Hilary Dwyer

Hilary Dwyer (6 May 1945 – 30 March 2020), also known as Hilary Heath, was an English actress, businessperson, and film producer. She was best known for her acting roles in films such as Witchfinder General and Wuthering Heights (1970). She also performed on the London stage. In 1974, she married the talent agent Duncan Heath, with whom she had two children, and helped to found Duncan Heath Associates, which was later bought by ICM Partners. They divorced in 1989. Later in her career, under her married name, "Hilary Heath", she produced the feature film An Awfully Big Adventure (1995), as well as TV remakes of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca (1997) and Tennessee Williams's The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (2003). Her final producing role was the 2014 miniseries Jamaica Inn.

Early life Born on 6 May 1945, in Liverpool, England, Hilary Dwyer was the daughter of Frederick Dwyer, a South African-born orthopaedic surgeon noted for his pioneering calcaneal osteotomy, who married Norah Eileen Milroy in 1940. winning a music scholarship to Lowther College in North Wales. Of the role, Dwyer later recalled "I don't think that I realised I was the star." Dwyer enjoyed working with Reeves, describing him as "terrific, we became really good friends". In a 2010 interview at the Southend Film Festival, Dwyer described her interview for Witchfinder General as her "first casting call", in which she was "absolutely terrified" because she "knew no-one".

Dwyer also appeared in The Oblong Box (1969) and Cry of the Banshee (1970), both again featuring Price. In 1978 Dwyer performed in the play Whose Life Is It Anyway? alongside Tom Conti at the Mermaid Theatre in London, and later at the Savoy. In a 2002 interview in the Financial Times, Heath said of Dwyer "She introduced me to a lot of people – if it wasn't for her it wouldn't have happened." Dwyer married Heath in 1974; they had two children, Laura and Daniel. She also produced TV-remakes of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca (1997) and Tennessee Williams's The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (2003). In 2014 she executive produced the miniseries Jamaica Inn.

As a producer, she was skilled at managing talent. Jonathan Powell, former controller of BBC 1, said of her: "Everybody knew Hilary. And if they didn't, they couldn't stop her from getting to know them. She had a complete incapacity to understand what the word 'no' meant". The health crisis caused by the virus meant that Dwyer's funeral did not take place as she had hoped or planned. The only individuals present were her daughter Laura and the presiding vicar. She was survived by her two children, Laura and Daniel. Laura Heath founded the Hope-Martin Animal Foundation in Barbados. Daniel Heath is a Los Angeles-based film composer, writing songs for artists such as Lana Del Rey.

Filmography

Feature films Year Film Role Director 1968Witchfinder General Sara Lowes Michael Reeves 1969 The Body Stealers Julie Slade Gerry Levy The Oblong Box Lady Elizabeth Markham Gordon Hessler The File of the Golden Goose Ann Marlowe Sam WanamakerTwo Gentlemen Sharing Ethne Burrows Ted Kotcheff 1970 Wuthering Heights Isabella Linton Robert Fuest Cry of the Banshee Maureen Whitman Gordon Hessler

Television (incomplete) Year TV show Role Director 1965 About Religion Gladys 1967 ITV Play of the Week Anthea Christopher Hodson The Avengers Hilary Robert Asher The Prisoner Number Seventy-Three Pat Jackson 1968 Z-Cars Rita Pearson John Glenister 1969 Callan Jenny Lauther Robert Tronson Special Branch Sarah Landring Jonathan Alwyn 1972 Van der Valk Nana Schneers 1972 Man at the Top (TV series) Kate Fielding Don Leaver 1973 Hadleigh Jennifer Caldwell 1976 Space 1999 Laura Adams Ray Austin