Okay 2021… not a good way to start out. Not even a week in and now this? This one stings.

The news came out early yesterday that actress Barbara Shelley passed away. So many great roles. So many incredible performances. Where does one start? Obviously the work she did for Hammer are incredible, especially in Dracula Prince of Darkness (1966), giving duel performances going from an uptight wife to a seductive vampiress, to her role as Barbara in Quatermass and the Pit (1967), when she puts on the apparatus that lets her see visions of the past through these long (no-so) dead aliens. But no matter what film or the size of her role, she was always so memorable and such a joy to watch. She brought an elegance to whatever role she was playing, making her characters seem lifelike, relatable, and more importantly, believable. From her early genre appearances in Cat Girl (1957) and Blood of the Vampire (1958) to Village of the Damned (1960), to even her appearance on Doctor Who in the ’80s, it was also great to see her on screen.

I had always hoped to be able to meet her at a convention one day, but it wasn’t meant to me. It makes me kick myself for not going to more cons back in the 90s when some of these talented people were coming over here to the states to make appearances. But it was not to be. She was a true talent that lit up anytime she was onscreen, and will dearly be missed. While she had done plenty of non-genre work, it was the creepy classics that brought life-long fans to her. The below quotes not only shows how grateful she was to her fans, but also a great gesture to the fans for continuing to let these talented people know how important their work was to us fans. Our thoughts go out to her friends and family during this difficult time. Gone, but definitely never forgotten.

“When I first started doing Hammer, all the so-called classic actors looked down on the horror film. All the other things I did, nobody remembers those. But the horror films, I’m very grateful to them because they built me a fan base, and I’m very touched that people will come and ask for my autograph.”