Carole Lesley | |
---|---|
Born | Chelmsford, Essex, England | 27 May 1935
Died | 28 February 1974 New Barnet, London, England | (aged 38)
Carole Lesley (27 May 1935 – 28 February 1974) was a British actress who had a short but significant career as a "blonde bombshell".[1]
She was born Maureen Rippingale in Chelmsford, Essex, but ran away from home at the age of 16, "aiming to become a star".[2]
She starred in several films in the late 1950s and early 1960s,[1] including the 1957 film Woman in a Dressing Gown, which won the 1958 Golden Globe Award for Best English-Language Foreign Film.[3] She also appeared in No Trees in the Street, These Dangerous Years, Doctor in Love, Operation Bullshine and What a Whopper, and played Helen of Troy in a television play.[4][5]
However, Associated decided to end her contract, which devastated her and she disappeared from the public eye. She subsequently lived in a semi-detached house overlooking New Barnet station in north London, but by 1973 was described as "a deeply depressed, once beautiful woman, still haunted by a glamorous past".[5]
She was found dead by her husband Michael Dalling in their New Barnet home on 28 February 1974.[6] At her inquest it was determined that she had died of a drug overdose and that she had "killed herself".[7]