Queens Of Scream: The New Blood (11) Midnight Marquee Press - Ruth Rose - Creators of King Kong Graphic Novel Bella Salon - Catalog/Advertisements Dream “Isabella” Runway Show The Wet Seal - Runway Show Catwalk Fashions - Lead Model - Runway Show The Wet Seal - In Store Model Bella Salon - Print Ad Hair Model Education/Training Acting/Scene Study: Redfield Arts (Instructor: Carl Randolph) Acting For The Camera: Redfield Arts (Instructor: Mark Redfield) Bachelor Of Arts: Towson University Music/Vocal Training: CCBC (Theory, Voice (Pop, Rock, Broadway) Peabody Conservatory Preparatory (Opera) Modeling: John Casablanca's Modeling and Career Center Production The Drum Major / Sound Design and Music / Palatine Pictures The-Tell-Tale Heart / Associate Producer, Composer / Redfield Arts The Death Of Poe / Composer / Redfield Arts The Sorcerer Of Stonehenge School / Composer / Redfield Arts Chainsaw Sally / Associate Producer / Redfield Arts and Planet X Entertainment Hispanic Apostolate / Composer / Production Assistant / Catholic Charities Special Skills Equestrian (beginner) Singing (Pop, Rock, Broadway) Mezzo Soprano / Alto Music Composition Costuming Accents: British/Cockney, New York, Southern, Baltimore Graphic Design Photography Special Guests Hammer Films Scream Siren Ingrid Pitt Girls & Corpses editor Robert Steven Rhine Horror fiction prodigy Amanda Underwood Makeup artist Teri Harrison Actress Nicola Fiore Actress Danica Decosto Actress Donna Hamblin Actress Patty Dunn Actress Dee Dee Bigelow Ingrid Pitt {insert photo here} Ingrid is internationally famous as Hammer Films' Queen of Horror. Countess Dracula, Vampire Lovers, The House That Dripped Blood, The Wicker Man, etc., have established her as an icon in the Fantasy Film genre. Her international film debut was in what is considered one of the greatest war films of all time, Where Eagles Dare. In this, she appeared opposite Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood. "They were great to work with, but ragged me all the time". After the film was finished, Clint said to Richard, "Shall we tell her now?" "What?", I demanded. "We had a bet. Who would get you in the sack first", Clint explained. "Who won?", I asked innocently - that floored them. Other films Ingrid has appeared in outside the horror genre are: Who Dares Wins, (aka The Final Option), Wild Geese 2, Hanna's War etc. Generally cast as a 'baddie', she usually manages to get killed horribly at the end of the final reel. "Being the anti-hero is great - they are always roles you can get your teeth into." Ingrid has appeared in many TV shows in the UK and USA - Ironside, Dundee and the Calhane, Dr. Who etc. She has also toured extensively throughout Great Britain and South America with her own stage company. Recently, her autobiography, Life's a Scream (Heinemann), (Darkness Before Dawn in the American edition), was published, and she was short-listed for the Talkies Awards for her own reading of extracts from the audio book. "I hate being second". The autobiography detailed the harrowing experiences of her early life in a Nazi Concentration camp, her search throughout the European Red Cross Refugee Camps for her father, and her escape from East Berlin, one step ahead of the Volkpolitzei. "I always had a big mouth and used to go on about the political schooling interrupting my quest for thespian glory. I used to think like that. Not good in a police state." The Bedside Companion for Ghosthunters (Batsfords) is Ingrid Pitt's tenth book. It was preceded by the Bedside Companion for Vampire Lovers (Batsfords). The Ingrid Pitt Book Of Murder, Torture And Depravity was published in October 2000. Several other books are in the pipeline. Ingrid's credentials for writing about ghosts spring from a time when she lived for a while with a tribe of Indians in Colorado. Sitting with her baby daughter, Steffanie, by a log fire, she was sure that she could see the face of her father smiling at her in the flames. "I told one of the others and he went all Hollywood Injun on me and said something like 'Heap good medicine'. I guess he was taking the mickey." Ingrid's first book, after a number of ill-fated tracts on the plight of the Native Americans, was a novel, Cuckoo Run, a spy story about mistaken identity. "I took it to Cubby Broccoli. It was about a woman called Nina Dalton who is pursued across South America in the mistaken belief that she is a spy. Cubby said it was a female Bond. He was being very kind." This was followed by a novelisation of the Peron era in Argentina, where she lived for a number of years after falling foul of the establishment in England. "Argentina was a wild frontier country ruled by a berserk military dictatorship at the time. It just suited my mood." A project which Ingrid has been working on for some, The Cross of Dracula, is a film which has Dracula desperately trying to keep off blood, and become a vegetarian. But his wife, the Countess, has no intention of letting him 'go over', and gives him an extremely hard time. She has also written three segments of a portmanteau film entitled Moonstruck, Altered Shapes and Somewhere After Midnight. She has also been commissioned by Hammer Films to write the definitive book on Hammer starting from the early days right up to date. Other writing projects include Bedside Companions of Butch Bitches and a different look at Britain entitled Ingrid Pitt's Britain. The Ingrid Pitt Fan Club is well represented internationally and has an Annual Reunion in London each November. In spite of her busy workload, Ingrid still manages to visit conventions and film festivals in the UK, Europe and USA. "It's great meeting the fans. They tell me that I am more beautiful now than when I was making films a quarter of a century ago. All lies, of course, but sweet. And where else is an old bag like me going to get strapping young men and women whispering sweet nothings in her ear?" Ingrid has a passion for World War 2 aircraft. After revealing her passion on a radio programme, she was invited by the museum at RAF Duxford to have a flight in a Lancaster. Ingrid writes regular columns for various magazines and periodicals as well as an IT magazine called Den of Geek.. Click here for details of the publications she currently writes for. Ingrid's passions are flying, cricket, golf and cuddling. *** NVF magazine interview with Ingrid Pitt Good day, Ingrid. How are we today? Old! And still waiting for the alleged benefits of old age. My Mother and I would love to read your autobiography Life's A Scream. How old were you when you first had to endure the horrors of war? Life's a Scream has now been updated and reprinted in America under the title of Darkness Before Dawn. I think my early memories are of living on my Grandfather's farm . They are all too sunny and idyllic to be real but there must be a little substance there. More reliable memories kick in when I was about 5/6 years old. Soldiers putting us, my Mother, father , Grandmother and Father, in the back of a truck and driving off. Then the station where there were thousands of people just like us. Soldiers with dogs. Very frightening. I seem to remember being marched off and looking back and seeing my grand mother sitting on a chair with my Grandfather standing behind her. Again that could be one of those dodgy memories that haunt us. Like my husband's memory of the night before he was born. He remembers distinctly sitting on a lamp post watching his mother and father go into the hospital. I do have a photograph of my grandparents in a similar pose to the one I remember. My Mother also said that her favorite war film is Where Eagles Dare, in which you starred with Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton. What was it like working with them? There was a very friendly atmosphere. Except when Elizabeth turned up and virtually accused me of trawling for her husband. I supposed in her shoes I might have done the same. Especially as an Italian magazine I think it was Gente, ran a front page spread of the hectic love affair Richard and I were supposed to be having. An example of my relationship with the pair of them happened as we were leaving the studio after the wrap party. We were in the back of a Rolls Royce. Clint on my left, Richard on my right. Clint leaned forward and looked at Richard. "Shall we tell her?" He asked. Richard looked at him with a wary look on his face. "Tell her?" Clint nodded. "About the bet." he prompted. Richard went along with it. "Yeah! I guess so ." He said. "What bet?" I asked not wanting to be left out of the conversation. I thought maybe they were going to suggest we worked on another film together or something equally exciting. "Who would get you into the sack first." Clint said. I felt a bit deflated but was determined to have the last word. "Who won?" I asked. At least they thought it was funny. Sounds a little embarrassing. Speaking of films, I really enjoyed seeing you in the Hammer Films, like Countess Dracula. Was it fun to make scary films? Can't say it was fun. In Countess Dracula my day started around 5 am on the days I was doing scenes with the old Countess and went on until 9 pm, sometimes even later. It took around 3 hours to put the make up on and more or less the same to take it off. The rest of the time I had to sit mutely around because if I talked the latex cracked and it was back in the make-up chair again. It was when I took to smoking to still the hunger pangs. It took years to break the habit. Vampire Lovers was also hard work. Trouble is that when making a costume drama you are constantly getting in and out of the dresses. As soon as the camera stops rolling the wardrobe mistress sweeps in and rips off your clothes so you don't loll around and put wrinkles in them. On Wicker Man it was the cold. We were shooting in Winter pretending it was Spring. Even the goose-bumps had goose-bumps. Eddie Woodward fared worst. Most of the final scenes were shot on the cliff top and he only had a night shirt on. He would come to me in between scenes and beg to put his cold feet under my dress. Even The House That Dripped Blood, which was a comedy, didn't generate a lot of laughs on set. Jon Pertwee was a very funny man. Except when he was working. Then he was a bit of a perfectionist. So most of our conversation concerned positions, bits of business and delivery of lines. I can't recall one funny incident. I must say that I thought the finished film was very funny to watch. Just as it should me. It is made for the audience. I'm not complaining. That's the job. And it can be very rewarding. But sometimes not a load of fun. I understand you like to write about ghosts. What prompted your interest in spooks? I did write a book about ghost. The Bedside Companion for Ghost Hunters. It was part of a trilogy. The other titles were Vampires Lovers and Murder, Torture and Depravity. I just like writing about light hearted subjects. Actual experience? Well there was this time when I was living with some Native Americans back in the sixties. They used to take tourists on trips into the Grand Canyon. I went with then one time. In the evening I was sitting by the camp fire, half asleep, when I thought I could see my father in the smoldering ashes. I told one of the guides and he said something like "Heap good medicine." I guess he was playing wooden Injun. I just have to ask about the film Dracula Who?.....It sounds hilarious! Does he REALLY become a vegetarian? I'm not going to tell you that, am I. Lets put it like this. Dracula is fed up with being constantly in fear of waking up with a dirty great stake through his pristine shirt front. He wants to live a normal life. His wife of 2000 years, the Countess Elizabeth, wants nothing to do with it. She likes her food source on two legs and screaming. Dracula flounces off to try and live his idyll. The Countess hunts him down in a small seaside town. Local folk begin to get vampirised. Both the Count and Countess swear it is nothing to do with them. So who's the vampire in the wood pile ? And will the Count revert to type? I see you also attend conventions, film festivals, flying, cricket, and golf. Whew! What do you do for relaxation? Climb mountains? Only to get there…. I attend Conventions and Festivals because I'm asked and I love meeting all the friends I have made over the years. It also gives me a chance to wallow in a bit of flattery. Which I love. My husband was a pilot in the RAF and we had a Piper Arrow until a few years ago. We used to flip around all over Europe and he would let me pole it most of the time. He was also a bit of a cricketer and used to turn out for Charity Matches. I would to go along. I met the editor of the top cricketing magazine and he asked me to write a monthly column for him. I took up golf, after having a stomach operation, to build up my abdominal muscles. I soon got asked to appear for the SPARKS charity team and travelled all over Europe with them. So as you can see my life is without planning and driven by other people's interest. Just the way it ought to be. What is your favorite scary movie? Book? Scary movie? That's a hard one. Problem is I can't let myself get involved in what is appearing on the screen. It is just a play. But some are able to create more tension than others. DEAD CALM with Nicole Kidman and Sam Neil, for instance. I don't know if that is categorised as part of the Horror genre or not? It certainly kept me awake. Another film I've always been quite taken with is the 1944 oeuvre, starring Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey, called THE UNINVITED. Definitely in the Horror mode is the new film from Hammer, BEYOND THE RAVE. I went to the screening a week or so ago. It's not to my taste. Too gory and loud. But it is right on the button as far as horror is concerned. I do have a minuscule part in it, sneeze and you will miss me. But that's not to say it isn't a film for today. It will be released in 20 segments on MySpace starting 16th April 2008. I am assured this is the way ahead for future film releases. DVDs come later. Do you have any current projects you'd like to speak of? Ah! There you have me. At the last count I have 54 projects on the hoof. Dracula Who.....? is just one of them. It has been revamped (I think that's a pun) and renamed. It is now called CROSS OF DRACULA and is on option to an American film maker as we speak. I have just finished the draft for the HAMMER XPERIENCE which was commissioned by Hammer and should be on the shelves by Halloween - present owners accepting. I have a new book, a Scifi about Jesus Christ, with the publishers at the moment and a children's Tv project with the BBC, MiLLY MORRIS AND THE MINI, which will be shot in 12 half hour episodes. I have also been working on a TV series called THE CHAUFFEUR with James Brabazon. It is about Juan Peron's chauffeur and the power he exerted over Peron and his third wife, Isabel Martinez de Peron. It is the follow-up to my book called THE PERONS which covers the time when Evita ruled the Casa Rosada and finishes when Peron and his chauffeur, Jose Lopez Rega, are forced to flee Argentina after the Militaristas mutinied. Unfortunately James died about a month ago so that is on hold for the moment as he was the producer. I write monthly and weekly columns for half a dozen or so magazines. One of them is an IT magazine and can be accessed on www.denofgeek.com. The latest shelf magazine has just been published by Dave Hagan who runs the Monster Mania Con in Cherry Hills, New Jersey and is entitled - Monster Mania Magazine. He was astute enough to book me as a regular columnist. The other 50 projects keep the Mail Service in business. You can keep up with the latest on MySpace, Ingrid Pitt Online or www.pittofhorror.com. Well Ingrid, I want to thank you for gracing us with your presence, and please come back and visit us again, okay? Happy to be of service, kind Sir. Love to your Mum. (Dimples prettily and exits right). *** Filmography: Sound of Horror (1964) Doctor Zhivago (1965) Un Beso en el puerto (1966) A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966) The Omegans (1968) Where Eagles Dare (1968) The House That Dripped Blood (1970) The Vampire Lovers (1970) Jason King (1971) (TV series) - guest star Nobody Ordered Love (1971) Countess Dracula (1971) The Wicker Man (1973) Thriller 1975 (TV), (UK) Unity (1981) (TV) Artemis 81 (1981) (TV) Who Dares Wins (1982) Smiley's People (1982) TV miniseries Octopussy (1983) The Comedy of Errors (1983) (TV) The House (1984) (TV) Bones (1984) Underworld (1985) Wild Geese II (1985) Hanna's War (1988) The Asylum (2000) Green Fingers (2000) Minotaur (2005) Sea of Dust (2006)
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