Acclaimed actress Billie Whitelaw, famous for her roles in films including The Omen, has died at the age of 82.
During her career, she won a British Academy Award for best newcomer for her role in Hell is a City. There were also Baftas for her performance opposite Albert Finney in Charlie Bubbles and for her role as the mother of Hayley Mills in the psychological thriller, Twisted Nerve in 1969.
Whitelaw won much acclaim, and an international audience, for her portrayal of Mrs Baylock, the guardian of the demon child Damien in The Omen. Many critics felt she gave the best performance in the film and it won her an Evening Standard Award for Best Actress.
She also won praise for her role as the domineering mother of the Kray twins in the 1990 film, The Krays and more recently appeared in comedy Hot Fuzz.
The Coventry-born star, who was made a CBE in 1991, worked in close collaboration with playwright Samuel Beckett, who described her as a perfect actress. But in her autobiography, Billie Whitelaw . . . Who He? she said it was her work with Beckett that generated most interest. Without their association, she wrote, “nobody would have been remotely interested in my autobiography.”
By this time she had given up theatre performances, partly because of Beckett’s death and also because of her failure to conquer her stage fright. “Death’s not one of those things that frighten the life out of me,” she once said. “Getting up on stage with the curtain going up frightens me more.”
She did continue to act in films, she appeared in more than 50 during her career, and on television. Billie Whitelaw was the most natural of performers, who made a speciality of playing independent, and sometimes dominant women.
But she didn’t take her profession that seriously seeing it, as she put it, something which paid the parking tickets, which she habitually collected. “I’m not really interested in acting anymore,” she said in a 1996 interview. “It’s not the centre of my life. I always thought it was a bit of a flibbertigibbety occupation.”
December 22, 2014 | Categories: Deaths | Tags: Action, Actors, Albert Finney, Billie Whitelaw, Blockbuster, British, Classic, Controversial, Cult, Damien Thorn, Disturbing, Franchise, Gore, Gregory Peck, Hayley Mills, Hollywood, Horror, Icons, Images, Independent, Legend, Mrs Baylock, Possession, psychological thriller, Remakes, Samuel Beckett, Suspense, The Krays, The Omen, Thriller, Violence | Leave a comment
Get ready for a new genre label in Vicarious Entertainment. A project by 1821 Media’s Paris Kasidokostas-Latsis and Terry Dougas, who wrapped the Natalie Portman-starrer Jane Got A Gun and are currently developing The Odyssey. The new label will develop, produce and finance four to six thriller and horror feature films. They’ve already got four in post-production.
Vicarious teamed with Insidious producer and Paranormal Activity exec producer Steven Schneider for the Adam Levins-directed dark psychological thriller Estranged, currently in post-production. The heroine has a near-fatal accident that leaves her in a wheelchair unable to remember much. When she returns home six years later, she tries to reacquaint with her family, but she can’t remember who she was or why she left home in the first place. She soon discovers that the family is not what they seem, as shocking and deadly secrets emerge.
For horror fans, controversially, Vicarious has teamed with Campbell Grobman Films to develop Day of the Dead, a remake of George Romero’s zombie extravaganza that is set at Millenium Films. “Our goal is for Vicarious to be a premiere destination that excites creators from all over the world,” said Dougas. “We are giving them creative freedom and allowing them to showcase their strong vision and voice. There are great filmmakers out there and appetite for the genre so it’s a great time for us to be launching.”
Good luck to them… although we’ve seen Romero remakes before and they’ve not been worth the effort.
November 9, 2013 | Categories: NEWS: Horror | Tags: Adam Levins, Campbell Grobman, Controversial, Cult, Disturbing, Franchise, George A. Romero, Gore, Horror, Icons, Independent, Insidious, Jane Got A Gun, Paranormal Activity, Paris Kasidokostas-Latsis, Post Apocalyptic, psychological thriller, Remakes, Sci-Fi, Steven Schneider, Suspense, Terry Dougas, The Odyssey, The Walking Dead, Thriller, Vicarious Entertainment, Violence, Zombies | 1 Comment
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