Valerie Hobson

Known for ActingBorn 1917-04-14Died 1998-11-13Larne, County Antrim, Northern Ireland

Valerie Hobson (14 April 1917 – 13 November 1998) 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). 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 (1915–2006) in 1954, giving up acting shortly afterwards Valerie Hobson's last starring role was in the original London production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical play The King and I which opened at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on October 8, 1953. She played Mrs. Anna Leonowens opposite Herbert Lom's King. 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. Hobson's eldest son, Simon Anthony Clerveaux Havelock-Allan was born in May 1944 with Down's Syndrome. Her middle child, Mark Havelock-Allan, was born on 4 April 1951. Her youngest child is author David Profumo, (b. 16 October 1955) wrote Bringing the House Down (2006) about the scandal. She died of a heart attack in London in 1998 and is buried in Surrey, England. Description above from the Wikipedia Valerie Hobson, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.Read more

Movies & web series

This Man in Paris

Rendezvous at Midnight

The Path of Glory

The Silent Battle

Badger’s Green

His Lordship

Tugboat Princess

Two Hearts in Waltz Time

Kind Hearts and Coronets

The Secret of Stamboul

Bride of Frankenstein

Chinatown Squad

The Great Impersonation

Great Expectations

Meet Me Tonight

Background

Contraband

The Card

No Exit

Strange Wives

The Years Between

Atlantic Ferry

The Rocking Horse Winner

Unpublished Story

The Small Voice

The Voice of Merrill

The Spy in Black

Train of Events

Blanche Fury

The Adventures of Tartu

Who Goes There!

Monsieur Ripois

Werewolf of London

The Drum

Q Planes

August Week End

The Interrupted Journey

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Jump for Glory

This Man Is News

Life Returns

Television Demonstration Film