Victoria Hopper (24 May 1909 – 22 January 2007) was a Canadian-born British stage and film actress and singer.[1]

Victoria Hopper
Publicity still
Born(1909-05-24)24 May 1909
Died22 January 2007(2007-01-22) (aged 97)
NationalityBritish
OccupationActress
Known forLorna Doone

Biography

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Victoria Evelyn Hopper was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and brought up in North East England.[2] She studied acting and singing at the Webber-Douglas School of Singing, and was talent spotted in a school production and cast in the title role in a West End play, Martine in 1933.[3] She was at the peak of her popularity during the 1930s.[3] She was married from August 1934 until 1939 to Basil Dean, a British stage and film writer, director and producer.[3] Dean reportedly grew interested in Hooper due to her resemblance to his former lover, actress Meggie Albanesi (died 1923).[4]

Dean promoted Hopper's career and cast her as the leading lady in several major films for Associated Talking Pictures in the mid-1930s. However, the films did badly at the box office and her career waned.[2] Two films she was scheduled to appear in, Grace Darling and Come Live with Me, never materialised.[5]

Filmography

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Theatre roles

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  • Three Sisters (1934) as Mary (Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London) (from 30 April)
  • Cornelius (1935) as Judy Evison (Duchess Theatre, Aldwych, London) (from 8 April)
  • The Melody That Got Lost (1936) as Edith (Embassy Theatre, Swiss Cottage, London) (26 December)
  • Autumn (1937) as Monica Brooke (St. Martin's Theatre, London)
  • Autumn (1938) as Monica Brooke (Touring production, Leeds - 19 May for one week)
  • Drawing Room (1938) as Sylvia (Touring production) (Theatre Royal, Brighton, 19 June for one week)
  • Johnson Over Jordan (1939) as Freda Johnson (Saville Theatre, London)
  • The Dominant Sex (1941) as Angela Shale (Touring production?) (Theatre Royal, Hanley, from 2 March)
  • The Shop on Sly Corner (1945) as Margaret Heiss (St. Martin's Theatre, London)
  • Vanity Fair (1946) as Amelia Sedley (Comedy Theatre, London) (29 October 1946 - 21 December 1946)
  • Once Upon a Crime (1948) (Theatre Royal Birmingham) (Commenced Monday, 21 June)
  • Serious Charge (1955) as Hester Byfield (Garrick Theatre, London) (From 17 February)

Bibliography

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  • Sweet, Matthew. Shepperton Babylon: The Lost Worlds of British Cinema, Faber and Faber (16 February 2006); ISBN 0571212980/ISBN 978-0571212989

References

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  1. ^ "Victoria Hopper". Archived from the original on 25 November 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Victoria Hopper - Obituaries - The Stage". 26 April 2007.
  3. ^ a b c "Victoria Hopper". Independent.co.uk. 3 February 2007.
  4. ^ "Victoria Hopper". 5 March 2007 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  5. ^ Sweet, p. 142

Sources

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