Ingrid Pitt, Doyenne Of Hammer Horror Films Dies at 74

[salty64]

R.I.P one of the silver screens scariest scream queens. 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11823418

[michblk]

RIP Ingrid! 

BK

[monsterphile]

That's a shame.  I met her at the Monster Mania con in NJ here years ago, but didn't get to talk to her much as I was too intimidated back then to really engage the celebrities.  A couple of years ago I read her autobiography.  She lived an amazing life including some horrible times during WWII.


Rob

[jamesenstein31]

No way! One of my favorite sex symbols, for sure. Graced a few notable horror classics. This is a bit of a shock.

[Opera Ghost]

A shock indeed. My lust for Ingrid Pitt is eternal, but then again, she always shined in the afterlife!

[Ormsby]

Very sad. 

Ormsby

[BaronLatos35]

Wow...may have to do a movie tribute to her this weekend. Definitely was a favorite onscreen.

[marsattacks666]

Wtf!!!!!!!! Say it isn't so?!? Now I am so sad. I will always remember her in
the Wicker Man and the House that Dripped Blood. R.I.P.

[I am the Female Dracula]

This is awful. First major actor/actress to die while I was aware of them (I normally see films or find out about people 10 years after their death!)

She was great and I'm really glad I got a signed photo from her when I did. I'll post it later on

[poseablemonster]

One of my all-time favorites, this is such a shock!  R.I.P.

[Ramboona]

35 years!  Can it be possible?  A different time, practically a different world.

For one thing, I was a wide-eyed child of just 9 years then, innocent and naive in ways that were still possible in 1975.  But I knew beauty and grace when I saw them, and I saw them in their purest form exactly 35 years ago this month when Ingrid Pitt stepped off an elevator in a Manhattan hotel, looked down and me, and smiled.  One of those unprecedented moments in ones life that has the singular power to transcend the decades and remain fresh, like a favorite song or sunset or the taste of a first kiss.  Ingrid was (and of course still is) a strikingly beautiful woman, but that is the most obvious of observations, and even at 9 years of age I saw in her smile and intoxicating presence something more than just what was visible, but also what wasn't.  Children have an uncanny knack for seeing through things and being able to recognize what might best be called essence.  And that is what I saw that day, the essence of beauty and grace and femininity, which is a lot to take in at such a tender age.  But take it in I did.

In short, she was a knockout and I was staggered.

Mind you, I had traveled 400 miles by train from my home in upstate New York to attend the 1975 FAMOUS MONSTERS CONVENTION in New York City that weekend (being just 9, my dear, patient mum was in tow) and while I knew that Ingrid would be there, I was literally trembling with excitement at the idea of seeing no less than the wonderful Peter Cushing, who was also a guest that weekend in a rare US appearance.  But while I did indeed get to see The Great Man, hear him speak, shake his hand and receive the obligatory autograph, it was Ingrid who remained most vivid in my mind afterwards.

Seeing Ingrid and Peter together was of course a marvelous experience for this then youthful horror film buff, and I still have and treasure the autographs and memories that they gave me (and about 5,000 of my familiars) that weekend.  I never had the opportunity to see Mr. Cushing again after that, but Ingrid... well, that was a different story.

Flash forward about 20 years or so.  New Jersey, just across the bridge from that hotel in Manhattan, at the (then) annual CHILLER THEATRE convention.  I was looking forward to seeing Ingrid again, this time as fully-grown 6 footer, but still ever the fan of classic horror.  The crowds were intense (as they were and still are at CHILLER) and I jostled my way down to the room where Ingrid was scheduled to be holding court.  Before I could get there I encountered a group of friends who had gathered in the hallway and I stopped to chat with them.  After a few minutes' conversation, one of my friends tapped me on the shoulder and inquired, "do you know her?"

"Her who?"

"Ingrid Pitt," he answered.  "She just walked by but stopped when she saw you.  She was standing next to you as if she wanted to tell you something, but you didn't seem to notice.  So after a few moments of being ignored, she walked away."

"Oh, bloody hell," I blurted out and went straightaway down the hall, through and over the crowds, to Ingrid's suite where she was helming her table.  And as I turned the corner and spotted her again for the first time in over two decades, I was stopped dead in my tracks.

The woman hadn't changed.  In over twenty years, the woman hadn't changed!

And then she looked up from her table of photos and memorabilia and smiled at me.  The years fell away and suddenly it was 1975, and for a fleeting moment I again saw with the eyes of a child the essence I'd first seen two decades before, still vibrant and intoxicating and alive.

I stammered an apology for the unintended snub of a few moments' ago, but Ingrid told me to think nothing of it; "you just looked like a familiar bloke, I thought perhaps we'd met before," she said in that distinctive, smokey voice (rather like Garbo, if she were from Britain).

I told Ingrid that, cliched as it might sound, she hadn't changed a bit since '75.  Another smile.  "Flattery will get you everywhere," she said.  But I spoke the truth.  And a warm friendship was born.

More than another decade has passed since then.  Life moves on.  Not quite two years ago, Ingrid and I lost a close mutual friend, one Forrest J Ackerman, who was also present at that convention back in 1975 (indeed it would have been impossible without him).  This anniversary month I've been thinking a great deal of FJA, and of Ingrid, and of the world that was back then.  And although once again it had been too many years since I'd seen Ingrid, I have no doubt whatsoever that she remained as she was 35 years ago and always shall remain in my memory: The Essence.  The smile, the beauty, the effortless elegance.

And who knows, perhaps even at this late date, flattery might still get me everywhere.

Cheers, Ingrid.  And thank you.

[Radioactive Rod Whitenack]

Oh my, I am a bit heartbroken. I didn't expect news like this when I logged on today. Donnie Waddell and I had been planning a mini Hammer Glamour tribute for Wonderfest next year. We had Caroline Munro and Martine Beswick set to go, and I had always wanted to meet the amazing and beautiful Ingrid Pitt. Discussions were ongoing regarding the budget and airline tickets from Britain for additional Hammer guests.

What an amazing woman. The world will never see another like her. I'm at a loss for words right now.

Rod

[Paul L]

I'm truly stunned!! RIP to a lovely, talented lady.

[Scatter]

I'm truly saddened by this awful news. She was a goddess. RIP dear Ingrid.

[jamesenstein31]

Gosh, Ramboona , that was a lovely recollection