# Barbara Leigh-Hunt

Barbara Leigh-Hunt (14 December 1935 – 16 September 2024) was an English actress. Her numerous theatre credits included Broadway productions of Hamlet (1958), Sherlock Holmes (1973) and Justice (1974), and she won the 1993 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for the National Theatre production of An Inspector Calls. Her film appearances included Frenzy (1972), Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972), Bequest to the Nation (1973), and Billy Elliot (2000).

## Career

On stage, Leigh-Hunt appeared in many productions as well those with the Bristol Old Vic, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre. Her early film roles included Catherine Parr in Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972), Bequest to the Nation (1973) and Oh Heavenly Dog (1980). Her most famous movie role was probably in Alfred Hitchcock's penultimate film Frenzy (1972), as a woman raped and strangled by a serial killer, that included the first graphically violent scene featuring visible nudity of Hitchcock's career.
In 1983 Leigh-Hunt appeared as the Queen of Bavaria in the mini-series Wagner, sharing her scenes with Ralph Richardson, Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud as court ministers. Richard Burton played the composer Richard Wagner. Her husband, Richard Pasco, whom she married in 1967, appeared also.
Leigh-Hunt played Jean Lawrence in the controversial BBC drama Tumbledown (1988), and Lady Catherine de Bourgh in Pride and Prejudice (1995), and provided the voices of the farmer's wife in The Plague Dogs (1982), and Captain Mildred and Mary the Hover Fairy in the 1987 Children's BBC series Charlie Chalk. In 1999, Leigh-Hunt starred as Lady Cumnor in BBC's four-part series adaptation of the novel Wives and Daughters (1999). More recently she appeared in such films as Paper Mask (1990), Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1997), Billy Elliot (2000), The Martins (2001) and Vanity Fair (2004), and had much work on television, mainly in guest character parts.

## Personal life and death

Leigh-Hunt's cousin was the actor Ronald Leigh-Hunt.
Leigh-Hunt was married to Richard Pasco from 1967 until his death in 2014. She died in Aston Cantlow, Warwickshire, on 16 September 2024, aged 88.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1969 | Callan | Susanne | Season 2, episode: "Death of a Hunter" |
| 1972 | Frenzy | Brenda Blaney | |
| 1972 | Henry VIII and His Six Wives | Catherine Parr | |
| 1973 | Bequest to the Nation | Catherine 'Catty' Matcham | |
| 1980 | Oh Heavenly Dog | Margaret | |
| 1982 | The Plague Dogs | Farmer's Wife | Voice only |
| 1986 | Charlie Chalk (1987) | Captain Mildred, Mary the Hover Fairy | Voice only; 12 episodes |
| 1986 | Screenplay | Mrs Oxney | |
| 1988 | Tumbledown | Jean Lawrence | Television film |
| 1990 | Paper Mask | Celia Mumford | |
| 1990 | The Ruth Rendell Mysteries | Mrs Fanshawe | Episodes: "The Best Man to Die Parts 1,2,3" |
| 1990 | Inspector Morse | Blanche Copley-Barnes | Episode: "The Infernal Serpent" |
| 1993 | Anna Lee: Headcase | Beryl | Television film |
| 1995 | Pride and Prejudice | Lady Catherine de Bourgh | |
| As Time Goes By | Registrar | Episode: "Wedding Day Nerves" |
| 1997 | Keep the Aspidistra Flying | Mrs. Wisbeach | |
| 1998 | The Echo | Mrs Deacon | Series 1 episode 2 |
| 1999 | Wives and Daughters | Lady Cumnor | 3 episodes |
| 1999 | Sunburn | Edna Hand | Series 1 episode 1 |
| 1999-2001 | Kavanagh QC | Lady Justice Pinnock | 2 episodes |
| 2000 | Billy Elliot | Vice-Principal | |
| 2000 | Longitude | Dodo Gould | Television film |
| 2001 | The Martins | Mrs. Heath | |
| 2002 | Midsomer Murders | Marjorie Empson | |
| 2002 | George Eliot: A Scandalous Life | Gossip | Television film |
| 2002 | Bertie and Elizabeth | Lady Mabel Airlie | |
| 2004 | Vanity Fair | Lady Bareacres | |