Jane Hylton
Encyclopedia
Jane Hylton was an English actress who accumulated 30 film credits, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, before moving into television work in the latter half of her career in the 1960s and 1970s.
's Company of Youth (more commonly referred to as the Rank Charm School), which took promising young actors and groomed them for a career in film. The programme turned out some genuine stars such as Dirk Bogarde
and Diana Dors
, but most alumni went on to more modest film careers, regularly employed in British films but rarely if ever receiving star-billing. Female graduates of the programme were often referred to somewhat disparagingly as "Rank Starlets", with the implication that their purpose was merely to appear on screen and look glamorous; however Hylton did go on to feature in a number of substantial acting roles with prominent billing.
Hylton's first screen appearance came in a 1946 programmer A Girl in a Million. She quickly moved on to minor roles in films produced by Gainsborough Studios (Jassy
, When the Bough Breaks
) and Ealing Studios
(Holiday Camp
, It Always Rains on Sunday
), then in 1948 landed her largest role to date, as an escaped convict's mistress in Gainsborough's My Brother's Keeper
. She was cast as one of the daughters in Ealing's very successful comedy Here Come the Huggetts
, then in 1949 as Molly Reed in the Ealing Comedy classic Passport to Pimlico
.
In the early 1950s Hylton was cast in major roles in several films with a predominantly female cast and targeted at female audiences; Dance Hall
(1950), It Started in Paradise
(1952 – set in the world of haute couture
) and 1954 women's prison drama The Weak and the Wicked
. The quality of film roles offered to her then began to fall and she found herself for the rest of the decade toiling mainly in quickly-shot B-movies, an exception being a prominent role in the well-regarded 1960 horror film Circus of Horrors
.
Hylton's first television appearance was in the starring role of Queen Guinevere in the 1956 series The Adventures of Sir Lancelot
and from the early 1960s she spent her career entirely in television, where she featured in a number of one-off productions for BBC and ITV drama strands as well as appearing in series such as Dixon of Dock Green
, Journey to the Unknown
, The Troubleshooters and Take Three Girls
. Her most identifiable TV role was Beryl Fisher, the mother of the hapless Betty Spencer (Michele Dotrice
) in the BBC comedy series Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
.
ended in divorce, although the couple remained on good terms. The marriage produced a daughter, Rosalind Lloyd
, who also became an actress; Hylton and her daughter both appeared in Lloyd's big budget 1978 mercenary
drama The Wild Geese
, which was Hylton's first screen role for 17 years and turned out to be the last of her career.
Hylton's second marriage to actor Peter Dyneley
, who she met on the set of The Manster
, lasted until Dyneley's death from cancer in 1977. Hylton, who had been diagnosed with a congenital heart defect in her late 30s, died of a heart attack
in Glasgow on 28 February 1979, aged 51.
Career
Talent-spotted in her teens, Hylton was a product of the Rank OrganisationRank Organisation
The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment company formed during 1937 and absorbed in 1996 by The Rank Group Plc. It was the largest and most vertically-integrated film company in Britain, owning production, distribution and exhibition facilities....
's Company of Youth (more commonly referred to as the Rank Charm School), which took promising young actors and groomed them for a career in film. The programme turned out some genuine stars such as Dirk Bogarde
Dirk Bogarde
Sir Dirk Bogarde was an English actor and novelist. Initially a matinee idol in such films as Doctor in the House and other Rank Organisation pictures, Bogarde later acted in art-house films such as Death in Venice...
and Diana Dors
Diana Dors
Diana Dors was an English actress, born Diana Mary Fluck in Swindon, Wiltshire. Considered the English equivalent of the blonde bombshells of Hollywood, Dors described herself as: "The only sex symbol Britain has produced since Lady Godiva."-Early life:Diana Mary Fluck was born in Swindon,...
, but most alumni went on to more modest film careers, regularly employed in British films but rarely if ever receiving star-billing. Female graduates of the programme were often referred to somewhat disparagingly as "Rank Starlets", with the implication that their purpose was merely to appear on screen and look glamorous; however Hylton did go on to feature in a number of substantial acting roles with prominent billing.
Hylton's first screen appearance came in a 1946 programmer A Girl in a Million. She quickly moved on to minor roles in films produced by Gainsborough Studios (Jassy
Jassy (film)
Jassy was a 1947 British film melodrama, based on a novel by Norah Lofts. It was a Gainsborough melodrama, the only one to be made in technicolour.-Plot:...
, When the Bough Breaks
When the Bough Breaks (1947 film)
When the Bough Breaks is a 1947 film by Gainsborough Pictures, J. Arthur Rank and Sydney Box Productions. It is an adaptation of an original story-line by Herbert Victor on adoption and the competing ties of one child's birth and foster family.-Cast:...
) and Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever since...
(Holiday Camp
Holiday Camp
Holiday Camp is a 1947 British comedy drama film directed by Ken Annakin, starring Jack Warner, Jimmy Hanley, Kathleen Harrison and Dennis Price.-Synopsis:...
, It Always Rains on Sunday
It Always Rains on Sunday
It Always Rains on Sunday is a film adaptation of the novel by Arthur La Bern, adapted and directed by Robert Hamer. In its gritty, unsentimental depiction of everyday life in post-war Britain, and in its exploration of the tedium, frustration and desperation wrought by grinding poverty, the film...
), then in 1948 landed her largest role to date, as an escaped convict's mistress in Gainsborough's My Brother's Keeper
My Brother's Keeper (1948 film)
My Brother's Keeper is a 1948 British crime film in the form of a convicts-on-the-run chase thriller, directed by Alfred Roome for Gainsborough Pictures. It was the first of only two films directed by Roome during a long career as a film editor...
. She was cast as one of the daughters in Ealing's very successful comedy Here Come the Huggetts
Here Come the Huggetts
Here Come the Huggetts is a 1948 British film, the first of the Huggetts Trilogy about a working class English family. All three films were directed by Ken Annakin and released by Gainsborough Pictures....
, then in 1949 as Molly Reed in the Ealing Comedy classic Passport to Pimlico
Passport to Pimlico
Passport to Pimlico is a 1949 British comedy film made by Ealing Studios and starred Stanley Holloway, Margaret Rutherford, and Hermione Baddeley. It was directed by Henry Cornelius....
.
In the early 1950s Hylton was cast in major roles in several films with a predominantly female cast and targeted at female audiences; Dance Hall
Dance Hall (film)
Dance Hall is a 1950 British film directed by Charles Crichton. Appealing mainly to a female audience, the film was an unusual departure for the studio, known at the time primarily for its classic comedies starring Alec Guinness.-Plot:...
(1950), It Started in Paradise
It Started in Paradise
It Started in Paradise is a 1952 British drama film, directed by Compton Bennett and starring Jane Hylton, Martita Hunt and Muriel Pavlow. Set in the world of haute couture, the film was squarely aimed at female audiences...
(1952 – set in the world of haute couture
Haute couture
Haute couture refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses,...
) and 1954 women's prison drama The Weak and the Wicked
The Weak and the Wicked
The Weak and the Wicked is a 1954 British drama film directed by J. Lee Thompson based on the book by his wife, Joan Henry, starring Glynis Johns and Diana Dors....
. The quality of film roles offered to her then began to fall and she found herself for the rest of the decade toiling mainly in quickly-shot B-movies, an exception being a prominent role in the well-regarded 1960 horror film Circus of Horrors
Circus of Horrors
Circus of Horrors is a 1960 British horror film directed by Sidney Hayers. It starred Anton Diffring, Yvonne Monlaur, Erika Remberg, Kenneth Griffith, Jane Hylton, Conrad Phillips, Yvonne Romain and Donald Pleasence....
.
Hylton's first television appearance was in the starring role of Queen Guinevere in the 1956 series The Adventures of Sir Lancelot
The Adventures of Sir Lancelot
The Adventures of Sir Lancelot is a British television series first broadcast in 1956, produced by Sapphire Films for ITC Entertainment and screened on the ITV network...
and from the early 1960s she spent her career entirely in television, where she featured in a number of one-off productions for BBC and ITV drama strands as well as appearing in series such as Dixon of Dock Green
Dixon of Dock Green
Dixon of Dock Green was a popular BBC television series that ran from 1955 to 1976, and later a radio series. Despite being a drama series, it was initially produced by the BBC's light entertainment department.-Overview:...
, Journey to the Unknown
Journey to the Unknown
Journey To The Unknown was a British TV anthology series made in 1968, by Hammer Film Productions Ltd. It has a fantasy, science fiction and supernatural theme. It featured both British and American actors...
, The Troubleshooters and Take Three Girls
Take Three Girls
Take Three Girls is a drama series on BBC1 which ran between 1969 and 1971 about the lives of three girls sharing a flat in 'Swinging' London....
. Her most identifiable TV role was Beryl Fisher, the mother of the hapless Betty Spencer (Michele Dotrice
Michele Dotrice
Michele Dotrice is an English actress best known for her portrayal of Betty, the long-suffering wife of Frank Spencer, played by Michael Crawford, in the BBC sitcom Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em, which ran from 1973 to 1978....
) in the BBC comedy series Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em was a BBC situation comedy, written by Raymond Allen and starring Michael Crawford and Michele Dotrice.The series followed the accident-prone Frank Spencer and his tolerant wife Betty through Frank's various attempts to hold down a job, which frequently end in...
.
Personal life
Hylton's first marriage to film producer Euan LloydEuan Lloyd
Euan Lloyd is a British film producer.He began his career directing short travelogue documentaries, starting with April in Portugal in 1954...
ended in divorce, although the couple remained on good terms. The marriage produced a daughter, Rosalind Lloyd
Rosalind Lloyd
Rosalind Lloyd is a British film and television actress.The daughter of film producer Euan Lloyd and actress Jane Hylton, her film credits include:* The Wild Geese* Inseminoid* Who Dares Wins....
, who also became an actress; Hylton and her daughter both appeared in Lloyd's big budget 1978 mercenary
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
drama The Wild Geese
The Wild Geese
The Wild Geese is a British 1978 film about a group of mercenaries in Africa. It stars Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris and Hardy Krüger...
, which was Hylton's first screen role for 17 years and turned out to be the last of her career.
Hylton's second marriage to actor Peter Dyneley
Peter Dyneley
Peter Dyneley was a British actor, born in Hastings, East Sussex, England.Although appearing in many smaller roles in both film and television, he is best remembered for his performance as the voice of Jeff Tracy in the Gerry Anderson 1960s TV series Thunderbirds and the subsequent movies...
, who she met on the set of The Manster
The Manster
is a tokusatsu 1959 horror film, a co-production between the US and Japan, starring Peter Dyneley. The film was notable for its creative use of special effects...
, lasted until Dyneley's death from cancer in 1977. Hylton, who had been diagnosed with a congenital heart defect in her late 30s, died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in Glasgow on 28 February 1979, aged 51.
Filmography
- 1946: A Girl in a Million
- 1947: Dear MurdererDear MurdererDear Murderer is a 1947 British thriller, directed by Arthur Crabtree for Gainsborough Pictures, and starring Eric Portman and Greta Gynt. The film was well-received for its tautness and ingenuity, with one reviewer noting: "Dear Murderer is a shrewd, semi-psychological thriller with Eric Portman,...
- 1947: The Upturned GlassThe Upturned GlassThe Upturned Glass is a 1947 British drama film directed by Lawrence Huntington and starring James Mason, Rosamund John and Pamela Kellino. A leading surgeon murders a woman he believes to be responsible for the death of the woman he loved.-Cast:...
- 1947: Holiday Camp
- 1947: JassyJassy (film)Jassy was a 1947 British film melodrama, based on a novel by Norah Lofts. It was a Gainsborough melodrama, the only one to be made in technicolour.-Plot:...
- 1947: When the Bough BreaksWhen the Bough Breaks (1947 film)When the Bough Breaks is a 1947 film by Gainsborough Pictures, J. Arthur Rank and Sydney Box Productions. It is an adaptation of an original story-line by Herbert Victor on adoption and the competing ties of one child's birth and foster family.-Cast:...
- 1947: It Always Rains on SundayIt Always Rains on SundayIt Always Rains on Sunday is a film adaptation of the novel by Arthur La Bern, adapted and directed by Robert Hamer. In its gritty, unsentimental depiction of everyday life in post-war Britain, and in its exploration of the tedium, frustration and desperation wrought by grinding poverty, the film...
- 1948: Good-Time GirlGood-Time GirlGood-Time Girl is a 1948 British drama film directed by David MacDonald. The film was based on Arthur La Bern's novel "Night Darkens the Street."-Plot:...
- 1948: DaybreakDaybreak (1948 film)Daybreak is a 1948 British film noir drama film, directed by Compton Bennett and starring Eric Portman, Ann Todd and Maxwell Reed. A sombre, bleak film, Daybreak was filmed in 1946, but ran into trouble with the BBFC, resulting in a delay of almost two years before its release...
- 1948: My Sister and IMy Sister and I (film)My Sister and I is a 1948 British drama film directed by Harold Huth and starring Sally Ann Howes, Dermot Walsh and Martita Hunt. A young woman who acts in a small theatre comes under suspicion of murder when the elderly lady she lodges with dies and leaves her all her money. It is based on the...
- 1948: My Brother's KeeperMy Brother's Keeper (1948 film)My Brother's Keeper is a 1948 British crime film in the form of a convicts-on-the-run chase thriller, directed by Alfred Roome for Gainsborough Pictures. It was the first of only two films directed by Roome during a long career as a film editor...
- 1948: Here Come the HuggettsHere Come the HuggettsHere Come the Huggetts is a 1948 British film, the first of the Huggetts Trilogy about a working class English family. All three films were directed by Ken Annakin and released by Gainsborough Pictures....
- 1949: Passport to PimlicoPassport to PimlicoPassport to Pimlico is a 1949 British comedy film made by Ealing Studios and starred Stanley Holloway, Margaret Rutherford, and Hermione Baddeley. It was directed by Henry Cornelius....
- 1950: Dance HallDance Hall (film)Dance Hall is a 1950 British film directed by Charles Crichton. Appealing mainly to a female audience, the film was an unusual departure for the studio, known at the time primarily for its classic comedies starring Alec Guinness.-Plot:...
- 1951: Out of TrueOut of True (film)Out of True is a 1951 British drama-documentary film, directed by Philip Leacock and starring Jane Hylton and Muriel Pavlow. Out of True was made by the Crown Film Unit with sponsorship from the Ministry of Health, and was promoted as a "fictional account of a nervous breakdown which conforms to...
- 1951: The Quiet WomanThe Quiet WomanThe Quiet Woman is a 1951 British crime film directed by John Gilling. It starred Derek Bond, Jane Hylton, Campbell Singer and Dora Bryan. The former wife of a criminal moves to a coastal town and takes over the running of a bar known as The Quiet Woman. She becomes outraged when she discovers the...
- 1952: The Tall HeadlinesThe Tall HeadlinesThe Tall Headlines is a 1952 British film directed by Terence Young and starring André Morell, Flora Robson, Peter Burton, Sid James and Dennis Price.-Cast:* André Morell - George Rackham* Flora Robson - Mary Rackham* Michael Denison - Phillip Rackham...
- 1952: It Started in ParadiseIt Started in ParadiseIt Started in Paradise is a 1952 British drama film, directed by Compton Bennett and starring Jane Hylton, Martita Hunt and Muriel Pavlow. Set in the world of haute couture, the film was squarely aimed at female audiences...
- 1954: Burnt EvidenceBurnt EvidenceBurnt Evidence is a 1954 British drama film directed by Daniel Birt and starring Jane Hylton, Duncan Lamont and Donald Gray. A man accidentally kills another and is hunted down by the police.-Cast:* Jane Hylton - Diana Taylor...
- 1954: The Weak and the WickedThe Weak and the WickedThe Weak and the Wicked is a 1954 British drama film directed by J. Lee Thompson based on the book by his wife, Joan Henry, starring Glynis Johns and Diana Dors....
- 1955: Secret VentureSecret VentureSecret Venture is a 1955 British B-movie thriller film directed by R. G. Springsteen and starring Kent Taylor, Jane Hylton and Kathleen Byron.-Plot:...
- 1956: Laughing in the Sunshine
- 1957: You Pay Your Money
- 1959: Violent Moment
- 1959: Deadly Record
- 1959: The MansterThe Mansteris a tokusatsu 1959 horror film, a co-production between the US and Japan, starring Peter Dyneley. The film was notable for its creative use of special effects...
- 1959: Devil's Bait
- 1960: Night Train for InvernessNight Train for InvernessNight Train for Inverness is a 1960 British drama film directed by Ernest Morris and starring Norman Wooland, Jane Hylton and Dennis Waterman...
- 1960: Circus of HorrorsCircus of HorrorsCircus of Horrors is a 1960 British horror film directed by Sidney Hayers. It starred Anton Diffring, Yvonne Monlaur, Erika Remberg, Kenneth Griffith, Jane Hylton, Conrad Phillips, Yvonne Romain and Donald Pleasence....
- 1961: House of Mystery
- 1963: Bitter Harvest
- 1978: The Wild GeeseThe Wild GeeseThe Wild Geese is a British 1978 film about a group of mercenaries in Africa. It stars Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris and Hardy Krüger...
External links
- "A new kind of happiness for Jane Hylton" 1972 interview
- Jane Hylton filmography at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
