Eleanor Henta Fazan

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(29 May 1929 – 20 January 2024) was a British actress, dancer, and choreographer. She is best known for her roles in productions: ''Willow'', ''

Hot Fuzz ''Hot Fuzz'' is a 2007 buddy cop action comedy film directed by Edgar Wright, who co-wrote the film with Simon Pegg. Pegg stars as Nicholas Angel, an elite London police officer, whose proficiency makes the rest of his team look bad, causing hi ...

'' and ''Lassiter''. Fazan was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to dance.The United Kingdom:

Personal life

Eleanor Henta Fazan was born on 29 May 1929 in Kenya. She later trained in dancing with Sadler's Wells Ballet (currently known as 'The Royal Ballet'). Later she joined the Arts Educational School. Fazan was married to the British composer

Stanley Myers Stanley Myers (6 October 19309 November 1993) was an English composer and conductor, who scored over sixty films and television series, working closely with filmmakers Nicolas Roeg, Jerzy Skolimowski and Volker Schlöndorff. He is best known fo ...

in 1955, and they had one son. She died on 20 January 2024, at the age of 94.

Career

In 1959, Fazan directed ''One to Another'', a revue at the Lyric Opera House in

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written by

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John Cranko John Cyril Cranko (15 August 1927 – 26 June 1973) was a South African ballet dancer and choreographer with the Royal Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet. Life and career Early life Cranko was born to Herbert and Grace Cranko in Rustenburg in ...

John Mortimer Sir John Clifford Mortimer (21 April 1923 – 16 January 2009) was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author. He is best known for short stories about a barrister named Horace Rumpole, adapted from episodes of the TV series '' R ...

, N. F. Simpson, and

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, amongst others. It starred

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and

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. In 1960 she was choreographer for ''The Lily White Boys'', directed by

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at the Royal Court. In 1961 she was the director of ''

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'', when it began its initial London run at the Fortune Theatre.Milton Shulman ‘Four Young Men Make This Revue a Rare Delight’, London ''Evening Standard'' 11 May 1961 p. 19 In 1974, she made her Royal Opera debut on ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'', directed by Götz Friedrich. She did phenomenal work at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where she contributed to numerous productions in the following years under the prominent directors Elijah Moshinski, John Copley, Friedrich and John Schlesinger in their productions of operas such as: ''Peter Grimes'', ''Lohengrin'', ''The Rake’s Progress'', ''Macbeth'', ''Samson'', ''Otello'', ''Attila'', ''Ariadne auf Naxos'', ''Semele'', ''Idomeneo'', ''re di Creta'', ''Elektra'', ''Les Contes d’Hoffmann'' and ''Der Rosenkavalier''. Meanwhile, she entered cinema as a choreographer as well as actress where she appeared in ''Oh! What a Lovely War'', ''Heaven’s Gate'', ''Willow'', ''

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'', ''

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'' and ''

''. In 1993, she was awarded the Industry Award from British Film Institute.

Partial filmography

''Source:

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

References

External links

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FIZ and some Theatre Giants by Eleanor Fazan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fazan, Eleanor 1929 births 2024 deaths British choreographers British women choreographers Film choreographers Kenyan emigrants to the United Kingdom Actors educated at the Arts Educational Schools 20th-century British actresses Officers of the Order of the British Empire