Veronica Hurst

She was born Patricia Wilmshurst on the island of Malta and grew up in London. A honey blonde, green-eyed beauty, she won a scholarship to RADA at 17. Graduating two years later, she debuted in Mario Zampi's comedy Laughter in Paradise (1951), alongside fellow screen newcomer Audrey Hepburn. Zampi saw her as a significant potential talent and this undoubtedly led to Veronica being signed to a seven year contract by Associated British Pictures at Elstree Studios at the (then princely) salary of £2500 a year. Her first notable movie credit was playing second fiddle to Dulcie Gray in the stiff-upper-lip war picture Angels One Five (1952), starring Jack Hawkins and John Gregson as fighter pilots during the Battle of Britain. She was then flown to Hollywood to star opposite Richard Carlson in The Maze (1953), a 3-D gothic horror thriller set in a Scottish castle. Directed and designed by the renowned William Cameron Menzies, it opened to mixed reviews but has since gained a cult following. Veronica made a second appearance for Allied Artists in the wartime adventure yarn The Royal African Rifles (1953), co-starring Louis Hayward.

Her leading lady status now confirmed, Veronica returned to Britain to provide svelte elegance and glamour for several lightweight B-grade comedies (Will Any Gentleman...? (1953), Don't Blame the Stork (1954)), and -- often as flirtatious girls -- in florid crime dramas (The Girl on the Pier (1953), Game of Danger (1954), The Gilded Cage (1955), Dead Man's Evidence (1962)). She had segued into television by the middle of the decade, guest-starring in popular serials like Man in a Suitcase (1967), The Baron (1966) and The Persuaders! (1971). Though perhaps unable to live up to the early hype accorded her, Veronica nonetheless managed to carve out a solid acting career which ended with her retirement in 1975.

In private life, she was said to have enjoyed writing poetry, watercolour painting, gardening and collecting antique furniture. She was initially married to the actor William Sylvester whom she first met on the Elstree studio set during the filming of The Yellow Balloon (1953). This union ended in divorce. Her second husband was the television producer and director Ian Fordyce who predeceased her in 1988.