Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Who Appeared in 1 of Hitchcock's Final Films, Dies at 88

Stage actor Barbara Leigh-Hunt, who stole the spotlight in Alfred Hitchcock's second-to-last film as the desperate victim of a mad strangler, has died at 88.

THR confirmed she died September 16 at her Warwickshire, England, home.

Born December 14, 1935, in Aston Cantlow, Warwickshire, England, she was for decades busy in the theater, including "Hamlet" (1958), "Sherlock Holmes" (1973), and "Justice" (1974) on Broadway, and an Olivier Award-winning supporting performance in the National Theatre production of "An Inspector Calls" (1993), which was directed by Stephen Daldry.

Her film work included "Henry VIII and His Six Wives" (1972) and Daldry's "Billy Elliot" (2000), but it was her work in Hitchcock's "Frenzy" in 1972 that earned her a place in movie history. With the exception of the shocking murder in "Psycho," Hitchcock's films rarely showed graphic violence. In "Frenzy," a serial killer played by Barry Foster targets Leigh-Hunt's character, the ex of his friend (Jon Finch). Leigh-Hunt's character is brutally raped and murdered on-screen, representing Hitchcock experimenting with film's expanding boundaries.

It was a part turned down by Vanessa Redgrave, and one that Leigh-Hunt captured to perfection.

"Frenzy" was Hitchcock's only R-rated movie, was considered a return to form, and was his final big hit.

Leigh-Hunt's other claim to fame was playing Lady Catherine de Bourgh in the 1995 BBC production of "Pride and Prejudice," which starred a young Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.

Her final film was "Vanity Fair" (2004), for director Mira Nair.

Leigh-Hunt was preceded in death by her husband of nearly 50 years, Richard Pasco, who died in 2014.