| Jill Haworth | |
|---|---|
| Born | Valerie Jill Haworth 15 August 1945 Hove, Sussex, England, UK |
| Died | 3 January 2011 (aged 65) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1960–2001 |
Valerie Jill Haworth[1] (pronounced Hah-worth; 15 August 1945 – 3 January 2011)[2] was an English actress. She appeared in films throughout the 1960s, and started making guest appearances on television in 1963. She also originated the role of Sally Bowles in the musical Cabaret on Broadway in 1966.
Haworth was born in Hove, Sussex, to a textile magnate father and a mother who trained as a ballet dancer.[2] She was named Valerie Jill in honor of the day she was born, Victory over Japan Day or V.J. Day.[3] She took ballet lessons at the prestigious Sadler's Wells Ballet School to escape from an unhappy home when her parents separated in 1953.[4][3] Later she attended the Corona Stage School.[3]
Her first film appearance was in the 1959 rendition of The 39 Steps, directed by Ralph Thomas, when she had a non-speaking part as a schoolgirl. Next she played another schoolgirl in The Brides of Dracula (1960), directed by Terence Fisher.[5]
Otto Preminger was looking for a new fresh face for the role of Karen, an ill-fated Jewish-Danish refugee girl in love with Dov Landau (Sal Mineo) in his film Exodus (1960). He traveled to England and Germany, with his soon-to-be-wife Hope, looking for a girl for the role. After looking at hundreds of girls Preminger spotted a photo of Haworth in a modeling magazine for Corona theater school.[6] Haworth only went to the auditions, three of them, which included Christine Kauffman and three other young actresses, to get out of school. She was only fifteen years old when she appeared as Karen in her first acting role in a feature film.[4] Haworth appeared on Parade for the July 31, 1960 issue.[7] Then she and Mineo appeared on the front cover of the December 12, 1960 issue of LIFE, part of a photo essay by Gjon Mili.[8]
Under contract to Preminger (for five years), she also worked with him in the The Cardinal (1963; as Lalage Menton), and in the 1965 film In Harm's Way as Ensign Annalee Dorne, who while engaged to Ens. Jeremiah 'Jere' Torrey (Brandon De Wilde) commits suicide after being raped by Commander Paul Eddington, Jr. (Kirk Douglas). She liked working with De Wilde, Patricia Neal, and Douglas, but called John Wayne "the meanest, nastiest man with the worst attitude I ever worked with."[9]
Preminger insisted that she live in New York City to become "Americanized," but he didn't want her to live in Los Angeles for fear she would just be a 'starlet a-go-go'.[10] She was approached to be the title character in the 1962 film Lolita oppisite James Mason, but because Preminger held her contract he vetoed the idea.[9] Mineo and Haworth were also considered for the film David and Lisa (1962), but once again Preminger said 'no.'[11] Preminger did let her make three French films; * Les Mystères de Paris (as Fleur de Marie; 1962), Because, Because of a Woman (as Cécilia; 1963), and Ton ombre est la mienne (as Sylvie 'Devi' Bergerat; 1963).[9] Haworth went to visit Mineo in Utah in the November 1962 and had a non-speaking role as an extra in the film The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965).[11]
She made four appearances on the TV program 12 O'Clock High. In the first season, fourth episode ("The Sound of Distant Thunder" - 1964), she played an English girl, Mary, who falls in love with Lieutenant Andy Lathrop (played by Peter Fonda). The following season, she played a deaf girl-Nora Burgess, in an episode entitled "To Heinie with Love" (1965). She then played Lieutenant Fay Vendry in two episodes, "Runway in the Dark" (1965) and "The Hotshot" (1965).
In 1965 she did an episode of The Rogues entitled "Mr. White's Christmas" as Timothea, and really loved working with David Niven and Charles Boyer.[12] She appeared in one of the final episodes, "Duel at Daybreak," of the series Rawhide as Vicki Woodruff, where Haworth just "adored" Charles Bronson, but Clint Eastwood snubbed her and didn't say two words to her off camera. Haworth first her back in an accident on the set when she jumped from a run away buggy and team of horses. She then caught pneumonia and was bed ridden for two months after she had to stand waist-deep in a man-made pond for six hours doing re-takes.[12]
She starred in the horror films It! (1966), Horror House (1969), Tower of Evil (1972), and Home for the Holidays (TV; 1972). She only did It! for the money, hated her hair in the film, and hated the film altogether. Haworth liked working with Roddy McDowell, who brought her the poster for the film (on her opening night of Cabaret), and wrote "S-h" in front of the title.[12]
While filming It! she met Hal Prince who was doing research for a musical based on Goodbye to Berlin by Charles Isherwood. Prince asked her if she could sing and she responded "Louder than Merman."[12] She played Sally Bowles in the original Broadway cast of the 1966 musical Cabaret, a part she played for two years and four months.[13] Her other notable theatre roles included the plays Bedroom Farce and Butterflies Are Free.[14] Judi Dench took over the role when the production debuted in London in 1968.[15]
Haworth turned down working on Hawaii Five-O because of the bad reputation of Jack Lord.[12]
While making Exodus she became first friends, and then lovers, with Sal Mineo, and they were friends until his death in 1976.[16] She lost her virginity to Mineo at the age of fifteen in her hotel suite at the Gotham Hotel in Manhattan.[17] Their relationship as couple ended on Valentine's Day 1964 when Haworth found Mineo and his protégé, Bobby Sherman, having sex in the bed that Haworth and Mineo shared in a Malibu beach house.[18] She was devastated and didn't talk to Mineo for a time, but they eventually became friends again, made public appearances together, and in 1971 she invested in his attempted production of The Wrong People (a book about the a homosexual relationship with a young boy).[19] Their friendship even led to a brief resumption of a sexual relationship in 1969, but after she got pregnant in September and had an abortion, they went back to being just friends.[20] Haworth later told author Michael Michaud that she thought Courtney Burr III, who later had a long term relationship with Mineo, was the 'love of Mineo's life.'[21]
Haworth dated television producer Aaron Spelling in the summer of 1965, he was 41 and she was 19 going on 20.[22] Spelling told friends that he hoped that Haworth would be the next Mrs. Spelling, but Haworth's mother, Nancy, 'scoffed' at the idea and told the press that she is dating lots of guys and is in love with a different one every week.[23] Even though Haworth and Mineo were not a couple, they were still friends and he was very protective of her. He found Haworth and Spelling together at a Beverly Hills private nightclub called Daisy, and walked up and punched Spelling in the face and yelling, "Do you know how old she is? What are you doing with her at your age?"[24]
She went on the daytime talk show Girl Talk, hosted by Virginia Graham, to talk about the accident that she had had on the set of Rawhide, and they had also booked Mineo on the show as well. The host asked her why she and Mineo had broken up and she just blurted out, "Well, he left me for another man." Nobody seemed to catch it.[24]
Haworth lived in New York City, on the upper east-side, for many years with her mother.[14] She died of natural causes at the age of 65 on 3 January 2011 in Manhattan, and is buried at Kensico Cemetery.[2]