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Vanda Hudson

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Vanda Hudson
Hudson as Picturegoer cover-girl, 1958
Born
Wanda Maria Zaleska

(1933-10-07)7 October 1933
Died2 April 2004(2004-04-02) (aged 70)
Occupation(s)actress and cabaret artiste
Years active1955–1971

Vanda Hudson (born Wanda Maria Zaleska; 7 October 1933 – 2 April 2004[1][2]) was a Polish-born British film and television actress, cabaret entertainer and model. She was noted for playing blonde bombshell roles.

Career

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Born in Slaskie, Poland, Hudson emigrated to the UK in 1948 and after working as a cabaret singer found her first acting role in the 1955 BBC TV drama Miss Patterson.[3]

From 1957–1969 she appeared in a dozen British films including Sapphire (1959), Bottoms Up (1960), Strip Tease Murder (1961) and Jungle Street Girls (1961), in which she sang "I'm Only a Girl" (Harold Geller/Perry Ford). In 1960 she appeared in the cult film Circus of Horrors in which she played a girl stabbed to death by a knife-thrower.

In 1959 she wrote a weekly column "Diary of a Glamour Girl" for Picturegoer magazine."[4]

On TV she appeared in The Vise (1954) and The Avengers (1961).

In 1971 she appeared in cabaret in London at the Astor Club[5] and in the review "Stand By For Take Off" at the Casino de Paris club.[6][7]

Personal life

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She was married to Jan Pikulski with whom she had a son.[8]

After retiring from show business she ran the restaurant "Turpin’s" in Hampstead, London.[1]

Filmography

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TV appearances

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  • Miss Patterson (1955) as girl
  • The Vise, S02E11, "Death Mask" (1954) as Toni
  • The Avengers, S01E19, "Double Danger" (1961) as Lola Carrington

References

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  1. ^ a b McGillivray, David (20 December 2004). "Gone but not forgotten". The Stage and Television Today. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
  2. ^ "Vanda HUDSON". Film Index International. Retrieved 14 January 2025 – via ProQuest.
  3. ^ "Miss Patterson". BBC Programme Index. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
  4. ^ "A Girl's Gotta Live". Picturegoer. Vol. 38. 4 November 1959. p. 4 – via ProQuest.
  5. ^ "Current Bills". Variety. Vol. 261, no. 12. 3 February 1971. p. 62 – via ProQuest.
  6. ^ "Vanda Hudson – star of Get Ready For Take-Off at the CASINO DE PARIS". The Stage and Television Today. No. 4688. 18 February 1971. p. 6 – via ProQuest.
  7. ^ MacCarthy, Fiona (13 January 1971). "40 men and a girl – and nobody noticed me". Evening Standard. p. 15. Retrieved 14 January 2025 – via ProQuest.
  8. ^ "Vanda's son goes home with mother". Evening Standard. 15 July 1960. p. 13. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
  9. ^ "Greetings Cards". British Pathé. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
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