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Valerie Hobson

Valerie Hobson was a British actress, who appeared in a number of British films during the 1940s and 1950s. She was born Babette Valerie Louise Hobson in Larne, County Antrim, Ireland.

She appeared as Baroness Frankenstein in Bride of Frankenstein (1935) with Boris Karloff and Colin Clive, taking over the role from Mae Clarke, who had played it in the original Frankenstein (1931). (This role should not be confused with that of the Monster's Mate, played by Elsa Lanchester.) Hobson also played opposite Henry Hull that same year in Werewolf of London, the first Hollywood werewolf movie, predating The Wolf Man by six years.

The latter half of the 1940s saw Hobson in perhaps her two most memorable roles: as the adult Estella in David Lean's 1946 adaptation of Great Expectations, and as the refined and virtuous Edith D'Ascoyne in the 1949 black comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets.

In 1952 she divorced her first husband, film producer Sir Anthony Havelock-Allan (1904-2003), and married MP John Profumo, giving up acting shortly afterwards. After Profumo's ministerial career ended in disgrace in 1963, following revelations he had lied to the House of Commons about his affair with Christine Keeler, she stood by him, and they worked together for charity for the remainder of her life.

She died of a heart attack in London in 1998 and is buried in Surrey, England.


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Valerie Hobson Facts

OccupationActress
BirthdayApril 14, 1917
SignAries
BirthplaceLarne, County Antrim, Ireland
Date of deathNovember 13, 1998 (Westminster, London, England, United Kingdom, age 81)

Selected Filmography

The Bride of Frankenstein
Great Expectations
Kind Hearts and Coronets
Werewolf of London / She-Wolf of London
The Rocking Horse Winner
Contraband
Great Adaptations
Unpublished Story
August Weekend
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