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Valerie Leon Biography Valerie was born in London, England. Her father was a textile Company Director. Her mother was trained as an actress at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. As a young girl she went to a girls school called Channing, in Highgate, where she already was very eye-catching because she was 6 ft. (180 cm) tall.  She was training as a fashion buyer with the famous Knightsbridge store, Harrods, when she came across an advertisement in "The Stage Newspaper" for chorus singers in a touring production of "The Belle of New York". 'I had always been stage struck and decided to audition; that was the end of the respectable career my parents had always had in mind for me!' Sadly the tour folded after six weeks and she started doing crowd work in films until finally breaking into the West End in "Funny Girl" with Barbra Streisand, at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London in 1966: 'Because of my height and looks, I soon found an agent and was encouraged to accentuate my cleavage, and sure enough, the work started to come in - The Baron, The Saint, The Avengers, and Randall & Hopkirk Deceased, preceded a certain series of classic comedy films, the Carry-On's!'... 'I started as one of the Harem Girls in Carry On Up the Khyber and then graduated to a speaking part in Carry On Camping, where I played the eager shop assistant who helped Charlie Hawtrey 'erect his tent'! In Carry On Again, Doctor I was Jim Dales secretary, thoroughly confusing him with my overt sexual advances! In Carry On Girls I played Bernard Bresslaw's frumpy fiancee; transformed into a beauty queen by Barbara Windsor. Carry On Matron saw me give birth to triplets delivered by Terry Scott! My favourite role, however, was Carry On Up The Jungle, in which I was Leda, the leader of the all-women tribe, called the Aphrodisiacs, who were desperately seeking out men!' Many other small roles followed, including the Man Who Had Power Over Women and the Rise And Rise Of Michael Rimmer. Whilst working on The Italian job, Michael Caine encouraged her to try her luck in Hollywood, a suggestion she regretfully never pursued. In the course of her career, Valerie has been lucky enough to work with some of the top British comedians - Ronnie Barker, Frankie Howerd, Charlie Drake, Ronnie Corbett, Peter Sellers, Peter Cook, Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Les Dawson, Brian Rix, Norman Wisdom and Morecambe and Wise. In 1971, comedy took a back seat as Valerie landed her first leading role in a Hammer Horror movie. It was a dual starring role in Blood From the Mummy's Tomb. ' It was a jinxed movie' she reminisces. 'I did a days' filming with Peter Cushing playing my father when he was called away as his beloved wife became seriously ill. The role was taken over by Andrew Keir. A few weeks into the film, our director, Seth Holt (who had directed Bette Davis in The Nanny), developed hiccups which at first we all found rather amusing; this went on for several days until he suddenly dropped dead from a heart attack. I was devastated; he had been my mentor and I was refused permission to go to his funeral because of our tight schedule! The film was completed by Michael Carreras. In recent years, Blood From The Mummy's Tomb as achieved cult status and has recently been reissued on DVD with a live interview with the ever-glamorous Miss Leon. Comedies mercifully followed with No Sex Please, We're British and a film rarity, Queen Kong, with Rula Lenska where Valerie played a cameo as a High Priestess. The film never came out due to insoluble copyright problems. Then followed two films with Roger Moore, whom she had previously worked with in The Saint and The Persuaders (where she played an out-of-work actress who drove around promoting soap in a space rocket): 'Roger Moore gave me a memorable unscripted kiss! He had the knack of making an actor feel comfortable, and was always fun to work with!' Her association with Roger Moore continued with The Wild Geese and as an immortal Bond Girl in The Spy Who Loved Me. 'It was a wonderful experience. I was whisked off to Sardinia for filming on the Aga Khan's complex and we were all treated like royalty. The impact of being a Bond Girl is extraordinary. It makes no difference whether you play a cameo or a leading role, you are known as a Bond Girl in every part of the world!!' The Revenge of the Pink Pather with Peter Sellers and Herbert Lom saw Valerie as Tanya the Lotus Eater, clad in skin tight black leather and wielding a whip! 'I took whipping lessons in our back garden to prepare for the part; that certainly set the neighbours talking!' she recalls. 007 beckoned once more with an upgrade: a coveted bed scene with heartthrob Sean Connery; in the independent production of Never Say Never Again. 'My character was called Sexpot/Lady in The Bahamas... I think I got the part by going along to the audition in Soho at 10am wearing a maroon cat suit, a brocade sleeveless coat, boots and spurs!!' For all her film work, Valerie's first love remains the stage, and she has particularly fond memories of her starring role with Patrick Cargill in the theatre production of Agatha Christie's thriller, Black Coffee, which she toured for four months. She then played the part of The Film Star in the musical, Sweet Charity followed by a Christmas show of Dracula at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. She married Michael Mills in 1972. He was Head of Comedy at The BBC and sadly died in 1986. They had two children: a boy, Leon, born in 1975 and a girl, Merope, born in 1977. She subsequently left show business to bring up her two children but reappeared in 1997 in pantomime as The Wicked Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves followed by Good Fairy in Cinderella (a role she had played in the late Sixties. A superb voice was unexpectedly revealed when she appeared in a London production of Stravinsky's opera The Rake's Progress, where she gave an acclaimed portrayal of the brothel-keeper, Mother Goose. Valerie has now formed her own promotions company 'Valerie Leon Promotions' which specialises in gourmet restaurants and arts-related activities. "I still love show business but, as we all know, parts are scarce for the mature woman and there are many great middle-aged actresses out there!" 'She will, however, always take time off to make special appearances or do fun commercials, such as the recently filmed and highly successful Kellogg's Fruit 'n' Fibre. These days she gets more fan mail than ever before. The Seventies are back in fashion, websites preserve the images of the überbabe, and film students contact her with earnest enquiries for their theses on subjects such as 'The role of women in the Carry On movies'. This makes her laugh: 'lt’s very flattering, and is nice to be remembered, but sometimes I do feel a bit of a fraud!' WeIl, she still looks fabulous as can be seen in her present day photographs; some fans find her even more beautiful now than in her younger days. 'I have a portrait in my attic', she smiles seductively; quoting Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray.' Carry On Always, Valerie! |
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