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Caroline Munro

From The Grindhouse Cinema Database

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Overview

Caroline-munro.jpeg

Caroline Munro (born 16 January 1949)[1] is an English actress and model known for her many appearances in horror, science fiction and action films of the 1970s and 1980s.[2]

In 1971 she appeared alongside Vincent Price in The Abominable Dr. Phibes, playing the deceased Mrs. Victoria Regina Phibes,. She recalled:

"The most challenging scenes involved lying in the coffin with Vincent ... You see, I'm allergic to feathers and I was attired in this beautiful negligee – but it was covered with feathers! It took a great deal of willpower not to sneeze or sniffle. On occasion, I would simply have to sneeze and this would result in having to do another take."

She reprised the role in the 1972 sequel, Dr. Phibes Rises Again. Also in 1972 she was mentioned in Colin Blunstone's song "Caroline Goodbye", a song about the break-up of their relationship.[5]

Hammer Films CEO, Sir James Carreras, spotted Munro on a Lamb's Navy Rum poster/billboard. He asked his right-hand man, James Liggett, to find and screen test her. She was immediately signed to a one-year contract. Her first film for Hammer proved to be a turning point in her career. It was during the making of Dracula A.D. 1972 [6] that she decided from this film onward she was a full-fledged actress.[7]

Munro acted in Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter in 1974.[6] Directed by Brian Clemens, she played the barefoot gypsy girl Carla. In Paramount Pictures DVD commentary, Clemens explains that he envisioned the role as a fiery, Raquel Welch type, red-head.

Munro has the distinction of being the only actor ever signed to a long-term contract by Hammer Films. She would later turn down the lead female roles in Hammer's Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde, Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, and the unmade Vampirella because they required nudity.[8] Brian Clemens later helped her get the role of Margiana, the slave girl in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973). Today Caroline is a Trustee of the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation.[10]

Other appearances during this time included I Don't Want to Be Born (1975) with Joan Collins, and At the Earth's Core (1976) with Peter Cushing and Doug McClure. She appeared also as Tammy, a nursing employee of a sinister health farm, in "The Angels of Death" (1977),[11] an episode of the TV series The New Avengers that featured also rising stars Pamela Stephenson and Lindsay Duncan. This was notable, among other things, for a vicious fight between Munro and Joanna Lumley's Purdey.

In 1977, Munro turned down the opportunity to play villainess Ursa in Superman in favour of Naomi in The Spy Who Loved Me.[2]

Munro continued to work in numerous British and European horror and science fiction films through the 1970s and 1980s, most notably Star Crash (1979) with David Hasselhoff, Christopher Plummer and Marjoe Gortner.

Munro's career continued to thrive well in the 1980s, appearing in many slasher and Eurotrash productions. Her first film shot on American soil was the William Lustig production Maniac (1980).[12] This was soon followed by the "multi-award winning, shot during the Cannes Film Festival" shocker The Last Horror Film (1982)[6] (directed by David Winters), in which she was reunited with her Maniac co-star Joe Spinell. She had a cameo role in the film Don't Open 'Til Christmas (1984),[6] Slaughter High (1986),[6] Paul Naschy's Howl of the Devil (1987), and Jess Franco's Faceless (1988), followed in rapid succession. She reteamed with Starcrash director, Luigi Cozzi, for Demons 6: De Profundis (aka Il gatto nero) in 1989, though this would be her last major film appearance.

Throughout the 1980s, Munro was often cited by the press as being a candidate for the co-starring role in a proposed (but never produced) feature film based upon Doctor Who. The feature was being co-produced by her second husband George Dugdale.

Between 1984 and 1987, Munro was also a hostess on the Yorkshire Television game show 3-2-1. Munro was also a popular pin-up girl during this time, though she refused to pose nude. In the early 1980s, she appeared in music videos for Adam Ant's "Goody Two Shoes" and Meat Loaf's "If You Really Want To".[13]

Her film roles were confined to performing cameos as herself in Night Owl (1993),[2] as Mrs. Pignon in To Die For (1994),[2] as the counsellor in her friend Jeffrey Arsenault's film Domestic Strangers (1996), and as Carla the Gypsy in Flesh for the Beast (2003).

References

  1. Ancestry.com. England & Wales, Birth Index: 1916–2005 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office.
  2. "Caroline Munro". The New York Times.
  3. "Chasing After Caroline Munro". Dr. Shatterhand's Botanical Garden.
  4. [1]
  5. [2]
  6. "Caroline Munro Filmography". The New York Times.
  7. [3]
  8. [4]
  9. Caroline Munro Interview. Margiana.freeservers.com (23 November 2002).
  10. "The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation".
  11. "Caroline Munro Official Fansite"
  12. Vincent Canby (1981-01-31). "Maniac". New York Times.
  13. Official Caroline Munro Website
  14. [5]
  15. [6]
  16. [7]

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