Hy Hazell

Hy Hazell

in Up in the World (1956)
Born 4 October 1919
Streatham, London
Died 10 May 1970 (aged 50)
London

Hy Hazell (born London 4 October 1919 – died London 10 May 1970), born as Hyacinth Hazel O'Higgins, was a British actress of theatre, musicals and revue as well as a singer and film actress .[1][2] Allmusic described her as "an exuberant comic actor and lively singer and dancer".[3]

As a teenager, Hy Hazell started life as a performer in the chorus of the West End production of Rodgers and Hart’s On Your Toes (1937). She later had a long and successful run of leading roles in musicals, including Expresso Bongo at the Saville Theatre in 1958, as heartless Dixie Collins; as Mrs Squeezum in the Mermaid Theatre's Lock Up Your Daughters in 1959 (playing for almost 2,000 performances); as ex-Cochran girl Kay Connor in Charlie Girl at the Adelphi Theatre from 1965 ; and as Mrs Peachum in a notable Beggar's Opera by the Prospect Theatre Company in 1968.[4]

She was in British films Meet Me at Dawn (1946), The Yellow Balloon (1953), and B-movies like The Body Said No! and The Lady Craved Excitement (both 1950), where she got to sing. She also established a reputation as - to quote one of her own programme notes - 'English pantomime's most distinguished post war principal boy'. A dynamic stage presence, to say nothing of her long legs, made her a favourite for the very British tradition of having glamorous young women play the Principal boy in pantomime and for years she was extremely popular in this seasonal form of theatre.[3][4]

Hy Hazell died suddenly, unexpectedly. She was playing Golde in Fiddler on the Roof in London's West End, and following a performance, she died accidentally, choking to death while eating a steak, on May 10, 1970.[3][4][5]

Selected filmography

References

  1. ↑ "Hy Hazell". BFI.
  2. ↑ "Hy Hazell Theatre Credits".
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Hy Hazell - Biography - AllMusic". AllMusic.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Hy Hazell".
  5. ↑ "Hy Hazell".

External links