Vera Day

Actress

August 4, 1935 (90 years)

London, England, UK

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 impre…

Filmography

7.4

The Saint

Jane Mayo

Simon Templar is The Saint, a handsome, sophisticated, debonair, modern-day Robin Hood who recovers ill-gotten wealth and redistributes it to those in need.

8.1

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Tanya

A card shark and his unwillingly-enlisted friends need to make a lot of cash quick after losing a sketchy poker match. To do this they decide to pull a heist on a small-time gang who happen to be operating out of the flat next door.

6.3

The Prince and the Showgirl

Betty

An American showgirl becomes entangled in political intrigue when the Prince Regent of a foreign country attempts to seduce her.

6.7

Hell Drivers

Blonde at Dance

An ex-con trying to go clean ends up working for a crooked trucking company swindling money.

6.4

Quatermass 2

Sheila

In England, a group of space scientists led by Bernard Quatermass, who have developed plans for the first Moon colony, learn that a secret, ostensibly government-run, complex of identical design has been built in a remote part of England and is the focus of periodic falls of small, hollow "meteorites" originating in outer space. Quatermass determines to investigate and uncovers a terrifying extraterrestrial life form which has already begun action to take over the Earth.

4.8

The Riddle

Sadie Miller

A journalist investigates a series of murders that follows the discovery of an unpublished novel by Charles Dickens in the cellar of an old Thames pub.

6.9

I Was Monty's Double

Angela

The incredible but true story of how an impersonator was recruited to impersonate General Montgomery to mislead the Germans about his intentions before the North Africa campaign.

6.7

A Kid for Two Farthings

Mimi

Joe is a young boy who lives with his mother, Joanna, in working-class London. The two reside above the tailor shop of Mr. Kandinsky, who likes to tell Joe stories. When Kandinsky informs Joe that a unicorn can grant wishes, the hopeful lad ends up buying a baby goat with one tiny horn, believing it to be a real unicorn. Undaunted by his rough surroundings, Joe sets about to prove that wishes can come true.

7.4

A Stitch in Time

Betty

An accident in the butchers shop leads Norman Pitkin and Mr Grimsdale to the hospital where, after causing the normal amount of chaos, Pitkin finds Lindy, a little girl who hasn't spoken or smiled since her parents were killed in an aeroplane accident. Pitkin decides to help.

5.9

And the Same to You

Cynthia Tripp

Dickie Dreadnought is the boxing-mad nephew of pious clergyman Reverend Sydney Mullet. To mollify his disapproving uncle, Dickie embarks on an elaborate plan to keep his budding boxing career a secret, with he and his tough-talking promoter Wally Burton both pretending to be devout 'men of the cloth'.

6.0

Up the Creek

Lily

Bumbling navy officer Lieutenant Humphrey Fairweather (David Tomlinson) is transferred to HMS Berkeley, an old World War II destroyer, to keep him out of harm's way. But together with Chief Petty Officer Doherty (Peter Sellers), Fairweather gets into more trouble than might be thought possible, with events coming to a riotous conclusion when the Admiralty turn up for an inspection of the ship.

7.0

Watch It, Sailor!

Shirley Hornett

Sailor Albert gets a message from the Navy saying he can't marry for certain unexplained legal reasons. Everyone, including his domineering mother-in-law to be, jumps to the conclusion that there must be another woman involved.

5.8

The Crowded Day

Suzy Green

One day in the lives and loves of the staff in a large department store.

6.0

Saturday Night Out

Arlene

Five seamen and a passenger are intent on making the most of the 14 hours they will spend in London.

7.4

Too Many Crooks

Charmaine

Accident-prone Fingers runs a pretty unsuccessful gang. They try and rob wealthy but tricky Billy Gordon - who distrusts banks and fears the Inland Revenue - but he sees Fingers and the boys off. So they decide to kidnap his daughter, only to end up with his wife Lucy. Gordon makes out he couldn't be more pleased, spuring Lucy to take charge of the hopeless bunch of villains.

6.0

Grip of the Strangler

Pearl

A researcher investigating a notorious serial killer who was hanged 20 years earlier seemingly becomes possessed by the long dead strangler.

5.8

Fun at St. Fanny's

Maisie

Gormless 25 year-old Cardew, wealthy beneficiary of the Robinson Will, should have left St. Fanny's School many years ago. However, seedy headmaster Dr. Jankers (music hall favourite Fred Emney) is in the toils of shady bookmaker Harry the Scar (boxer Freddie Mills) and has so-far kept his golden goose perched firmly at the bottom of the class. Blissfully unaware of nefarious intrigue around him, Cardew continues to flirt coyly with the French mistress and gamble for school dinners on the form room roulette wheel. But canny Scots solicitor McTavish has been sent to investigate... Featuring television's Billy Bunter, Gerald Campion, gorgeous Vera Day, Will Hay cohort Claude Hulbert, muddle-mouthed Stanley Unwin, a young Ronnie Corbett, and enough old jokes to fill a Christmas Cracker factory.

4.6

Womaneater

Sally Norton

A mad scientist captures women and feeds them to a flesh-eating tree, which in turn gives him a serum that helps bring the dead back to life.

5.9

The Flesh Is Weak

Edna

Giani is a pimp who preys on the naïve, ‘just off the bus’ young women who come to post-war London for fortune.

7.0

Stars in Your Eyes

Maureen Temple

A group of feisty, talented young performers pool their resources and buy a dilapidated theatre to showcase their acts – but unscrupulous property developers also want the theatre and resort to dirty tricks to disrupt the first night's performance!