Vanda Hudson (born Wanda Maria Zaleska; 7 October 1933 – 2 April 2004[1][2]) was a Polish-born British film and television actress, cabaret entertainer and model. She was noted for playing blonde bombshell roles.
Career
Born in Slaskie, Poland, Hudson emigrated to the UK in 1948 and after working as a cabaret singer found her first acting role in the 1955 BBC TV drama Miss Patterson.[3]
From 1957–1969 she appeared in a dozen British films including Sapphire (1959), Bottoms Up (1960), Strip Tease Murder (1961) and Jungle Street Girls (1961), in which she sang "I'm Only a Girl" (Harold Geller/Perry Ford). In 1960 she appeared in the cult film Circus of Horrors in which she played a girl stabbed to death by a knife-thrower.
In 1959 she wrote a weekly column "Diary of a Glamour Girl" for Picturegoer magazine."[4]
On TV she appeared in The Vise (1954) and The Avengers (1961).
In 1971 she appeared in cabaret in London at the Astor Club[5] and in the review "Stand By For Take Off" at the Casino de Paris club.[6][7]
Personal life
She was married to Jan Pikulski with whom she had a son.[8]
After retiring from show business she ran the restaurant "Turpin’s" in Hampstead, London.[1]
Filmography
- Greetings Cards (Pathé short newsreel, 1955) as self[9]
- Seven Thunders (1957) as minor role (uncredited)[citation needed]
- Innocent Sinners (1958) as minor role (uncredited)[citation needed]
- Sapphire (1959) as girl at the Tulip Club (uncredited)[citation needed]
- The Heart of a Man (1959) as Cha Cha (billing: Vanda)
- Libel (1959) as girl in street
- Bottoms Up (1960) as Matron (billing: Vanda)
- Circus of Horrors (1960) as Magda von Meck
- Ticket to Paradise (1961) as Gina
- Strip Tease Murder (1961) as Angelin (billing: Wanda Hudson)
- Jungle Street Girls (1961) as Lucy Bell
- Father Came Too! (1964) as Nell Gwynne
- Happening (1968) (billing: Wanda Hudson)
- A Promise of Bed (1969) as Susan Stress
TV appearances
- Miss Patterson (1955) as girl
- The Vise, S02E11, "Death Mask" (1954) as Toni
- The Avengers, S01E19, "Double Danger" (1961) as Lola Carrington
References
- ^ a b McGillivray, David (20 December 2004). "Gone but not forgotten". The Stage and Television Today. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
- ^ "Vanda HUDSON". Film Index International. Retrieved 14 January 2025 – via ProQuest.
- ^ "Miss Patterson". BBC Programme Index. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
- ^ "A Girl's Gotta Live". Picturegoer. Vol. 38. 4 November 1959. p. 4 – via ProQuest.
- ^ "Current Bills". Variety. Vol. 261, no. 12. 3 February 1971. p. 62 – via ProQuest.
- ^ "Vanda Hudson – star of Get Ready For Take-Off at the CASINO DE PARIS". The Stage and Television Today. No. 4688. 18 February 1971. p. 6 – via ProQuest.
- ^ MacCarthy, Fiona (13 January 1971). "40 men and a girl – and nobody noticed me". Evening Standard. p. 15. Retrieved 14 January 2025 – via ProQuest.
- ^ "Vanda's son goes home with mother". Evening Standard. 15 July 1960. p. 13. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
- ^ "Greetings Cards". British Pathé. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
External links
- Vanda Hudson at IMDb