"[18] The Financial Times called her "brown as a nut, fresh as a daisy and pretty as a buttercup" saying she "made a spirited alfresco Rosalind even if a little too much on the cute side. The car was going at 100 miles an hour (Lee was not the driver) when a tyre blew, causing the car to skid. Lee was a nurse again in a thriller with Donald Sinden, Eyewitness (1956), directed by Muriel Box for Rank. [40] She stayed in Germany to make a local movie, Love Now, Pay Later (1959), playing Rosemarie Nitribitt, a prostitute who was murdered. Both were married to others at the time. Belinda Lee Photo Gallery. When I went to Rome it was the first time I had been abroad on my own. During the course of the shoot she had a highly publicised romance with a married noble, Prince Filippo Orsini, head of the Orsini family. Lee joined the Nottingham Playhouse repertory company for a year, then won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. In 1955 Lee signed a contract with the Rank Organisation â she was under 21 so her husband had to sign it. "We cannot be certain of parts in the immediate future for these two artists", said a Rank spokesperson. She said being a film star was "really 90 percent luck and only 10 percent ability" and accredited her success to "being at the right place at the right time. I don't want to be the girl next door or somebody's sister. "[2], In June 1956 she played Rosalind in a production of As You Like It in an open-air theatre at Regent's Park. [31], According to Filmink "Rank seemed unsure what to do with Lee. Where was Belinda Lee born? [6] During the filming of this she said she would prefer to be in romantic parts like Footsteps in the Fog. Rank had cut its contract list to 23, when it had been 100 a few years previously. Always am I asked now to play wicked women... On the Continent I'm thought of always in connection with parts like that. [28], Lee was smuggled out of Rome to return to South Africa in February to complete Nor the Moon by Night. Orsini, whose injuries were light, refused to tell the police why he had done it. 1954 wurde sie von Val Guest, dem Leiter der Rank Organisation von der Bühne weg für eine Rolle in The Runaway Bus verpflichtet. "[24], Lee returned to Rank to make Nor the Moon by Night (1957) which was shot in London and on location in South Africa.
This resulted in Lee leaving her husband Lucas in September.
I am trying to break away from glamour parts. [4], In December 1960 Lee announced her engagement to filmmaker Gualtiero Jacopetti. While at RADA she was seen in a production of Lady Windermere's Fan and recommended to Val Guest who was looking for a girl to play in support of comedian Frankie Howerd in The Runaway Bus (1954). Miss Lee has often said she would rather not work in this country. But I'm not ambitions anymore.
It won't last but now I am in demand. It's rather hard to go from the films to Shakespeare on stage – it is easier the other way around. A well-publicised adulterous affairs can increase an actor's popularity – as Elizabeth Taylor would soon prove when she "stole" Eddie Fisher off Debbie Reynolds. Juni 1935 in Budleigh Salterton, England; † 12. Typecast as one of several "sexy blondes", she was often compared, unfavourably, to the popular Diana Dors. Reviews for her performance were mixed, but she received some positive notices. "When she loved a man she loved him completely", said one friend. "[25], During filming, Lee left to go to Italy to visit her married lover. [4], In December 1960 Lee announced her engagement to filmmaker Gualtiero Jacopetti. Lee was born in Budleigh Salterton, Devon, Great Britain, to Robert Lee, a former army captain and owner of the Rosemullion Hotel, and Stella Mary Graham, a florist. [36] She relocated to continental Europe and Rank subsequently puts its efforts into promoting Anne Heywood. And I don't want to stooge for comedians again. I am trying to break away from glamour parts. The 25-year-old actress was thrown from the car and died of a fractured skull and broken neck. [40] She stayed in Germany to make a local movie, Love Now, Pay Later (1959), playing Rosemarie Nitribitt, a prostitute who was murdered. [21] Miracle in Soho was a flop but British exhibitors voted her the 10th-most popular British film star at the box office in 1957 (ranked in front of her were Dirk Bogarde, Kenneth More, Peter Finch, John Gregson, Norman Wisdom, John Mills, Stanley Baker, Ian Carmichael and Jack Hawkins â Lee was the only woman on the list). "[20], Lee was top billed in a crime drama The Secret Place (1957), directed by Clive Donner; she also had the female lead in Miracle in Soho (1957) with John Gregson, filmed in early 1957, and in the period drama Dangerous Exile (1957), opposite Louis Jourdan; during the filming of the latter she was injured when her hair caught fire.