Virginia Elizabeth Maskell (27 February 1936 – 25 January 1968), was an English actress.

Biography

Virginia Maskell was born in

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a suburb of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character, its ...

, London, daughter of William Eric Brands Maskell, of Little Down, Duncton, Sussex. After the outbreak of the Second World War, Maskell's family was evacuated to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. After the war she returned to London and entered a convent school, where she developed an interest in acting. After attending drama school she featured in television roles, mainly playing demure young women in action series such as ''

The Buccaneers ''The Buccaneers'' is the last novel written by Edith Wharton. The story is set in the 1870s, around the time Wharton was a young girl. It was unfinished work, unfinished at the time of her death in 1937 and published in that form in 1938. Whar ...

'' and ''

The Adventures of Robin Hood ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' is a 1938 American Epic film, epic swashbuckler film from Warner Bros. Pictures. It was produced by Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke, directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley, and written by Norman Reilly Ra ...

''. Her film debut was a minor role for director Roy Boulting in '' Happy Is the Bride'' (1957), and then began switching between the theatre and the screen. In director

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's comedy '' Virgin Island'' (US: ''Our Virgin Island'', 1958), she appeared with

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and Sidney Poitier. She gained a British Lion contract and appeared in '' The Man Upstairs'' (1958) and as an air hostess in '' Jet Storm'' (1959). She made an impact on the stage in

Ronald Duncan Ronald Frederick Henry Duncan (6 August 1914 – 3 June 1982) was an English writer, poet and playwright of German descent, now best known for his poem ''The Horse (poem), The Horse'' and for preparing the libretto for Benjamin Britten's opera ' ...

's ''The Catalyst'', a play that initially the

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's office had found troubling. There were distinguished appearances in live TV drama. Soon she starred in '' Doctor in Love'' (1960), and as

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comi ...

's wife in '' Only Two Can Play'' (1962); Sellers was unconvinced she could manage a credible Welsh accent and asked for her dismissal, though it was suspected that his ulterior motive was to replace Maskell with Welsh-born actress Siân Phillips. She took a break from acting from 1962 to concentrate on her family, acted occasionally in TV series as ''

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 ...

'' and ''

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'', and returned after the birth of her second son to shoot '' Interlude'' (1968) in the summer of 1967. ''Interlude'' was released after she died, and she won a posthumous National Board of Review award and a

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

nomination for her work in the film. Maskell was also a poet and an artist.

Personal life

Maskell married Sir Geoffrey Adam Shakerley, 6th Baronet on 3 July 1962. The couple had two sons.

Death

After the birth of her second son in February 1966, Maskell showed signs of post-natal depression. Following the shooting of ''Interlude'' in the summer of 1967, she suffered a severe nervous breakdown and was hospitalised at Stoke Mandeville Hospital for six weeks. On Wednesday, 24 January 1968, she left home in her car and, six hours later, her husband reported her missing. Police searched woods 700 feet up in the Chiltern Hills after her car was found a mile from her home. Maskell apparently had wandered through the woods for hours before collapsing where the police eventually found her. She was taken to hospital and given emergency treatment for an overdose of barbiturates but, although doctors revived her, she died the following day.

Quotations

* "I love acting, but I also want to be alive. Publicity is like a prison. If you're not careful, you begin to live according to everyone's idea of how you ought to live. Ambition? To be a big, big star...on the stage."

Filmography

* ''

Carve Her Name with Pride ''Carve Her Name with Pride'' is a 1958 British war Drama (film and television), drama film based on the book of the same name by R. J. Minney. The film, directed by Lewis Gilbert, is based on the true story of Special Operations Executive agen ...

'' (1958) – Wren * '' Happy Is the Bride'' (1958) – Marcia * '' The Man Upstairs'' (1958) – Helen Grey * '' Virgin Island'' (1958) – Tina * '' Jet Storm'' (1959) – Pam Leyton * '' Doctor in Love'' (1960) – Dr. Nicola Barrington * ''

Suspect In law enforcement jargon, a suspect is a known person accused or suspected of committing a crime. Police and reporters in the United States often use the word suspect as a jargon when referring to the perpetrator of the offense (perp in dated U. ...

'' (1960) – Dr. Lucy Byrne * '' Only Two Can Play'' (1962) – Jean Lewis * '' The Wild and the Willing'' (1962) – Virginia Chown * ''

'' – "The Colonel's Daughter" – Joanna Blakeley (1964) * '' Gideon's Way'' (1965) – "The White Rat" – Rose * ''

'' (1967) – Episode One, "Arrival" * '' Interlude'' (1968) – Antonia

References

External links

*
Discussion on Maskell at BritMovie.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maskell, Virginia 1936 births 1968 deaths Actors from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Drug-related suicides in England Barbiturates-related deaths English television actresses English film actresses 20th-century English actresses Wives of baronets 1968 suicides Actresses from London People from Shepherd's Bush