Hilary Heath who starred in 1968's 'Witchfinder General' horror flick dies at 74 from COVID-19 complications
COVID-19 has claimed yet another life. This time, it is 'Witchfinder General' star Hilary Heath. Heath died at the age of 74 from complications due to coronavirus.
Her godson had taken to Facebook to share the news that she had passed away last week. "We lost my wonderful Godmother Hilary Heath to COVID-19 last week," he had written.
Heath made her feature acting debut in Michael Reeves' British-American cult historical horror hit 'Witchfinder General'. The movie fictionalized the witch-hunting exploits of 17th Century Englishman Matthew Hopkins, played by Vincent Price.
In 2010, she had said, "I adored Vincent. I played his mistress, his daughter and his wife. And he said, 'If you ever play my mother, I'll marry you'."
Heath played the role of Sara Lowes, the niece of the village priest who is accused of witchcraft. She proposes to exchange sexual favors with Hopkins and was later raped, deemed a witch, tortured and driven to madness.
Years later after the movie had released and relished, she would say, "I don't think that I realized I was the star."
She also starred in 'The Oblong Box', 'Cry of the Banshee', 'Two Gentlemen Sharing' and in a 1970 Robert Fuest adaptation of 'Wuthering Heights' featuring Timothy Dalton, in which she played the role of Isabella.
On the producing front, Heath made 'An Awfully Big Adventure' starring Alan Rickman and 'Nil By Mouth' written and directed by Gary Oldman.
The British actress and producer also starred on television in 'The Avengers' and 'Space: 1999' (which was her last onscreen appearance back in 1976).
Apart from being an actress, Heath was a socially conscious and a very giving person. Her godson notes that her "most remarkable re-invention" was when she took a course from Oxford University to help addicts.
" Her most remarkable re-invention came in her mid-60s when she won a master's degree from Oxford in psychology and became an addiction counselor, specializing in CBT. She worked at clinics all over the world, often for free, often with very deprived and distressed individuals, and she regarded this as her most valuable work by far," he wrote.
"She was a force of nature, and I can't bear it that she is no longer with us," he concluded the note. Heath is survived by her son Daniel Heath, her daughter Laura and her ex-husband Duncan Heath.
