Virginia Maskell: Difference between revisions
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'''Virginia Maskell''' (born [[27 February]], [[1936]] in [[Shepherd's Bush]]; died [[25 January]], [[1968]]), was an [[England|English]] [[actor|actress]]. |
'''Virginia Maskell''' (born [[27 February]], [[1936]] in [[Shepherd's Bush]]; died of failed suicide bid [[25 January]], [[1968]] at [[Stoke Mandeville Hospital]]), was an [[England|English]] [[actor|actress]]. |
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After the outbreak of [[World War Two]], Maskell's family were evacuated to [[South Africa]]. Post the war she returned to [[London]] and entered a [[convent]] school where she developed an interest in acting. |
After the outbreak of [[World War Two]], Maskell's family were evacuated to [[South Africa]]. Post the war she returned to [[London]] and entered a [[convent]] school where she developed an interest in acting. |
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She made a minor film debut for director [[Roy Boulting]] with ''"[[Happy Is the Bride]]"'' in [[1957]], and then began hopscotching between the theatre and the screen in [[1958]]. Despite her slightly melancholy features, Maskell was often seen in comedies like ''"[[Virgin Island]]"'' and ''"[[Doctor in Love]]"'', or as [[Peter Sellers]]' tiresome wife in ''"[[Only Two Can Play]]."'' |
She made a minor film debut for director [[Roy Boulting]] with ''"[[Happy Is the Bride]]"'' in [[1957]], and then began hopscotching between the theatre and the screen in [[1958]]. Despite her slightly melancholy features, Maskell was often seen in comedies like ''"[[Virgin Island]]"'' and ''"[[Doctor in Love]]"'', or as [[Peter Sellers]]' tiresome wife in ''"[[Only Two Can Play]]."'' |
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She took a break from acting from [[1962]] to concentrate on her family, but returned after the birth of her second son to shoot ''"[[Interlude]]"'' in late [[1967]]. |
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==Personal life== |
==Personal life== |
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Revision as of 19:55, 9 December 2006
Virginia Maskell (born 27 February, 1936 in Shepherd's Bush; died of failed suicide bid 25 January, 1968 at Stoke Mandeville Hospital), was an English actress.
After the outbreak of World War Two, Maskell's family were evacuated to South Africa. Post the war she returned to London and entered a convent school where she developed an interest in acting.
After attending drama school, she starred in TV parts mainly playing demure young lasses in action series such as "The Buccaneers" and "The Adventures of Robin Hood."
She made a minor film debut for director Roy Boulting with "Happy Is the Bride" in 1957, and then began hopscotching between the theatre and the screen in 1958. Despite her slightly melancholy features, Maskell was often seen in comedies like "Virgin Island" and "Doctor in Love", or as Peter Sellers' tiresome wife in "Only Two Can Play."
She took a break from acting from 1962 to concentrate on her family, but returned after the birth of her second son to shoot "Interlude" in late 1967.
Maskell died of a drug overdose at the age of 31 in Stoke Mandeville Hospital. "Interlude" was released posthumously, and she won a posthumous National Board of Review award and a BAFTA nomination for her work in the film.
Personal life
Maskell married Sir Geoffrey Adam Shakerley, 6th Baronet Shakerley on 3 July, 1962. The couple had two sons.
After the birth of her second son in February 1966, she showed signs of post-natal depression. Following the shooting of "Interlude" in late 1967 she suffered a severe nervous breakdown. On 24 January, 1968 she took an overdose of antidepressants, and drove from her home at Princes Risborough. She was found collapsed in a nearby wooded area the next day suffering from acute hypothermia from the severly cold night. Although revived briefly, she died shortly after at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
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."