Delphi Lawrence (23 March 1932 – 11 April 2002) was an English actress. She was educated at Halidon House School in

Slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Be ...

, whilst living in Colnbrook. Born to Barbara Yvonne ( Enever) and Louis Holzman, who wed in 1930, she was of Hungarian ancestry on her father's side. She trained as a concert pianist before becoming an actress, training at

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sena ...

and graduating in 1949. She made her first film in 1952, and, over the next decade, she established a following in British films. She graduated to lead roles but almost exclusively in "B" films.

Career

In 1962, she starred in episode 11 of '' The Saint'' ("The Man Who Was Lucky") as Cora. One of her other prominent TV roles was around the same time, in 1961, where she played the countess in episode 6 of the TV historical adventure series ''

Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 ...

'' ("The English Dragon"). In 1966, she moved to the United States where she began to appear in films and television, and settled there. By the end of the 1960s her roles began to decrease in frequency and importance and in 1973 she retired. She made a brief return in 1975 in the Broadway production of ''

The Constant Wife ''The Constant Wife'', a play written in 1926 by W. Somerset Maugham, is a comedy whose modern and amusing take on marriage and infidelity gives a quick-witted, alternative view on how to deal with an extramarital affair. A “sparkling comedy ...

'' playing the sister of

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's character. She appeared as Vera Charles in various touring productions of ''

Mame MAME (formerly an acronym of Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) is a free and open-source emulator designed to recreate the hardware of arcade game systems in software on modern personal computers and other platforms. Its intention is to preserv ...

'', opposite such stars as

Susan Hayward Susan Hayward (born Edythe Marrenner; June 30, 1917 – March 14, 1975) was an American film actress, best known for her film portrayals of women that were based on true stories. After working as a fashion model for the Walter Thornton Model A ...

Celeste Holm Celeste Holm (April 29, 1917 – July 15, 2012) was an American stage, film and television actress. Holm won an Academy Award for her performance in Elia Kazan's '' Gentleman's Agreement'' (1947), and was nominated for her roles in '' Come to ...

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, and

Juliet Prowse Juliet Anne Prowse (September 25, 1936 – September 14, 1996) was a dancer and actress whose four-decade career included stage, television and film. She was raised in South Africa, where her family emigrated after World War II. Known for her ...

playing the lead role (Mame Dennis). The last of these was in 1990, opposite Prowse. She died 12 years later, in 2002, aged 70, from undisclosed causes.

Selected Filmography

* ''

Blood Orange The blood orange is a variety of orange ( ''Citrus'' × ''sinensis'') (also referred to as raspberry orange) with crimson, almost blood-colored flesh. The distinctive dark flesh color is due to the presence of anthocyanins, a family of poly ...

'' (1953) – Chelsea, a model * ''

Murder by Proxy ''Murder by Proxy'' is a 1954 British film noir crime drama film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Dane Clark, Belinda Lee and Betty Ann Davies. The screenplay concerns a man who is offered money to marry a woman. It was produced by Hamme ...

'' (1954) – Linda (uncredited) * '' Meet Mr. Callaghan'' (1954) – Effie Perkins * '' Duel in the Jungle'' (1954) – Pan American Girl * '' Barbados Quest'' (1955) – Jean Larson * '' Doublecross'' (1956) – Anna Krassin * '' The Feminine Touch'' (1956) – Pat * '' It's Never Too Late'' (1956) – Mrs. Madge Dixon * '' Strangers' Meeting'' (1957) – Margot Sanders * '' Just My Luck'' (1957) – Miss Daviot * '' Blind Spot'' (1958) – Yvonne Dubar * '' The Son of Robin Hood'' (1958) – Sylvia * '' Dial 999 (TV series)'' (1959) – Julie Nielson – (episode "The Mechanical Watchman") – (filmed 1958) * '' Dial 999 (TV series)'' (1959) – Pauline – (episode "Thames Division") – (filmed 1958) * '' Too Many Crooks'' (1959) – Secretary * '' The Man Who Could Cheat Death'' (1959) – Margo Philippe * ''

Danger Man ''Danger Man'' (retitled ''Secret Agent'' in the United States for the revived series, and ''Destination Danger'' and ''John Drake'' in other overseas markets) is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again b ...

'' (1960-62) – Stella Delroy – (episode "View from the Villa") * '' Cone of Silence'' (1960) – Joyce Mitchell * '' The Greeneyed Elephant'' (1960) (Danish title: ''Elefanter på loftet'') – Lisa * '' Beat Girl'' (1960) – Greta (uncredited) *'' Edgar Wallace Mysteries'', (episode " The Fourth Square") (1961) – Nina Stewart * '' Seven Keys'' (1961) – Natalie Worth * '' Scotland Yard (film series)'', (episode "The Square Mile Murder") (1961) – Mrs. Possner * '' The List of Adrian Messenger'' (1963) – Airport Stewardess (uncredited) * '' Farewell Performance'' (1963) – Janice Marlon * '' Gideon's Way'' (episode "To Catch A Tiger") (1964) – Jane Kennet * '' Bunny Lake Is Missing'' (1965) – 1st Mother * '' The Last Challenge'' (1967) – Marie Webster * '' Cops and Robbers'' (1973) – rich lady (final film role)

References

Sources

* Quinlan, David. ''Quinlan's Film Stars'' Batsford Books, 1996.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Delphi English film actresses English stage actresses Actresses from Hertfordshire 1926 births 2002 deaths English people of Hungarian descent English expatriates in the United States