| Hilary Dwyer | |
|---|---|
Hilary Dwyer in 2009 |
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| Born | 6 May 1945 Liverpool, England, United Kingdom |
| Other names | Hilary Heath |
| Spouse | Duncan Heath (1974-1989, divorced) |
Hilary Dwyer (born 6 May 1945, Liverpool) is a former actress, businessperson and film producer.
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Dwyer is the daughter of an Orthopaedic Surgeon. As a youth, she practiced ballet and became a talented pianist.[1] Dwyer trained in repertory theatres and appeared on stage at the Bristol Old Vic.
Dwyer is best known for appearing in several horror films distributed by American International Pictures in the late 1960s and early 1970s, most notably Michael Reeves' Witchfinder General (1968), starring Vincent Price. She also appeared in The Oblong Box (1969) and Cry of the Banshee (1970), both again featuring Price, as well as Robert Fuest's Wuthering Heights (1970). Banshee was her final feature film appearance, and after that she worked only in television. Her many television roles included The Prisoner, The Avengers, Hadleigh and Van der Valk. Her last credit as an actress was in 1976, in a small part in an episode of Space: 1999.[2]
In 1973, Dwyer gave up her acting career in order to set up the talent agency Duncan Heath Associates, with her then husband-to-be Duncan Heath,[3] now the co-chairman of the Independent Talent Group Ltd. In a 2002 interview in the Financial Times, Heath said of Dwyer "She introduced me to a lot of people - if it wasn't for her it wouldn't have happened."[4]
She began a career as a producer in the mid-1980s under her married name Hilary Heath. She is credited as either Producer or Executive Producer for several movies, including feature films Criminal Law (1989) and Nil by Mouth (1997) as well as TV-remakes of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca (1997) and Tennessee Williams' The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (2003).[5]
Dwyer married talent agent Duncan Heath in 1974; they divorced in 1989. They have two children, Laura and Daniel. Laura Heath founded and runs the Hope-Martin Animal Foundation in Barbados.[6]
| Year | Film | Role | Director |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Witchfinder General | Sara Lowes | Michael Reeves |
| 1969 | Thin Air | Julie Slade | Gerry Levy |
| The Oblong Box | Lady Elizabeth Markham | Gordon Hessler | |
| The File of the Golden Goose | Ann Marlowe | Sam Wanamaker | |
| Two Gentlemen Sharing | Ethne Burrows | Ted Kotcheff | |
| 1970 | Wuthering Heights | Isabella Linton | Robert Fuest |
| Cry of the Banshee | Maureen Whitman | Gordon Hessler |
| Year | TV Show | Role | Director |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | About Religion | Gladys | |
| 1967 | ITV Play of the Week | Anthea | Christopher Hodson |
| The Avengers | Hilary | Robert Asher | |
| The Prisoner | Number Seventy-Three | Pat Jackson | |
| 1968 | Z Cars | Rita Pearson | John Glenister |