Vera Day

Born: 1935-08-04 in London, England, UK

Known For: Acting

Biography

A highly photogenic blonde starlet of the 1950s, petite, buxom Vera Day was once touted as Britain's answer to Marilyn Monroe. Having dropped out of school at the age of 15, she had tried her hand in retail and hospitality before finding steadier employment as a beauty parlour assistant and hairdresser's model. Modelling then became her full-time occupation, but Vera had loftier ambitions. Answering an ad for showgirls in a theatrical publication, she went on to audition for bandleader and impresario Jack Hylton. Hylton was sufficiently impressed by her looks and self-assurance to cast her in his West End stage production of Wish You Were Here at the London Casino in 1953. This was followed a year later by a small supporting part (Valerie) in Pal Joey at the Princes Theatre. That same year, Vera married pugilist and bodybuilder Arthur Mason, took on the role of his manager and made her motion picture debut in Dance Little Lady (1954). Resisting offers for grittier, more down-to-earth roles, Vera was happy to be typecast on the screen as glamour girls and dizzy blondes: Mimi in A Kid for Two Farthings (1955), Marilyn's colleague Betty in The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) (wearing a brown wig, so as not to upstage her illustrious co-star), Sheila, a local barmaid, in Quatermass 2 (1957), a hooker in The Flesh Is Weak (1957) and a singer who falls victim to Boris Karloff in Grip of the Strangler (1958). A rare leading role came her way in Womaneater (1958), a rather ludicrous low-budget horror offering about a carnivorous tree and (of course) a mad scientist (played by George Coulouris). Little is remembered about this film, except for Vera's tight-fitting sweater and bullet bra. For television, Vera first appeared in an episode of Britain's first soap opera, The Grove Family (1954). Her later guest spots included Dixon of Dock Green (1955), No Hiding Place (1959), The Saint (1962) and The Bill (1984). After a hiatus of 34 years, Vera came out of retirement to play the role of Tanya in Guy Ritchie's gangster epic Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998).

Filmography

2013

Hammer Glamour as Self

2007

The Riddle as Sadie Miller

1962

The Saint as Jane Mayo
The Trunk as Diane

1961

Watch It, Sailor! as Shirley Hornett

1960

And the Same to You as Cynthia Tripp
Trouble with Eve as Daisy Freeman

1959

Too Many Crooks as Charmaine

1958

I Was Monty's Double as Angela
Grip of the Strangler as Pearl
Up the Creek as Lily
A Clean Sweep as Daphne Watson
Womaneater as Sally Norton
The Nice Americans as Ann Addams

1957

The Prince and the Showgirl as Betty
Hell Drivers as Blonde at Dance
Quatermass 2 as Sheila
The Flesh Is Weak as Edna

1956

Stars in Your Eyes as Maureen Temple

1955

A Kid for Two Farthings as Mimi
It's a Great Day as Blondie
Fun at St. Fanny's as Maisie

1954

The Crowded Day as Suzy Green
Dance Little Lady as Gladys