Hazel Terry

Hazel M. Neilson-Terry (23 January 1918 – 12 October 1974) was an English actress. A member of the theatrical dynasty the Terry family she had a successful stage career, and also made some cinema films. Among her roles was Ophelia in Hamlet opposite her cousin John Gielgud.

Life and career

Terry was born in London, the daughter of the actor Dennis Neilson-Terry and his wife, actress Mary Glynne. Hazel's first role was at the age of 17 as the page in Henry IV, Part I with George Robey as Falstaff at His Majesty's in 1936. Later in that year she played Beauty in Everyman.

As her cousin John Gielgud had done early in his career, she joined the Oxford Repertory company; her roles included Olivia in Twelfth Night. In 1938 she made her New York debut playing Hazel in J B Priestley's Time and the Conways, later repeating the role on tour in Britain. She made her film debut in 1935 in The Marriage of Corbal. In 1944 she understudied Peggy Ashcroft as Ophelia in Gielgud's last London Hamlet, and had the chance to play the role in Manchester and London. became an actress. Hazel Terry committed suicide at the age of 56. An inquest heard how she had taken a large dose of valium and had been an alcoholic for many years.

Selected filmography The Marriage of Corbal (1935) Our Fighting Navy (1937) Missing, Believed Married (1937) Sweet Devil (1938) Kill or Cure (1962) The Servant (1963)