St. Petersburg Times (04/Oct/1987) - Madeleine Carroll, star of classic Hitchcock films
Details
- article: Madeleine Carroll, star of classic Hitchcock films
- newspaper: St. Petersburg Times (04/Oct/1987)
- keywords: Alfred Hitchcock, Madeleine Carroll, Secret Agent (1936), The 39 Steps (1935)
Article
Madeleine Carroll, star of classic Hitchcock films
MARBELLA, Spain — Madeleine Carroll, a cool, blond actress who starred in such movie classics as Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps and Secret Agent, died Friday. She was 81.
The British-born actress died at her home in this Mediterranean resort after a long illness, her lawyer, Francisco Cruz Conde, said.
Her career spanned the 1930s and 1940s. The 39 Steps in 1935 won her international fame and was followed by Secret Agent the next year.
Other movies she appeared in included The Prisoner of Zenda, 1937; Honeymoon in Bali, 1939 ; The Scarlet Tunics, 1940, directed by Cecil B. De Mille; An Innocent Affair, 1948, and The Fan, 1949, directed by Otto Preminger.
The Countess of Llanos, Maria de Salamanca Larish, a friend of Ms. Carroll's, said Saturday that the actress was recently released from a Marbella hospital, where she was treated for a month for gall bladder cancer.
Born Feb. 26, 1906 in Birmingham, England, Ms. Carroll received a university degree in French and taught junior high school in France. But with her mother's support, she quit teaching and traveled to London to look for acting jobs.
She won a small role in a traveling company in London in 1929. By 1934, she had received an offer to work in Hollywood and the following year shot to stardom in The 39 Steps.
In 1940, after a divorce from her first husband, Philip Ashley, Ms. Carroll met American film actor Sterling Hayden. They were married for six years before divorcing.
Ms. Carroll also was married to Henry Lavorel and Andrew Heiskell. Both marriages ended in divorce. She moved to Spain and had lived in Marbella since 1968, according to her lawyer.
Ms. Carroll served as a nurse in Europe for the U.S. Red Cross during War II. She earned the rank of captain and received the Medal of Freedom.
In 1946, France awarded her the Legion of Honor for her work as a liaison between U.S. Army forces and French Resistance forces.
