I guess this is as good a place as any to ask if anyone knows the details surrounding the suicide of actress Jill Bennett. This was the first movie I ever noticed her in and I always thought she was a quite attractive lady. Sad to hear of her demise in that way..
share Yes, a lovely lady, her husband, the famous playwrite, abused her verbally and probably helped it along;
I only ever heard a rumor that she was found in a bathtub....this seems to indicate she may have done her wrists up in the bath.
That's a rumor, however, If I find the answer I will post here.
Can't remember her husbands name; he wrote 'look back in anger'. He reportedly said his only regret at not being at her funeral was that he couldn't 'lean over the coffin and leave something in her eye...(spitting)" comparing the act to the bird in the book of Tobit....can you believe that?
EDIT: his name was OSBORNE
you are right about (john) osborne's contempt for bennett in nearly every detail, but his regret at her funeral wasn't being unable to "spit" into the coffin so much as the word that rhymes with it and is so much more insulting.
share YES, I have found out more: cannot confirm the actual place in her home, but this is from "THIS IS HERTFORDSHIRE" newspaper online- direct quote-
" Jill Bennett was a successful British actress from the 1960s onwards, but in 1990 ended her life with an overdose, although she left £600,000 to Battersea Dogs Home, which must have pleased her relatives."
She was 58.
she was in a james bond movie as a russian gymnast's instructor, I think- check out her filmography here at IMDB.
I was curious myself, finally found out....later, her ashes where scattered on the Thames from a boat while a singer sang "is that all there is?" her husband, osbourne, was a complete ASS!!! through it all., BTW.
I was unaware that she'd committed suicide until I checked out the cast of the film here after watching it. What a terrible shame...I've seen her in quite a few roles and she was always good...here she was a cut above the normal Amicus/Hammer prospective victim. I thought the whole film was well acted in fact.
AndyG
Andy-Thank you for the effort in finding out all these details my friend. It is much appreciated. Sure sounds like there's enough in her life story for a movie, huh? And seeing as she left her money to a dog's home, I like her even better now . A real sweetheart i'd say. By the way, just watched a rerun of "Britannia Hospital"(1982) on cable which i'd seen many years ago. I didn't realize she was in it until this viewing. Needless to say she was fine in that as well. Too bad she wasn't around long enough for her to be able to see her adoring fans on the internet...
share
I liked her as well just for the books here the Bond film was "For Your Eyes Only"
Where she played the couch for real life Professional ice skater Lynn-Holly Johnson
http://www.moola.com:80/moopubs/b2b/exc/join.jsp?sid=4d6a55744d7a45794e544d3d-2
[deleted]
Never saw KNOTS LANDING
http://worldofvbphoto.blogspot.com/
http://vbphoto.webs.com/models.htm
Jill was excellent in "The Skull," and I'm sorry to learn that the pain she experienced in this world proved unbearable. I loved her in "Full Circle," "Hawks" and "The Sheltering Sky" also. It's amazing how many films I've seen featuring her.
shareBTW, her ashes were strewn on the Thames from a boat in 1992 by director Lindsay Anderson, who also strew, at the same time, the ashes of actress Rachel Roberts, a one-time good friend of Jill Bennett's. Roberts had also committed suicide, quite horrifically, back in 1980 in Los Angeles. The memorial service aboard the boat was attended by a group of eminent theater and film folk, and the Peggy Lee hit "Is That All There Is?" was sung by Alan Price, once the keyboardist for the band The Animals. You can see the event as the closing sequence in Anderson's final, fascinating film, entitled -- of course -- IS THAT ALL THERE IS?, which was released posthumously in 1995.
share