Born in Birmingham, England, Hazel Court carried on a love affair with the world of movies and make-believe that made her a leading student at her hometown's School of Drama and later helped her land a contract with the J. Arthur Rank Organisation. Graduating from bits to supporting roles to leads, Court worked in English films from the mid-'40s until the early 1960s, when she relocated to Hollywood. The flame-haired Court was married to Irish actor 'Dermot Walsh' .
Twice in her career, Hazel Court played women whose bucolic vacations were interrupted by unfriendly space aliens, first in the feature film Devil Girl from Mars and, a decade later, in "The Twilight Zone" episode, "The Twilight Zone" {The Fear (#5.35)} , (05-29-64)).
Her "horror queen" popularity officially started with her role as Elizabeth in The Curse of Frankenstein . Real-life daughter Sally Walsh played Elizabeth as a child.
Following husband Don Taylor s death in 1998, she would still appear on the cult movie conventions circuit.
As a teenager she was appearing on the stage when she was spotted and signed by the J. Arthur Rank Organization.
Had three children: Sally Walsh , Courtney Taylor and Jonathan Taylor.
Daughter of a professional cricket player.
While she had a substantial acting career both in England and on American TV, Court was perhaps best known for her work in such films as 1963s The Raven . She co-starred with Vincent Price , Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre in a Roger Corman take on the classic Edgar Allan Poe poem. Like other "scream queens" of the era, Courts roles often relied on her cleavage and her ability to shriek in fear and die horrible deaths. Premature Burial , The Masque of the Red Death , The Curse of Frankenstein and Devil Girl from Mars helped propel her to cult status and brought her fan mail, even in her later years. Court had finished an autobiography, "Hazel Court - Horror Queen", which will be published in Britain, said her daughter, Sally Walsh.
According to friend Ingrid Pitt , Court was Hammer Films first major star.
One of Courts biggest fans was writer Stephen King who mentions her in his various novels.
Upon her death she was cremated and her ashes scattered at sea.
She and her second husband Don Taylor both appeared in Hammer films made during the 1950s. She appeared in The Curse of Frankenstein and The Man Who Could Cheat Death while Taylor appeared in The Men of Sherwood Forest .
Her daughter Sally Walsh played the younger version of her character Elizabeth in The Curse of Frankenstein .
In her last years she was strongly critical of the increase of sex, violence, gore and bad language in films, singling out the films of Quentin Tarantino for special dislike.
