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Eileen Bennett

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eileen Bennett
BERJAYA
Born
Eileen Jessie Mary Bennett

(1919-07-08)8 July 1919
London, England
Died9 March 2025(2025-03-09) (aged 105)
OccupationsActress, model
Years active1939–1943
Spouse
Thomas West Hammond Jr.
(m. 1945; died 1970)
[1][2]
Children2, including Nicholas Hammond

Eileen Jessie Mary Bennett (8 July 1919 – 9 March 2025) was a British film and West End stage actress who was active in the industry in the late 1930s and early 1940s. She was the mother of actor Nicholas Hammond.

Early life

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Eileen Jessie[3] Mary Bennett was born in London, England on 8 July 1919.[4] She attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and started her career as a model.[5]

Film career

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Bennett made her uncredited screen debut in the 1939 film The Outsider. Later that year, she played Eve in the thriller Trunk Crime. 1939 also saw her deputise as a television announcer for Jasmine Bligh when she was on leave.[6] Bennett was described as "Britain's new screen star" in 1942.[7] She had significant roles in the comedy Much Too Shy (1942) and Thursday's Child (1943).[8]

Personal life and death

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Bennett married Thomas West Hammond Jr. during World War II in July 1945.[9][10] He died from a heart attack in 1970.[11][12] The couple had two sons: David Hammond, and actor Nicholas Hammond.[8] Bennett turned 100 on 8 July 2019, and she died in Washington, D.C. on 9 March 2025, at the age of 105.[4][13]

Filmography

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Year Title Role
1939 The Outsider Uncredited
Q Planes Uncredited
The Gang's All Here Cigarette seller
Trunk Crime Eve
Cæsar's Friend (TV movie) Marcella
1941 He Found a Star Sleepy
1942 Back-Room Boy Uncredited
Breach of Promise Uncredited
Much Too Shy Jackie Somers
1943 Thursday's Child Phoebe Wilson

References

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  1. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/washingtonpost/name/eileen-hammond-obituary?id=57888020
  2. http://www.georgeformby.co.uk/ladies/bennett/biog.htm
  3. GRO Index
  4. 1 2 "Eileen Bennett, actress who starred with George Formby on screen and lit up the West End in the war". The Telegraph. 14 March 2025. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  5. "Sequel to Fantasia". Evening Standard. 6 April 1942. p. 6. Retrieved 22 September 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  6. Corbishley, H (April 1939). "Scannings and Reflections" (PDF). Television and Short-Wave World. 12 (134): 209–210 via World Radio History.
  7. "Untitled". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 3 August 1942. p. 6. Retrieved 22 September 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  8. 1 2 "Eileen Bennett". The George Formby Society. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  9. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/washingtonpost/name/eileen-hammond-obituary?id=57888020
  10. http://www.georgeformby.co.uk/ladies/bennett/biog.htm
  11. http://www.georgeformby.co.uk/ladies/bennett/biog.htm
  12. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/washingtonpost/name/eileen-hammond-obituary?id=57888020
  13. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/washingtonpost/name/eileen-hammond-obituary?id=57888020
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