The Women of Hammer Films – Part 3

In the third installment of The Women Of Hammer Films (Parts One and Two), we explore the lives and careers of three more ladies who were immortalized in Hammer’s series of films. The woman in question are Kate O’Mara, Ingrid Pitt, Madeline Smith, all of whom appeared in the Hammer movie The Vampire Lovers.

Ingrid Pitt

Ingoushka Petrov was born in Warsaw, Poland on November 21, 1937. Because her family was Jewish, both she and her parents were imprisoned in the Stutthof concentration camp in Sztutowo, Poland. At the end of World War II, she was freed from imprisonment. Eventually she was taken to East Berlin by the Red Cross. While living there, she would join the prestigious theatre company the Berliner Ensemble.

In 1962, Pitt swam across the River Spree, which separated East and West Berlin. Laud Roland Pitt, an American soldier helped her out of the river. She married him soon after, adopting his surname. The couple moved to America and had a daughter. However, the marriage didn’t last.

In 1964, Pitt and her daughter moved to Spain where she would appear in some fairly low budget movies. The following year however, she was cast in the classic film Doctor Zhivago (1965).

A few years later, Pitt landed a major role in the classic Richard Burton/Clint Eastwood World War II action thriller Where Eagles Dare (1968). When Pitt learned that Burton and Eastwood had made a friendly wager as to which one of them could sleep with her first she asked them:

“Who won?”

The following year, Pitt met Hammer founder James Carreras at a party. They hit it off and the next day she got the script for The Vampire Hunters (1970). Pitt requested and was granted the lead role in the movie. She followed this movie with another Hammer production, Countess Dracula (1971). Her post-Hammer acting career included The Wicker Man (1973) as well as a guest stint on Doctor Who.

Eventually, her acting career came to a close and she pursued a career as a writer. Pitt wrote extensively for newspapers, as well as authoring children’s books and even penning her autobiography, Life’s A Scream, released in 1999.

Pitt fell into ill health shortly after her autobiography was published. She passed away on November 23, 2010 from congestive heart failure at the age of 73. Seven months before Pitt passed away, she finished narration for Ingrid Pitt: Beyond the Forest (2011). This was an animated short film on her experiences during the Holocaust.

Kate O’Mara

Kate O’Mara was born Francesca Meredith Carroll on August 10, 1939, in Leicester, England. After attending boarding school she took up acting and appeared in Home and Away (1956). This was her big-screen debut, appearing under the name Merrie Carroll.

In the 1960’s O’Mara primarily worked in television. This included guest spots on popular series including The Avengers, Danger Man, and The Saint. In 1968 she appeared in Great Catherine, a comedy based on the George Bernard Shaw play, which also featured with Peter O’Toole.

“I LOOKED RATHER EXTRAORDINARY THEN. ALMOST FOREIGN AND DIRECTORS THOUGHT FOREIGN… MEANT SEXY.”

– KATE O’MARA

In 1969, O’Mara was cast in the Hammer film The Vampire Lovers (1970). Before filming began, O’Mara was offered a six picture deal with the company. She turned down the offer over fears of being typecast. O’Mara did however agree to appear in another movie for the company, The Horror of Frankenstein (1970). This film gave her second billing and featured Hammer icon Veronica Carlson. Filming commenced a mere two weeks after The Vampire Lovers had wrapped.

O’Mara primarily appeared on television in the 1970s and 80s. She guested on shows including Doctor Who, The Brothers, and the American soap opera Dynasty, where she played the sister of Joan Collins’ Alexis Colby. In the 1990s and 2000s, she continued to work in both theatre and TV. This included a pair of episodes on the comedy series Absolutely Fabulous. On March 30, 2014, O’Mara passed away from ovarian cancer. She was 74 years old.

Madeline Smith

Madeline Smith was born in Sussex, England on August 2, 1949, to an English father and a Swiss mother. In late 1967, she moved to London and started to work at the trendy Biba boutique in Kensington. While working there, she was encouraged by the owner of the company, Barbara Hulanicki to become a model. Smith recalled:

“AT 18 YOU THINK YOU OWN THE WORLD, SO I THEN KNOCKED ON THE DOOR OF THE LUCIE CLAYTON MODELING AGENCY AND THEY TOOK ME ON FOR 18 MONTHS.”

In 1969, Smith began to pursue a career as an actress, and was cast in the Hammer movie Taste The Blood Of Dracula (1970), starring Christopher Lee. She followed that up with The Devil’s Widow (1970), with Ava Gardner, as well as the comedies Up Pompeii (1971) and Up The Front (1972). Smith also had an iconic turn as Emma Morton in The Vampire Lovers (1970).

Smith met Sir Roger Moore while working on the TV series The Persuaders (1970), which starred Moore and Tony Curtis. When Moore was cast as iconic superspy James Bond, the actor recommended Smith for the part of Miss Caruso, an Italian agent. The film was Live and Let Die, released in 1973.  Smith later recalled:

“ROGER WAS AN ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTFUL GENTLEMAN — THERE WAS NO EGO AT PLAY THERE, HE WAS ALWAYS INTERESTED IN EVERY ASPECT OF A FILM SET, ALWAYS TALKING TO THE LIGHTING GUYS, THE SOUND TECHNICIANS. BUT, IN FACT, HE WAS ACTUALLY SHY AND QUITE INSECURE ABOUT HIS ACTING.”

Throughout the rest of the 1970s, Smith would appear in various projects, including the movies Frankenstein And The Monster from Hell (1974) and Theatre Of Blood (1973), as well as the TV series Steptoe And Son. Smith later recalled:

“I’M SO BLESSED TO HAVE APPEARED IN THESE FILMS – AND WHEN I MEET PEOPLE WHO HOLD THEM IN SUCH ESTEEM IT’S AN AMAZING FEELING. THEY’RE HELD UP AS CLASSICS NOW AND THAT’S INCREDIBLY SATISFYING.” 

Smith married actor David Buck and had a daughter with him in 1984. After this, she retired from acting to raise her child. Her husband died of cancer five years later. Smith would return to acting in 2011, appearing in the British shows Bargain Hunt and Celebrity Mastermind.

“I FOUND MYSELF TYPECAST. I WAS A COUPLE OF BREASTS WITH A FACE ABOVE THEM AND A SQUEAKY VOICE.”

– MADELINE SMITH

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