
Valerie Hobson
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Female
Birthday
1917-04-14
Day of Death
1998-11-13 (81 years old)
Place of Birth
Larne, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
Valerie Hobson
Biography
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.
Known For
Acting
(1954)
Monsieur Ripois
as Catherine Ripois
(1953)
Background
as Barbie Lomax
(1952)
The Card
as Countess of Chell
(1952)
The Voice of Merrill
as Alycia Roche
(1952)
Who Goes There!
as Alex Cornwall
(1952)
Meet Me Tonight
as Stella Cartwright
(1949)
The Interrupted Journey
as Carol North
(1949)
Train of Events
as Stella
(1949)
Kind Hearts and Coronets
as Edith D'Ascoyne
(1949)
The Rocking Horse Winner
as Hester Grahame
(1948)
The Small Voice
as Eleanor Byrne
(1948)
Blanche Fury
as Blanche Fury
(1946)
The Years Between
as Diana Wentworth
(1946)
Great Expectations
as Estella
(1943)
The Adventures of Tartu
as Maruschuka Lanova
(1942)
Unpublished Story
as Carol Bennett
(1941)
Atlantic Ferry
as Mary Ann Morison
(1940)
Contraband
as Mrs. Sorensen
(1939)
Q Planes
as Kay Lawrence
(1939)
The Silent Battle
as Draguisha
(1939)
This Man in Paris
as Pat Drake
(1939)
The Spy in Black
as The School Mistress
(1938)
This Man Is News
as Pat Drake
(1938)
The Drum
as Mrs. Carruthers
(1937)
When Thief Meets Thief
as Glory Fane
(1936)
No Exit
as Laura Anstey
(1936)
August Week End
as Claire Barry
(1936)
The Secret of Stamboul
as Tania
(1936)
Tugboat Princess
as Sally
(1935)
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
as Helena Landless
(1935)
Life Returns
as Mrs. Kendrick
(1935)
The Great Impersonation
as Eleanor Dominey
(1935)
Bride of Frankenstein
as Elizabeth
(1935)
Chinatown Squad
as Janet Baker
(1935)
Rendezvous at Midnight
as Sandra Rogers
(1935)
Werewolf of London
as Lisa Glendon
(1934)
Strange Wives
as Mauna
(1934)
The Path of Glory
as Maria
(1934)
Badger’s Green
as Molly Butler
(1932)
His Lordship
as Last Face in Montage (uncredited)