Eileen Essel is a popular British actress who has played in film and theater. World fame came to her only in the last years of her life after the release of feature films "Duplex", "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", "Magic Country".
Biography of the actress
Eileen Essel was born in London. She was born in 1922. She began her creative career at the famous Oxford Theater, for many years remaining exclusively a theater actress.
As a young woman, Eileen Essel captivated audiences with her brilliant acting in British and foreign plays. In 1958, having worked by that time in the theater for more than ten years, she became the wife of the English playwright Gerald McLarnon. The actress gave birth to his son Fergus, and over time she herself began to teach dramatic art in English theater universities.
In the early 2000s, her star lit up in film and television. Only this time they began to recognize her not only in the UK, but far beyond its borders, because immediately several films with her participation were successfully shown at the global box office. She is best known for her role as the old and grouchy neighbor of a young married couple in Danny DeVito's comedy Duplex, which she performed in 2003.
Eileen Essel died on February 15, 2015. The cause of death was a long illness of the actress. She was 92 years old.
Duplex
In the tape "Duplex" the heroine of our article played one of the main roles - Mrs. Connelly. Together with her on the set, Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore shone.
This is an American "black" comedy about a young married couple: the writer Alex and his wife Nancy. After a long and unsuccessful search, they find their dream apartment - a duplex in Brooklyn. This is a special type of real estate, which is intended for two families, but this does not bother them at all. In addition, their neighbor turns out to be an elderly Mrs. Connelly, who has the right to live on the second floor of their two-story apartment.
Over time, it turns out that this neighborhood will not do without losses for anyone. In this film, Eileen Essel brilliantly plays a bitchy pensioner who seeks to ruin the lives of young people by all means. Alex and Nancy at some point realize that they are not able to cope with the problem on their own. Then they hire a hit man to fix the problem with the old lady.
But when the killer attacks Mrs. Connelly, she stubbornly resists, and in the end plunges into his shoulder the harpoon that belonged to her late whaler husband. Unable to bearneighborhood with a pensioner, the main characters leave the duplex, but soon find out that their neighbor has died.
But then it turns out that in reality she turns out to be a lively and very prudent woman who, along with her re altor son and one policeman, is pulling money out of young couples, driving them into a frenzy, forcing them to urgently leave, selling enviable real estate at junk price.
The film ends with the fact that the writer Alex still comes inspiration, he writes a book called "Duplex", which describes all the adventures of his family. The novel becomes a bestseller.
Magic Land
In 2004 Eileen Essel plays in Mark Forster's drama "Fairyland" with Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet.
This is a biography of the English writer James Barry, who became famous all over the world thanks to his fabulous stories about Peter Pan. The picture details the difficult and sometimes tragic fate of the writer, telling about what he had to face before he came up with one of the most resilient and romantic heroes of modern literature.
Eileen Essel in the film gets a small but memorable role of Mrs. Snow.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
In 2005, the heroine of our article played in another picture with Johnny Depp. This is Tim Burton's musical fantasy comedy "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" about the boy CharlieBucket, who lives in the city next door to the chocolate factory where the mysterious Willy Wonka works.
One day the main character gets a ticket to this enterprise, which was not allowed for many years, and after the tour they promise to provide him with chocolate for life.
Essel plays one of Charlie's grandmothers named Josephine. In the Russian dubbing, she was voiced by Svetlana Starikova.
Participation in series
In addition to filming full-length films, Essel is remembered for her roles in several popular television series at once. In 2003, she played in the TV project "Strange's X-Files".
In 2007, fans remembered her for her role in one of the episodes of the serial sci-fi drama "Torchwood". This is an "offshoot" of the cult British series "Doctor Who", with which the plot of the drama is often intertwined.
It tells about the Torchwood Institute, founded in the 19th century by Queen Victoria after meeting with the Doctor. This is a secret organization that is designed to fight the enemies of the British Empire outside the planet. Moreover, Queen Victoria also considers the Doctor himself an enemy of the empire.
