Linda Hayden (born Linda Higginson, 19 January 1953) is an English film and television actress. She is best known for her roles in 1970s British horror films and sex comedies.
Career Hayden was born in Stanmore, Middlesex. She trained at the Aida Foster stage school before making her film debut at the age of 15 in the film Baby Love (1969), playing a schoolgirl who seduces her adoptive family. She next appeared in two horror films; playing Alice Hargood in Hammer's Taste the Blood of Dracula, (1970),"Taste The Blood Of Dracula 1970" BritishHorrorFilms.co.uk (Retrieved: 16 February 2010) followed by a memorable performance as the demonically possessed Angel Blake in The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971), made by Tigon. In 1972, she played a pregnant teenage hitchhiker in Something to Hide.
Hayden appeared opposite Robin Askwith, her then-boyfriend, in the British sex comedies Confessions of a Window Cleaner (1974), Confessions from a Holiday Camp (1977) and, with Fiona Richmond, in Let's Get Laid (1978); she and Askwith were also in the cult film Queen Kong (1976), but this was never released theatrically in Britain due to a legal dispute). Hayden also shared the stage with Askwith, in Richard Harris and Leslie Darbon's farce Who Goes Bare. Hayden and Richmond had previously appeared together in the thriller Exposé (1976), which was known as Trauma in the US and House on Straw Hill in Australia; the film was banned in the UK as a "video nasty".
Following a brief role in The Boys from Brazil (1978), Hayden worked mainly in stage and television work. In 1980 she appeared in the ITV series The Professionals as 'Gerda' in the episode 'Black Out' and as 'Annie,' Terry McCann's girlfriend in the Christmas special Minder on the Orient Express, 1985. She also took a role in the thriller Underground at Toronto's Royal Alexandra Theatre and London's Prince of Wales Theatre in 1983, as well as a 1997 episode of The Bill.
Now semi-retired, she featured as Mrs Brown in Martin Kemp's 2010 remake of Exposé, with Jane March playing Linda (Hayden's role in the 1976 original).
Writing
In March 2023, Hayden penned an introduction to the LGBT+ horror novel, Satan's Lamp by William Jackson. Referring to her first film role as Luci in Baby Love, she writes, 'I was transfixed to see myself on an eighty-foot-high poster in Times Square... making me look like an evil creature and sending all the wrong messages... But in an odd twist of fate, this billboard turned out to be an augur of my future with the horror genre.' Jackson, William (2023). Satan's Lamp. MFco. pp 9-13. ISBN 978-1-912622-39-9
Personal life She is the sister of the actress Jane Hayden (b. 1957), who played a number of roles on films and TV in the 1970s.
Hayden was in a relationship with her fellow actor and frequent co-star Robin Askwith in the 1970s. She married Paul Elliot in 1987.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes 1969 Baby Love Luci 1970 Taste the Blood of Dracula Alice Hargood Hammer production 1971 The Blood on Satan's Claw Angel Blake Tigon production1972 Something to Hide Lorelei 1973 Night Watch Girl in Car Embassy Pictures1974 Vampira Helga Madhouse Elizabeth Peters Amicus Productions Barcelona Kill Linda La redada (original title) Confessions of a Window Cleaner Elizabeth Radlett Columbia Pictures1976 Exposé Linda Hindstatt House on Straw Hill (alternative title) Queen Kong The Singing Nun 1977 Confessions from a Holiday Camp Brigitte Columbia Pictures1978 Let's Get Laid Gloria The Boys from Brazil Nancy 20th Century Fox 2010 Stalker Ms. Brown 2012 Run for Your Wife Cameo
Television Year Title Role Notes1968 The Charlie Drake Show 2 episodes1971 Now Look Here Sally 4 episodes1972 Crown Court Linda Davies Episode: "Traffic Warden's Daughter - Part 1"1973 Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em Linda Episode: "Getting a Job" Marked Personal Gillian Gibson 2 episodes1975 Village Hall Helga Episode: "The Rough and the Smooth" My Brother's Keeper Jennie Episode: "Pig in the Middle"1976 Heydays HotelIrmgardeTV film1977 The Galton & Simpson Playhouse Henry's Secretary Episode: "Swap You One of These for Another of Those"1978-1979 Robin's Nest Jan/Millie Winters 2 episodes1980 Mackenzie Krista Episode: "Sole Agent" The Professionals Gerda Helm Episode: "Black Out"1981 Dick Turpin Sal Episode: "Dick Turpin's Greatest Adventure - Part 4" Shillingbury Tales Mandy Smith 4 episodes1982 Let There Be Love Annabelle Episode: "Dad's the Word"1983 Cuffy Mandy 2 episodes Just Good Friends Sonia Episode: "After All This Time" Hart to Hart Ute Episode: "Passing Chance"1984 Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense Ellen Jarvis Episode 8 "Black Carrion"1985 Minder Annie Episode: "Minder on the Orient Express"1986 The Kenny Everett Television Show 2 episodes1988 Mr. H is Late Sunbather Television short1989 The Return of Sam McCloud Nancy Cratchett TV film1991 The Upper Hand Diana Wilkinson Season 2, episode 9 "A Friend in Need"1992 Shelley Mrs. Archer 1 episode1997 The Bill Wendy Pierce Episode: "Performance Anxiety"
References and notes
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