Valerie Leon
Encyclopedia
Valerie Leon is an English
actress who had roles in a number of high profile British film franchises, including the Carry On series.
, ended her acting career in order to become a full-time mother. She is the eldest of four privately-educated children. After leaving school, she became a trainee fashion buyer at Harrods
, before playing truant one day to go to an audition which led to her becoming a chorus girl, and then going on tour with Barbra Streisand
in Funny Girl.
twice: in The Spy Who Loved Me
(1977) and Never Say Never Again
(1983). Other supporting appearances include Revenge of the Pink Panther
, The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer
(as the secretary Tanya), a hotel receptionist in The Italian Job
, and a callgirl in No Sex Please, We're British
, alongside fellow Carry On actress Margaret Nolan
. The 1971 Hammer horror film Blood from the Mummy's Tomb
offered Leon a rare lead role, as a reincarnated Egyptian queen.
, Leon is probably best remembered for her part as a tall buxom woman driven wild by a small and puny man wearing Hai Karate aftershave, in a series of commercials for the product. She also appeared in The Saint
, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
, Up Pompeii!
, The Avengers
, Space: 1999
, The Persuaders
, and in The Goodies
comedy episode "It Might as Well Be String
".
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actress who had roles in a number of high profile British film franchises, including the Carry On series.
Early life
Her father was a director of a textile company, and her mother, who trained at RADARada
Rada is the term for "council" or "assembly"borrowed by Polish from the Low Franconian "Rad" and later passed into the Czech, Ukrainian, and Belarusian languages....
, ended her acting career in order to become a full-time mother. She is the eldest of four privately-educated children. After leaving school, she became a trainee fashion buyer at Harrods
Harrods
Harrods is an upmarket department store located in Brompton Road in Brompton, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. The Harrods brand also applies to other enterprises undertaken by the Harrods group of companies including Harrods Bank, Harrods Estates, Harrods Aviation and Air...
, before playing truant one day to go to an audition which led to her becoming a chorus girl, and then going on tour with Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
in Funny Girl.
Film appearances
Leon appeared in several of the Carry On films and has been a Bond girlBond girl
A Bond girl is a character or actress portraying a love interest, of James Bond in a film, novel, or video game. They occasionally have names that are double entendres or puns, such as "Pussy Galore", "Plenty O'Toole", "Xenia Onatopp", or "Holly Goodhead"...
twice: in The Spy Who Loved Me
The Spy Who Loved Me (film)
The Spy Who Loved Me is a spy film, the tenth film in the James Bond series, and the third to star Roger Moore as the fictional secret agent James Bond. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert and the screenplay was written by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum...
(1977) and Never Say Never Again
Never Say Never Again
Never Say Never Again is a 1983 spy film based on the James Bond novel Thunderball, which was previously filmed in 1965 as Thunderball...
(1983). Other supporting appearances include Revenge of the Pink Panther
Revenge of the Pink Panther
Revenge of the Pink Panther is the sixth film in the Pink Panther film series. Released in 1978, Revenge of was the last entry featuring series star Peter Sellers, who died in 1980...
, The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer
The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer
The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer is a British 1970 cult satire film written by and starring Peter Cook, John Cleese and Graham Chapman, and directed by Kevin Billington .-Synopsis:...
(as the secretary Tanya), a hotel receptionist in The Italian Job
The Italian Job
The Italian Job is a 1969 British caper film, written by Troy Kennedy Martin, produced by Michael Deeley and directed by Peter Collinson. Subsequent television showings and releases on video have established it as an institution in the United Kingdom....
, and a callgirl in No Sex Please, We're British
No Sex Please, We're British
No Sex Please, We're British is a British comedic play written by Alistair Foot and Anthony Marriott, first staged in London's West End in 1971. It was unanimously panned by critics, but still ran for nearly a decade to packed audiences...
, alongside fellow Carry On actress Margaret Nolan
Margaret Nolan
Margaret Nolan, also known as Vicky Kennedy, is a British artist and a former actress and glamour model.-Career:...
. The 1971 Hammer horror film Blood from the Mummy's Tomb
Blood from the Mummy's Tomb
Blood from the Mummy's Tomb is a 1971 British film starring Andrew Keir, Valerie Leon, and James Villiers. This was director Seth Holt's final film, and was adapted from Bram Stoker's novel The Jewel of Seven Stars. The film was released as the support feature to Dr...
offered Leon a rare lead role, as a reincarnated Egyptian queen.
Television
On televisionTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, Leon is probably best remembered for her part as a tall buxom woman driven wild by a small and puny man wearing Hai Karate aftershave, in a series of commercials for the product. She also appeared in The Saint
The Saint (TV series)
The Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the...
, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
Randall and Hopkirk , first transmitted during 1969-70, is a British private detective television series starring Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope as the private detectives Jeff Randall and Marty Hopkirk, respectively. The series was originally created by Dennis Spooner and produced by Monty Berman...
, Up Pompeii!
Up Pompeii!
Up Pompeii! is a British television comedy series broadcast between 1969 and 1970, starring Frankie Howerd. The first series was written by Talbot Rothwell, a scriptwriter for the Carry On films, and the second series by Rothwell and Sid Colin. Two later specials were transmitted in 1975 and...
, The Avengers
The Avengers (TV series)
The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
, Space: 1999
Space: 1999
Space: 1999 is a British science-fiction television series that ran for two seasons and originally aired from 1975 to 1977. In the opening episode, nuclear waste from Earth stored on the Moon's far side explodes in a catastrophic accident on 13 September 1999, knocking the Moon out of orbit and...
, The Persuaders
The Persuaders
The Persuaders can refer to:* The Persuaders!, a 1970s TV series starring Roger Moore and Tony Curtis* The Persuaders , a 1970s soul music band...
, and in The Goodies
The Goodies (TV series)
The Goodies is a British television comedy series of the 1970s and early 1980s. The series, which combines surreal sketches and situation comedy, was broadcast by BBC 2 from 1970 until 1980 — and was then broadcast by the ITV company LWT for a year, between 1981 to 1982.The show was...
comedy episode "It Might as Well Be String
It Might as Well Be String
It Might as Well Be String is an episode of the British comedy television series The Goodies — a BAFTA-nominated series for Best Light Entertainment Programme.As always, the episode was written by members of The Goodies.-Plot:...
".
Personal life
Leon was married to BBC's Head Of Comedy, Michael Mills from 1974 until his death in 1988. The marriage produced two children, a boy, Leon, born in 1975 and a girl, Merope, born in 1977.Filmography
- Smashing TimeSmashing TimeSmashing Time is a 1967 British comedy film starring Rita Tushingham and Lynn Redgrave. It is a satire on the 1960s media-influenced phenomenon of Swinging London.It was written by George Melly and directed by Desmond Davis...
(1967) - Carry On... Up the Khyber (1968)
- Zeta OneZeta OneZeta One is a 1969 British comedy science fiction film directed by Michael Cort and starring James Robertson Justice, Charles Hawtrey and Robin Hawdon.-Cast:* James Robertson Justice - Major Bourdon* Charles Hawtrey - Swyne* Robin Hawdon - James Word...
(1969) - A Promise of Bed (1969)
- Carry On CampingCarry On CampingCarry On Camping is a 1969 comedy film and the seventeenth Carry On film. It features series regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Terry Scott, Hattie Jacques, Barbara Windsor, Bernard Bresslaw and Peter Butterworth.-Plot:...
(1969) - The Italian JobThe Italian JobThe Italian Job is a 1969 British caper film, written by Troy Kennedy Martin, produced by Michael Deeley and directed by Peter Collinson. Subsequent television showings and releases on video have established it as an institution in the United Kingdom....
(1969) - Carry On Again DoctorCarry On Again DoctorCarry On Again Doctor is the eighteenth Carry On film. It was released in 1969 and was the third to feature a medical theme. The film features series regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Barbara Windsor and Hattie Jacques...
(1969) - All the Way UpAll the Way UpAll the Way Up is a 1970 British comedy film directed by James MacTaggart based on Semi-Detached, a 1962 play by Midlands dramatist David Turner. It stars Richard Briers, Warren Mitchell, Pat Heywood, Kenneth Cranham, Adrienne Posta and Elaine Taylor....
(1970) - Carry On Up the JungleCarry On Up the JungleCarry On Up the Jungle is the nineteenth Carry On film, released in 1970. The film marked Frankie Howerd's second and final appearance in the series. He stars alongside regular players Sid James, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Terry Scott and Bernard Bresslaw. Kenneth Williams is unusually absent...
(1970) - The Man Who Had Power Over WomenThe Man Who Had Power Over WomenThe Man Who Had Power Over Women is a 1970 British comedy film directed by John Krish and starring Rod Taylor, Carol White and James Booth. A successful Australian talent agent grows disenchanted with his life, which includes includes a failing marriage and having to represent a troublesome rock...
(1970) - The Rise and Rise of Michael RimmerThe Rise and Rise of Michael RimmerThe Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer is a British 1970 cult satire film written by and starring Peter Cook, John Cleese and Graham Chapman, and directed by Kevin Billington .-Synopsis:...
(1970) - Blood from the Mummy's TombBlood from the Mummy's TombBlood from the Mummy's Tomb is a 1971 British film starring Andrew Keir, Valerie Leon, and James Villiers. This was director Seth Holt's final film, and was adapted from Bram Stoker's novel The Jewel of Seven Stars. The film was released as the support feature to Dr...
(1971) - Carry On MatronCarry On MatronCarry On Matron is the twenty-third Carry On film. It was released in 1972. It features series regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Hattie Jacques, Bernard Bresslaw, Barbara Windsor and Kenneth Connor. This was the last Carry on... film for Terry Scott after appearing...
(1972) - No Sex Please, We're BritishNo Sex Please, We're British (film)No Sex Please, We're British is a 1973 British comedy film directed by Cliff Owen and starring Ronnie Corbett, Ian Ogilvy, Susan Penhaligon and Arthur Lowe...
(1973) - Carry On GirlsCarry On GirlsCarry On Girls is the 25th Carry On film, released in Britain in 1973. The film is notable for being the first not to feature either Kenneth Williams or Charles Hawtrey. Williams was appearing in a West End play, My Fat Friend. Hawtrey had been dropped from the series the year before...
(1973) - Can You Keep It Up for a Week? (1974)
- The Ups and Downs of a HandymanThe Ups and Downs of a HandymanThe Ups and Downs of a Handyman is a 1975 British comedy film directed by John Sealey and starring Barry Stokes, Sue Lloyd and Bob Todd. After his wife inherits a cottage in the countryside, her husband takes up a job as the local handyman but soon becomes entangled with the women of the...
(1975) - Queen Kong (1976)
- The Spy Who Loved MeThe Spy Who Loved MeThe Spy Who Loved Me is the ninth novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, first published by Jonathan Cape on 16 April 1962. It is the shortest and most sexually explicit of Fleming's novels as well as a clear departure from previous Bond novels in that the story is told in the first person by a...
(1977) - 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...
(1978) - Revenge of the Pink PantherRevenge of the Pink PantherRevenge of the Pink Panther is the sixth film in the Pink Panther film series. Released in 1978, Revenge of was the last entry featuring series star Peter Sellers, who died in 1980...
(1978) - StrangersStrangers (TV series)Strangers was a UK police drama that appeared on ITV between 1978 and 1982.After the success of the TV series The XYY Man, adapted from books by Kenneth Royce, Granada TV devised a new series to feature the regular characters of Detective Sergeant George Bulman and his assistant Detective...
(1982) (TV Series) - Never Say Never AgainNever Say Never AgainNever Say Never Again is a 1983 spy film based on the James Bond novel Thunderball, which was previously filmed in 1965 as Thunderball...
(1983) - A Neutral Corner (2006)
- The Green Green GrassThe Green Green GrassThe Green Green Grass is a British sitcom, created and initially written by John Sullivan, produced by Shazam Productions for the BBC. It is a spin-off of the long running sitcom Only Fools and Horses and stars John Challis, Sue Holderness and Jack Doolan...
(2007) (TV Series)
External links
- Valerie Leon at HorrorStars
- Audio interview at BBC Wiltshire