notable Beggar's Opera by the Prospect Theatre Company in 1968.[5]

Films

She was in British films Meet Me at Dawn (1946), The Yellow Balloon (1953), and B-movies like The Body Said No! and The Lady Craved Excitement (both 1950), where she got to sing. She established a reputation as "English pantomime's most distinguished post war principal boy". She was a favourite in the British tradition of having glamorous young women play the Principal boy in pantos, and for years she was extremely popular in this seasonal form of theatre.[3][5]

Hy Hazell, one of the stars of the London stage show Charlie Girl

Death

Hazell was playing Golde in Fiddler on the Roof in London's West End. Following a performance, she died accidentally, choking to death while eating a steak at a restaurant, on 10 May 1970.[3][5][6]

Selected filmography

References

  1. ↑ "Hy Hazell". BFI.
  2. ↑ "Hy Hazell Theatre Credits". broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 "Hy Hazell - Biography". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  4. ↑ Alan Royle (3 June 2015). "Tragic Hollywood: Accidental Death's (Pt 6)". filmstarfacts.com. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 "Hy Hazell". findadeath.com. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  6. ↑ "Hy Hazell profile". britmovie.co.uk. Retrieved 18 October 2016.

External links

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