# Hildegarde Neil

Hildegard Hope Zimmermann (20 May 1939 – 19 September 2023), also credited as Hildegard Neil, was an English actress.

## Career

Born in South Africa, she came to England in 1961 and went to RADA for two years. Neil first appeared on television in a BBC schools' television production of Julius Caesar in 1963 and after that appeared mostly as a guest artiste in a variety of television series over the next 40 years. She has also appeared in several films and on stage, both in the West End and touring.

## Personal life

Neil was married to actor Brian Blessed and had a daughter with him, Rosalind, who is also an actress and represented by the same agent as her mother. On 23 May 2009, Neil appeared with her husband on the ITV entertainment show, All Star Mr & Mrs, on which it was established that she was a keen Liverpool F.C. supporter.
Hildegarde Neil died of cancer on 19 September 2023, at the age of 84.

## Stage appearances

* Neil spent a season at the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1969-70, playing a variety of roles.
* Neil played Lady Macbeth in Ewan Hooper's production of Macbeth at the Greenwich Theatre, which opened on 18 February 1971.
* Neil directed Roan School for Girls' production of Much Ado about Nothing in 1971 and As You Like It in 1972.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1970 | The Man Who Haunted Himself | Eve Pelham | |
| 1972 | Antony and Cleopatra | Cleopatra | |
| 1973 | A Touch of Class | Gloria Blackburn | |
| 1973 | England Made Me | Kate Farrant | |
| 1978 | The Legacy | Barbara Kirstenburg | |
| 1980 | The Mirror Crack'd | Lady Foxcroft | "Murder at Midnight" |
| 1994 | Seaview Knights | The Psychiatrist | |
| 1996 | The Bruce | Queen Eleanor | |
| 1997 | Macbeth | 1st Witch | |
| 1999 | King Lear | The Fool | |
| 2005 | Upstaged | Aunt Mary | |
| 2009 | Mr. Bojagi | The Woman | Short |
| 2016 | Leni. Leni. | Leni Riefenstahl | Short |
| 20?? | Previous Vengeance | Beatka | Announced |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1963 | Julius Caesar | Calpurnia | TV miniseries |
| 1964 | No Hiding Place | Ann | "Aftertaste" |
| 1968 | Dixon of Dock Green | Jean Holden | "The Prospective Candidate" |
| 1968 | Resurrection | Mariette | TV miniseries |
| 1969 | Imperial Palace | Gracie Savott | "Arrivals", "Departures" |
| 1969 | The Mind of Mr. J.G. Reeder | Marylou Plessy | "The Green Mamba" |
| 1969 | The Expert | Dorothy Hamilton | "A Family Affair" |
| 1969 | W. Somerset Maugham | Lady Kastellan | "A Casual Affair" |
| 1969 | ITV Playhouse | Marion | "Double Agent" |
| 1970 | Mystery and Imagination | The Woman in Black | "The Suicide Club" |
| 1970 | Doomwatch | Dr. Stella Robson | "Project Sahara" |
| 1970 | Codename | Zeta Baker | "Come Home to Paradise" |
| 1970 | Ace of Wands | Madame Midnight | "One and One and One Are Four: Parts 2 & 3" |
| 1970 | The Adventures of Don Quick | Mrs. Arborel | "The Higher the Fewer" |
| 1970 | The Main Chance | Ursula Findon | "Settlement Day" |
| 1970 | Happily Ever After | Mary Wilshaw | "Don't Walk Away" |
| 1970 | Put Out More Flags | Angela Lyne | TV film |
| 1970 | Man at the Top | Liz Gilbert | "It's All Perfectly True" |
| 1971 | Jason King | Lyra Delon | "Flamingos Only Fly on Tuesdays" |
| 1972 | Six Faces | Helen Barlow | "Commonwealth of Malignants", "Around the Child" |
| 1973 | Play for Today | Diana | "Access to the Children" |
| 1973 | The Protectors | Irena Gayevska | "The Last Frontier" |
| 1974 | Orson Welles Great Mysteries | The Lady | "Compliments of the Season" |
| 1974 | Boy Dominic | Emma Bulman | TV series |
| 1974 | The Early Life of Stephen Hind | Colette Hyde | TV miniseries |
| 1975 | Whodunnit? | Audrey Baxter | "Final Drive" |
| 1976 | Couples | Diana Lawson | "1.52", "1.53", "1.54" |
| 1977 | Crown Court | Virginia Matheson | "Such a Charming Man: Part 1" |
| 1977 | Space: 1999 | Elizia | "Devil's Planet" |
| 1977 | Van der Valk | Else Rokin | "Accidental" |
| 1978 | The Professionals | Sara | "Close Quarters" |
| 1979 | ITV Playhouse | Philippa | "Saint Vitus' Dance" |
| 1981 | A Spy at Evening | Virginia | TV miniseries |
| 1981 | Diamonds | Margaret Coleman | Main role |
| 1984 | A Talent for Murder | Sheila McClain | TV film |
| 2007 | Hotel Babylon | Marchioness of Telford | "2.3" |
| 2007 | Doctors | Nellie Shamus | "Flights of Fantasy" |
| 2009 | Doctors | Shelia Bardock | "Vera Pym" |
| 2010 | Above Suspicion | Florence Pennel | "The Red Dahlia: Part 1" |
| 2012 | Doctors | Rosie Bryer | "The Well Spoken Man" |