Hilary Mason

For the American entrepreneur, see Hilary Mason (entrepreneur).

Hilary Mason
Born(1917-09-04)4 September 1917
Birmingham, United Kingdom
Died5 September 2006(2006-09-05) (aged 89)
Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England
OccupationActress
Years active1947–2006

Hilary Lavender Mason (4 September 1917 – 5 September 2006) was an English character actress who appeared in a wide variety of roles, mainly on UK television.[1][2]

Mason was born in Birmingham and trained at the London School of Dramatic Art, before performing with repertory theatres throughout Britain.[2][3] She is probably best known internationally for her performance as the blind psychic Heather in Nicolas Roeg's film Don't Look Now.[2][4]

Mason had the starring role in Mistress of Hardwick, a 10-part BBC series broadcast in 1972, which followed the life of Bess of Hardwick. Most of the episodes are now lost.[5]

She appeared in "Gunfight at the O.K. Laundrette", the pilot episode of ITV's critically acclaimed drama Minder.[6] She also made regular appearances in Z-Cars and Dixon of Dock Green, and made an appearance in Ripping Yarns.[7] In the 1985 BBC serial ‘’Miss Marple’’: The Moving Finger, she appeared as Emily Barton. In 1986 she appeared as Mrs Gummidge in the BBC series David Copperfield.[7][1] Mason appeared in an episode of Juliet Bravo as Mrs Unwin in an episode called "Friends and Neighbours".[8]

In later years Mason appeared as Gladys in the popular children's TV show Maid Marian and her Merry Men.[9] One of her last roles was in the children's programme Aquila.[1]

  1. ^ a b c "Hilary Mason". BFI. Archived from the original on 6 July 2016.
  2. ^ a b c "Hilary Mason". The Independent. 16 September 2006.
  3. ^ III, Harris M. Lentz (24 October 2008). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2006: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture. McFarland. ISBN 9780786452118 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ September 5, 2006, September 4, 1917- (13 September 2006). "Hilary Mason" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ "Mistress of Hardwick". 8 September 1977. p. 25 – via BBC Genome.
  6. ^ "Gunfight at the O.K. Laundrette (1979)". BFI. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Hilary Mason". www.aveleyman.com.
  8. ^ "Friends and Neighbours (1985)". BFI. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019.
  9. ^ BBC. "Maid Marian and Her Merry Men". www.bbc.co.uk.