SUZANNA LEIGH

(26 July 1945 - 11 December 2017)

The British-born actress Suzanna Leigh, who has died in Florida aged 72 from liver cancer, began her career as a child performer. Born Sandra Eileen Anne Smith, she changed her name on the advice of her godmother Vivien Leigh. Her first film appearance was in The Silken Affair (1956) an uncredited role with David Niven. She was also uncredited in Man from Tangier, in tom thumb (in the Dancing Shoes sequence), and in Oscar Wilde with Robert Morley. Bomb in the High Street, The Pleasure Girls and Boeing, Boeing (in Hollywood) came between appearances in TV’s It Happened Like This, The Sentimental Agent and The Saint. Her one big break was Paradise, Hawaiian Style with Elvis Presley, whom she much admired, especially in their kissing scenes together. She was due to appear with Elvis in Easy Come, Easy Go, but Colonel Tom Parker vetoed her. She also missed being in the film of Barefoot in the Park. After that it was such shockers as The Deadly Bees, Deadlier Than the Male, The Lost Continent, Subterfuge, Docteur Caraïbes (both the film and TV series), Lust for a Vampire, The Fiend, Son of Dracula and further television series. After retiring in 1978, Leigh came back with Grace of the Father (2015), her last appearance. She had a partner, Tim Hue-Williams, until 1982, and a daughter, Natalia Leigh Denny. She published her autobiography in 2000.

MICHAEL DARVELL