Valerie Gaunt(1932-2016)
- Actress
Valerie Gaunt was an English actress who had a brief acting career in the 1950s. She is primarily remembered for portraying an unnamed Vampire Woman in an horror film produced by Hammer Film Productions. Her role was the studio's first vampire character with visible fangs.
Little is known about Gaunt's background. She was trained as an actress in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), a drama school located in London. She graduated in 1951, and worked primarily in repertory theatre. In 1956, she had a guest-star role in the police procedural television series "Dixon of Dock Green" (1955 -1976). The series focused on an old-fashioned "bobby" (policeman) who investigated petty crime cases in the East End of London.
The film director Terence Fisher (1904 - 1980) noticed Gaunt while watching television, and offered her a role in an upcoming horror film. Gaunt made her film debut in Fisher's "The Curse of Frankenstein" (1957), the first horror film in color produced by Hammer Film productions. The film was a loose adaptation of the novel "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" (1818) by Mary Shelley, re-imagined as a "morally ambiguous chamber piece".
Gaunt portrayed Justine, a maid who works for Baron Victor Frankenstein (played by Peter Cushing) and secretly serves as his mistress. When a pregnant Justine attempts to blackmail Victor into marrying her, Victor orchestrates her murder. He is later executed for her murder, with his former mentor refusing to testify on his behalf. Unlike other versions of the Frankenstein story, Victor does not abandon his monster. He is instead trying to use it as a weapon against his enemies.
The film was a box office hit, earning about 8 million dollars at the worldwide box office. Hammer Film decided to produce more gothic horror films, and Gaunt was asked to appear on the next one. She was cast as the Vampire Woman in "Dracula" (1958), a loose adaptation of the novel by Bram Stoker. Her character was loosely based on the three Brides of Dracula from the original novel. Gaunt portrayed the first female vampire depicted by Hammer Film, which later specialized in vampire films. This film was also a box office hit.
Gaunt decided to end her film career just as it was starting. In 1958, she married the stock broker Gerald Alfred Reddington and permanently retired from acting. She was only 26-years-old at the time. Gaunt lived the rest of her life away from the spotlight. In 2016, she died in the Isle of Wight at the age of 84. Despite her brief career, she remains familiar to fans of classic British horror films. Both of her film appearances enjoy enduring popularity, ensuring a measure of fame for Gaunt.
Little is known about Gaunt's background. She was trained as an actress in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), a drama school located in London. She graduated in 1951, and worked primarily in repertory theatre. In 1956, she had a guest-star role in the police procedural television series "Dixon of Dock Green" (1955 -1976). The series focused on an old-fashioned "bobby" (policeman) who investigated petty crime cases in the East End of London.
The film director Terence Fisher (1904 - 1980) noticed Gaunt while watching television, and offered her a role in an upcoming horror film. Gaunt made her film debut in Fisher's "The Curse of Frankenstein" (1957), the first horror film in color produced by Hammer Film productions. The film was a loose adaptation of the novel "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" (1818) by Mary Shelley, re-imagined as a "morally ambiguous chamber piece".
Gaunt portrayed Justine, a maid who works for Baron Victor Frankenstein (played by Peter Cushing) and secretly serves as his mistress. When a pregnant Justine attempts to blackmail Victor into marrying her, Victor orchestrates her murder. He is later executed for her murder, with his former mentor refusing to testify on his behalf. Unlike other versions of the Frankenstein story, Victor does not abandon his monster. He is instead trying to use it as a weapon against his enemies.
The film was a box office hit, earning about 8 million dollars at the worldwide box office. Hammer Film decided to produce more gothic horror films, and Gaunt was asked to appear on the next one. She was cast as the Vampire Woman in "Dracula" (1958), a loose adaptation of the novel by Bram Stoker. Her character was loosely based on the three Brides of Dracula from the original novel. Gaunt portrayed the first female vampire depicted by Hammer Film, which later specialized in vampire films. This film was also a box office hit.
Gaunt decided to end her film career just as it was starting. In 1958, she married the stock broker Gerald Alfred Reddington and permanently retired from acting. She was only 26-years-old at the time. Gaunt lived the rest of her life away from the spotlight. In 2016, she died in the Isle of Wight at the age of 84. Despite her brief career, she remains familiar to fans of classic British horror films. Both of her film appearances enjoy enduring popularity, ensuring a measure of fame for Gaunt.
