Hillary Brooke

Hillary Brooke
Born Beatrice Sofia Mathilda Peterson
September 8, 1914
Astoria, New York, U.S.
Died May 25, 1999 (aged 84)
Bonsall, California, U.S.
Other names Hillary Brook
Occupation Actress
Years active 1937–1960
Spouse(s) Raymond A. Klune (m. 1960–88) (his death)
Jack Voglin (m. 1941–48)

Hillary Brooke (September 8, 1914 – May 25, 1999) was an American film actress best known for her work in Abbott and Costello and Sherlock Holmes films. She also played Lou Costello's love interest in the first season of The Abbott and Costello Show. Though American-born, she began cultivating a sophisticated English accent to get more film parts early in her career. It eventually became second nature to her, and she was cast as a British woman in most of her films, including one that was produced in England.

Career

A former model, the 5'6" blonde was born Beatrice Sofia Mathilda Peterson in Astoria, New York. She appeared in Africa Screams (1949) and Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952) with the comedy team, and was a regular on The Abbott and Costello Show. She also co-starred in three Sherlock Holmes movies with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, including The Woman in Green (1945).

Her other film credits include Jane Eyre (1943), The Enchanted Cottage (1945), Lucky Losers (1950) with The Bowery Boys, the Alfred Hitchcock thriller The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), the 3-D film The Maze (1953), and the sci-fi B-movie classic Invaders from Mars (1953).[1]

In The Abbott and Costello Show, which was broadcast in the early 1950s but syndicated for decades afterwards, Brooke played the role of a straitlaced, classy fellow tenant of the rooming house where the two main characters lived. She was treated with deference by the duo and was not a target of pranks and slapstick. As the love interest of Lou Costello, she always addressed him as "Louis". Like the other main characters, her character's name in the show was her real name.[2]

On September 28, 1957, she played Doris Cole in the second episode of the Perry Mason TV show, titled "The Case of the Sleepwalker's Niece". Brooke also played Angela Randall in an infamous episode of I Love Lucy, entitled "The Fox Hunt", which aired February 6, 1956. She retired from television in 1960 with guest appearances on Richard Diamond, Private Detective as Laura Renault and Michael Shayne as Greta Morgan.

She was also a regular on the 1952–1955 Gale Storm TV series My Little Margie, playing Roberta Townsend, the glamorous love interest of Margie's father Vern Albright (Charles Farrell).

Marriages/Personal life

Hillary Brooke was married to Raymond A. Klune, an executive at MGM, from 1960 until his death on September 24, 1988. She had no children.

Brooke was also married to Jack Voglin.

Death

On May 25, 1999, Brooke died from undisclosed causes at a hospital in Fallbrook, California.[3] She was survived by her brother Arthur Peterson; [3]

For her contribution to the television industry, Hillary Brooke has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6307 Hollywood Boulevard.

Partial filmography

References

  1. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045917/
  2. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044229/
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Hillary Brooke, 84; Actress in Movies". The New York Times. 1999-06-08. Retrieved 2008-02-29.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hillary Brooke.