Saucer-eyed British actress Barbara Leigh-Hunt, 88, died on Sept. 16. She is best known in the US as a murder victim in Hitchcock’s Frenzy, and as Catherine Parr in the 1972 mini-series Henry VIII and His Six Wives. She was seen on Broadway in three Shakespearean roles (and one Sherlock Holmes). In England, Leigh-Hunt acted with the Bristol Old Vic, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and the Royal National Theatre. She worked steadily in films and on TV through the early 2000s. Of working with the notoriously difficult Hitchcock, Leigh-Hunt said, “With me Hitch was remarkably kind and considerate. He knew it was my first film and that I was terrified. He had my chair placed beside his on the studio floor and he let me sit through rehearsals so I could get a feel for film. He loved corny jokes and wordplay. Once when we’d sat through a terribly slow rehearsal he said: ‘Too many dog’s feet! What do I mean?’ And I said ‘pawses!’ And he was thrilled that I understood his sense of humour.”
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