Susan Hampshire
Encyclopedia
Susan Hampshire, Lady Kulukundis, OBE
(born 12 May 1937) is an English actress, best-known for her many television and film roles.
, London
, the youngest of four children. She had two sisters and one brother. Her mother was a teacher and her father was a director of ICI
who was rarely seen at home, her parents having unofficially separated. As a child, she had some developmental difficulties, unable to spell her name until she was nine and unable to read well until she was 12, but her mother was determined to give her the best start she could, and founded a small London school The Hampshire (now Gems Hampshire School) where Susan was taught.
Her childhood ambition was to be a nurse, but she did not have the O level in Latin it required, so she decided to become an actress. She was not diagnosed as dyslexic until she was 30 years old.
. She decided to become an actress as a child and worked in a theatre before moving on to film and television work. She first became famous after playing the lead in a 1962 BBC
adaptation of What Katy Did
. Soon afterwards, she was taken up by Walt Disney
, and starred in The Three Lives of Thomasina
(opposite Patrick McGoohan
) and The Fighting Prince of Donegal
. She would later appear opposite McGoohan again, in two episodes of Danger Man
.
In 1966, she was introduced to American TV viewers in the pilot episode of The Time Tunnel
, guest starring as a young passenger of the ill-fated Titanic that befriends Dr. Tony Neuman after he appears on the ship. Later, she portrayed conservationist Joy Adamson
in Living Free
, the sequel to Born Free
. Also in 1972, she played three different characters in Malpertuis
, directed by Harry Kumel.
Hampshire is well known for her work on television. She appeared in several popular television serials, notably in the BBC
's blockbuster, The Forsyte Saga
(1967), in which she played Fleur. The popularity of this series was a factor in the creation of the PBS program Masterpiece Theatre
(the first series aired was The First Churchills
in which she played Sarah Churchill). 1973 saw Hampshire again on US television with Kirk Douglas
in a musical version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. More recent TV roles include Molly Macdonald in Monarch of the Glen (2000–05), and an appearance in Casualty
(Series 26, No Goodbyes, 19 November 2011) as Caitlin Northwick (alongside Michael Jayston).
She received Emmy Awards from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for her roles in The Forsyte Saga
(1970), The First Churchills
(1971), and Vanity Fair
(1973). Other miniseries in which she appeared are The Pallisers
, The Barchester Chronicles
, and Coming Home
.
Hampshire has been active on the stage, taking the lead roles in many leading plays, such as Lady in the Van, The Importance of Being Earnest
and For no good Reason, a play written by Nathalie Sarraute
in which she appears with Susannah York
under the direction of French director Simone Benmussa. In 2007, she was in a ground-breaking play The Bargain
, based on a meeting between Robert Maxwell
and Mother Teresa
. She played the Fairy Godmother in pantomime at the New Wimbledon Theatre
in 2005–2006 and at the New Victoria Theatre in Woking in 2006–07. In 2008, she joined the relatively small band of actors who have played two generations in the same play on different occasions. Her appearance at Chichester Festival Theatre
in Somerset Maugham's "The Circle" as Lady Catherine Champion-Cheney in Summer 2008 followed on from her appearance in the same play (and venue) as Elizabeth Champion-Cheney (Lady Catherine's daughter-in-law) somewhat earlier in her career.
. Since then she has become a prominent campaigner in the UK on dyslexia issues and was President of the Dyslexia Institute
from 1995–1998. In 1995, she was appointed an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in connection with her work.
Her second book, The Maternal Instinct (1984), discussed women and fertility issues and she published a collection of interviews Every Letter Counts: Winning in Life Despite Dyslexia in 1990. She has written children's books, including Lucy Jane at the Ballet, Lucy Jane and the Russian Ballet, Lucy Jane and the Dancing Competition, Lucy Jane on Television, Bear's Christmas, Rosie's First Ballet Lesson and Rosie's Ballet Slippers, and various books and videos about her lifelong hobby of gardening, including Easy Gardening, My Secret Garden and Trouble Free Gardening.
(1967-74), with whom she has a son, Christopher. Her prematurely born daughter, Victoria, died shortly after birth. She has been married to theatre impresario Sir Eddie Kulukundis
since 1981. She became a grandmother in September 2006 with the birth of Christopher's son, Raphael. Hampshire is a patron of Population Matters, (formerly known as the Optimum Population Trust).
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 12 May 1937) is an English actress, best-known for her many television and film roles.
Early life
Susan Hampshire was born in KensingtonKensington
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the youngest of four children. She had two sisters and one brother. Her mother was a teacher and her father was a director of ICI
Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries was a British chemical company, taken over by AkzoNobel, a Dutch conglomerate, one of the largest chemical producers in the world. In its heyday, ICI was the largest manufacturing company in the British Empire, and commonly regarded as a "bellwether of the British...
who was rarely seen at home, her parents having unofficially separated. As a child, she had some developmental difficulties, unable to spell her name until she was nine and unable to read well until she was 12, but her mother was determined to give her the best start she could, and founded a small London school The Hampshire (now Gems Hampshire School) where Susan was taught.
Her childhood ambition was to be a nurse, but she did not have the O level in Latin it required, so she decided to become an actress. She was not diagnosed as dyslexic until she was 30 years old.
Career
Hampshire's first film appearance was in the movie The Woman in the HallThe Woman in the Hall
The Woman in the Hall is a 1947 British drama film, directed by Jack Lee, with a screenplay by Jack Lee, Ian Dalrymple and Gladys Bronwyn Stern, from Stern's novel. It was released in 1947...
. She decided to become an actress as a child and worked in a theatre before moving on to film and television work. She first became famous after playing the lead in a 1962 BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
adaptation of What Katy Did
What Katy Did
What Katy Did is a children's book written by Susan Coolidge, the pen name of Sarah Chauncey Woolsey, which was published in 1872. It follows the adventures of a twelve-year-old American girl, Katy Carr, and her family who live in the fictional lakeside Ohio town of Burnet in the 1860s...
. Soon afterwards, she was taken up by Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
, and starred in The Three Lives of Thomasina
The Three Lives of Thomasina
The Three Lives of Thomasina is a 1964 British-American Disney fantasy feature film starring Patrick McGoohan, Susan Hampshire, and child actress Karen Dotrice in a story about a cat and her influence on a family. The screenplay was written by Robert Westerby and Paul Gallico and was based upon...
(opposite Patrick McGoohan
Patrick McGoohan
Patrick Joseph McGoohan was an American-born actor, raised in Ireland and England, with an extensive stage and film career, most notably in the 1960s television series Danger Man , and The Prisoner, which he co-created...
) and The Fighting Prince of Donegal
The Fighting Prince of Donegal
The Fighting Prince of Donegal is a 1966 Disney adventure film starring Peter McEnery and Susan Hampshire, based on the novel Red Hugh: Prince of Donegal by Robert T. Reilly. It was released through Buena Vista Distribution Company.-Plot:...
. She would later appear opposite McGoohan again, in two episodes of Danger Man
Danger Man
Danger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
.
In 1966, she was introduced to American TV viewers in the pilot episode of The Time Tunnel
The Time Tunnel
The Time Tunnel is a 1966–1967 U.S. color science fiction TV series. The show was created and produced by Irwin Allen, his third science fiction television series. The show's main theme was Time Travel Adventure. The Time Tunnel was released by 20th Century Fox and broadcast on ABC. The show ran...
, guest starring as a young passenger of the ill-fated Titanic that befriends Dr. Tony Neuman after he appears on the ship. Later, she portrayed conservationist Joy Adamson
Joy Adamson
Joy Adamson was a naturalist, artist, and author best known for her book, Born Free, which describes her experiences raising a lion cub named Elsa...
in Living Free
Living Free
Living Free is a 1972 British drama film directed by Jack Couffer and starring Nigel Davenport, Susan Hampshire and Geoffrey Keen. After Elsa the lioness dies, her three lion cubs are forced to move to a game preserve and must learn to hunt on their own with the help of George Adamson and his...
, the sequel to Born Free
Born Free
Born Free is a 1966 British drama film starring Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers as Joy and George Adamson, a real-life couple who raised Elsa the Lioness, an orphaned lion cub, to adulthood, and released her into the wilds of Kenya. The movie was produced by Open Road Films Ltd. and Columbia...
. Also in 1972, she played three different characters in Malpertuis
Malpertuis (film)
Malpertuis is a 1971 Belgian fantasy-horror directed by Harry Kümel, based on the novel of the same name...
, directed by Harry Kumel.
Hampshire is well known for her work on television. She appeared in several popular television serials, notably in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's blockbuster, The Forsyte Saga
The Forsyte Saga (1967 series)
The Forsyte Saga is a 1967 BBC television adaptation of John Galsworthy's series of The Forsyte Saga novels, and its sequel trilogy A Modern Comedy...
(1967), in which she played Fleur. The popularity of this series was a factor in the creation of the PBS program Masterpiece Theatre
Masterpiece Theatre
Masterpiece is a drama anthology television series produced by WGBH Boston. It premiered on Public Broadcasting Service on January 10, 1971, making it America's longest-running weekly prime time drama series. The series has presented numerous acclaimed British productions...
(the first series aired was The First Churchills
The First Churchills
The First Churchills was a BBC serial from 1969 about the life of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and his wife, Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough...
in which she played Sarah Churchill). 1973 saw Hampshire again on US television with Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
in a musical version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. More recent TV roles include Molly Macdonald in Monarch of the Glen (2000–05), and an appearance in Casualty
Casualty (TV series)
Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
(Series 26, No Goodbyes, 19 November 2011) as Caitlin Northwick (alongside Michael Jayston).
She received Emmy Awards from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for her roles in The Forsyte Saga
The Forsyte Saga
The Forsyte Saga is a series of three novels and two interludes published between 1906 and 1921 by John Galsworthy. They chronicle the vicissitudes of the leading members of an upper-middle-class British family, similar to Galsworthy's own...
(1970), The First Churchills
The First Churchills
The First Churchills was a BBC serial from 1969 about the life of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and his wife, Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough...
(1971), and Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (1967 TV serial)
Vanity Fair is a BBC television drama serial adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray's novel of the same name broadcast in 1967. It starred Susan Hampshire as Becky Sharp, for which she received an Emmy Award in 1973...
(1973). Other miniseries in which she appeared are The Pallisers
The Pallisers
The Pallisers is a 1974 BBC television adaptation of Anthony Trollope's Palliser novels.-Cast :*Anthony Ainley: Rev. Emilius*Terence Alexander: Lord George*Anthony Andrews: Lord Silverbridge*Sarah Badel: Lizzie Eustace...
, The Barchester Chronicles
The Barchester Chronicles
The Barchester Chronicles is a 1982 British television serial produced by the BBC. It is an adaptation of Anthony Trollope's first two Barchester novels, The Warden and Barchester Towers, and was directed by David Giles...
, and Coming Home
Coming Home (TV serial)
Coming Home is a 1998 British serial directed by Giles Foster. The teleplay by John Goldsmith is based on the novel of the same title by Rosamunde Pilcher. Produced by Yorkshire Television, it was broadcast in two parts by ITV in April 1998.-Plot:...
.
Hampshire has been active on the stage, taking the lead roles in many leading plays, such as Lady in the Van, The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...
and For no good Reason, a play written by Nathalie Sarraute
Nathalie Sarraute
Nathalie Sarraute was a French lawyer and writer of Russian Jewish origin.-Life:Sarraute was born Natalia/Natacha Tcherniak in Ivanovo , 300 km north-east of Moscow in 1900 , and, following...
in which she appears with Susannah York
Susannah York
Susannah York was a British film, stage and television actress. She was awarded a BAFTA as Best Supporting Actress for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and was nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe for the same film. She won best actress for Images at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival...
under the direction of French director Simone Benmussa. In 2007, she was in a ground-breaking play The Bargain
The Bargain
The Bargain is a 1914 Western film starring William S. Hart. It was the first Western starring Hart, who would go on to become the most popular Western actor of the silent film era. In 2010, it was added to the United States National Film Registry, where it joined another Hart Western, 1916's...
, based on a meeting between Robert Maxwell
Robert Maxwell
Ian Robert Maxwell MC was a Czechoslovakian-born British media proprietor and former Member of Parliament , who rose from poverty to build an extensive publishing empire...
and Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa , born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu , was a Roman Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, in 1950...
. She played the Fairy Godmother in pantomime at the New Wimbledon Theatre
New Wimbledon Theatre
The New Wimbledon Theatre is situated on The Broadway, Wimbledon, London, in the London Borough of Merton. It is a Grade II listed Edwardian theatre built by the theatre lover and entrepreneur, J B Mullholland. Built on the site of a large house with spacious grounds the theatre was designed by...
in 2005–2006 and at the New Victoria Theatre in Woking in 2006–07. In 2008, she joined the relatively small band of actors who have played two generations in the same play on different occasions. Her appearance at Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre, located in Chichester, England, was designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, and opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. Subsequently the smaller and more intimate Minerva Theatre was built nearby in 1989....
in Somerset Maugham's "The Circle" as Lady Catherine Champion-Cheney in Summer 2008 followed on from her appearance in the same play (and venue) as Elizabeth Champion-Cheney (Lady Catherine's daughter-in-law) somewhat earlier in her career.
Author
Until the publication of her autobiography, Susan's Story, in 1981 few people were aware of her struggle with dyslexiaDyslexia
Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...
. Since then she has become a prominent campaigner in the UK on dyslexia issues and was President of the Dyslexia Institute
Dyslexia Action
Dyslexia Action is a non profit organisation based in the UK, providing support to those affected by dyslexia and literacy difficulties, across all sectors and training providers...
from 1995–1998. In 1995, she was appointed an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in connection with her work.
Her second book, The Maternal Instinct (1984), discussed women and fertility issues and she published a collection of interviews Every Letter Counts: Winning in Life Despite Dyslexia in 1990. She has written children's books, including Lucy Jane at the Ballet, Lucy Jane and the Russian Ballet, Lucy Jane and the Dancing Competition, Lucy Jane on Television, Bear's Christmas, Rosie's First Ballet Lesson and Rosie's Ballet Slippers, and various books and videos about her lifelong hobby of gardening, including Easy Gardening, My Secret Garden and Trouble Free Gardening.
Personal life
Hampshire was married to the French film producer Pierre Granier-DeferrePierre Granier-Deferre
Pierre Granier-Deferre was a French film director. His 1971 film Le Chat won the Best Actor and Best Actress awards at the 21st Berlin International Film Festival....
(1967-74), with whom she has a son, Christopher. Her prematurely born daughter, Victoria, died shortly after birth. She has been married to theatre impresario Sir Eddie Kulukundis
Eddie Kulukundis
Sir Eddie Kulukundis OBE is a member of a Greek shipping family whose professional career has spanned shipping and the theatre....
since 1981. She became a grandmother in September 2006 with the birth of Christopher's son, Raphael. Hampshire is a patron of Population Matters, (formerly known as the Optimum Population Trust).
Filmography
- The Woman in the HallThe Woman in the HallThe Woman in the Hall is a 1947 British drama film, directed by Jack Lee, with a screenplay by Jack Lee, Ian Dalrymple and Gladys Bronwyn Stern, from Stern's novel. It was released in 1947...
(1947) - Expresso BongoExpresso BongoExpresso Bongo, a 1958 West End musical and a 1959 film, was a satire of the music industry. It was first produced on the stage at the Saville Theatre, London on 23 April 1958. Its book was written by Wolf Mankowitz and Julian More, with music by David Heneker and Monty Norman, also the...
(1958) - Idol on Parade (1959)
- Upstairs and DownstairsUpstairs and DownstairsUpstairs and Downstairs is a 1959 British comedy drama film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Michael Craig, Anne Heywood, Mylène Demongeot, Claudia Cardinale, James Robertson Justice, Joan Sims, Joan Hickson and Sid James...
(1959) - During One NightDuring One NightDuring One Night is a 1961 British drama film directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Don Borisenko and Susan Hampshire....
(1960) - The Long ShadowThe Long ShadowThe Long Shadow is a 1961 British drama film directed by Peter Maxwell and starring John Crawford, Susan Hampshire and Willoughby Goddard. During the Cold War, the Russians and Americans both try and gain control of a boy who can be manipulated for political purposes.-Cast:* John Crawford - Kelly*...
(1961) - Night Must FallNight Must Fall (1964 film)Night Must Fall is a remake of the 1937 film of the same name, which was in turn based on the 1935 play by Emlyn Williams. It was directed by Karel Reisz from a script by Clive Exton and starred Albert Finney, Mona Washbourne, and Susan Hampshire, but was not as successful as the original film...
(1964) - The Three Lives of ThomasinaThe Three Lives of ThomasinaThe Three Lives of Thomasina is a 1964 British-American Disney fantasy feature film starring Patrick McGoohan, Susan Hampshire, and child actress Karen Dotrice in a story about a cat and her influence on a family. The screenplay was written by Robert Westerby and Paul Gallico and was based upon...
(1964) - Wonderful Life (US title: Swingers' Paradise 1964)
- Time Tunnel, Rendezvous With Yesterday (1966)
- Paris au mois d'août (1966)
- The Fighting Prince of DonegalThe Fighting Prince of DonegalThe Fighting Prince of Donegal is a 1966 Disney adventure film starring Peter McEnery and Susan Hampshire, based on the novel Red Hugh: Prince of Donegal by Robert T. Reilly. It was released through Buena Vista Distribution Company.-Plot:...
(1966) - The Trygon FactorThe Trygon FactorThe Trygon Factor is a 1966 British-German comedy crime film directed by Cyril Frankel and starring Stewart Granger, Susan Hampshire and Robert Morley. Its German title was Das Geheimnis Der Weissen Nonne. It is based on the Edgar Wallace novel Kate Plus Ten.-Cast:* Stewart Granger - Supt...
(1966) - The Violent Enemy (1967)
- Vanity FairVanity Fair (1967 TV serial)Vanity Fair is a BBC television drama serial adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray's novel of the same name broadcast in 1967. It starred Susan Hampshire as Becky Sharp, for which she received an Emmy Award in 1973...
(1967) - Monte Carlo or Bust! (1969)
- A Time for LovingA Time for LovingA Time for Loving is a 1971 British comedy-drama film directed by Christopher Miles and starring Britt Ekland, Joanna Shimkus and Mel Ferrer. The film depicts several stories surrounding an apartment in Paris, and the various people who occupy it over the years...
(1971) - MalpertuisMalpertuis (film)Malpertuis is a 1971 Belgian fantasy-horror directed by Harry Kümel, based on the novel of the same name...
(1971) - Living Free (1972)
- Neither the Sea Nor the Sand (1972)
- Le fils (1973)
- No encontré rosas para mi madre (1973)
- Bang!Bang! (1977 film)Bang! is a 1977 Swedish drama film directed by Jan Troell. It was entered into the 1977 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Susan Hampshire - Cilla Brown* Alf Hellberg - Older Colleague* Kristina Kamnert-Suneson - Cleaning woman...
(1977) - Eve Buckingham (2001)