Valerie French (born Valerie Harrison; 11 March 1928 [or 1932] – 3 November 1990) was an English film and stage actress whose career began in 1954, with much of it occurring in 1956.
Career
French was born in London to Frank Orvin Percy Harrison and Muriel Clare, née Smith. Her father was an accountant who had served as a Lieutenant with the Artists Rifles regiment in the First World War.
She considered her "real start in the theatre" to have been at the Theatre Royal, Windsor in Berkshire, England.
She moved into film acting in her early twenties. Her first film appearance was in a minor role in the 1954 Italian film Maddalena. After a role in the British film The Constant Husband (1955), she moved to Hollywood.
Her best-remembered roles during this period were in western films such as Jubal in 1956 opposite Glenn Ford and Decision at Sundown opposite Randolph Scott in 1957. She also appeared in the science fiction film The 27th Day (1957).
Her television roles included episode No. 61 of Have Gun – Will Travel, The Prisoner episode "Living in Harmony", and episode No. 31, "Sweetwater, Texas", of Trackdown (1957). She later appeared in daytime television shows, including two roles on The Edge of Night, The Nurses, and (briefly) All My Children.
Theatre
French returned to the theatre in the 1960s. She performed in a Broadway production of John Osborne's play Inadmissible Evidence in 1965 and was also in Help Stamp Out Marriage! in 1966. She caused a minor sensation by appearing on stage naked in The Mother Lover at the Booth Theatre in 1969, though only her back was visible to the audience.
Personal life
French was married twice. In 1952, at the age of 24, she married the playwright Michael Pertwee (b. 1916). They divorced seven years later.
In 1970, at the age of 42, French married the actor Thayer David (b. 1927). They divorced five years later. They later got back together and were planning to remarry at the time of his death in 1978.
French died of leukemia in New York City in 1990, aged 62. Some sources say she was born in 1932 and was 59 when she died.
Filmography
Maddalena (1954) Happy Ever After (1954) The Constant Husband (1955) Jubal (1956) Secret of Treasure Mountain (1956) The Garment Jungle (1957) Decision at Sundown (1957) The 27th Day (1957) The Hard Man (1957) The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959) Shalako (1968)
''The Prisoner (TV series episode 14)
References
External links
Valerie French papers, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
20th-century births
1990 deaths
English film actresses
English stage actresses
English television actresses
Actresses from London
Deaths from leukemia
Deaths from cancer in New York (state) 20th-century English actresses Western (genre) television actors Western (genre) film actresses