31 Unexpected Stars of Hammer Films… How Many Do You Know?

One of the joys of the Limited Collector's Edition Range is discovering actors in Hammer films whose involvement comes as a welcome surprise. Sometimes their role shows off a side to their skills that’s been largely forgotten, whilst occasionally the mere sight of them can trigger a delighted, ‘Look who it is!’ moment. And so in tribute to all those stars who’ve lit up the screen with their unanticipated presence, we’re shining a light on cast members that viewers might not have expected to find in a Hammer production.

To avoid it becoming nothing more than a lengthy list, we’ve categorised our contenders. So we’ve got two Miss Marples, one Poirot, a smattering of Jedis and Britain’s last line of defence, plus many more… How many did you know were once Hammer stars?

Sid James feels like a great place to start. The recent release of films like The Man in Black (1950) served to showcase the acting chops of a leading man who’s all too often solely associated with Carry On movies. We’re not counting him in our list as we’ve already covered his early straight roles extensively, but we decided to investigate which of his Carry On co-stars also appeared in Hammer movies.

George Frederick Joffre Hartree, better knownJessica as Charles Hawtrey, starred in the series’ first entry, Carry On Sergeant (1958) and also featured in Hammer’s I Only Arsked (1958). Released barely three months apart, both movies are gentle comedies that poked fun at the military, and the latter also starred Bernard Bresslaw who could be considered a borderline Hammer regular. He was famously in the running to play the Creature in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and although that role went to a young unknown called Christopher Lee (whatever happened to him?) he later turned up in the Hammer productions The Ugly Duckling (1959) and Moon Zero Two (1969).

Bresslaw eventually joined Hawtrey and James in Carry On Cowboy (1965) and after those wild west hijinks quickly established himself in the Carry On hall of fame, alongside the great Bernard Cribbins. The former soldier, singer and all-round national treasure made his Hammer debut in Passport to China (1960), also known as Visa to Canton, lending the espionage thriller some of its brief moments of levity.

Passport to China, also known as Visa to Canton, was directed by Hammer’s Michael Carreras and starred Richard Basehart and Lisa Gastoni alongside some more unexpected names…

He was even better as Job in She (1965) and made a terrific foil to Peter Cushing, reuniting with him soon after when they fought Technicolour Daleks together on the big screen. During an interview with Horrified Magazine he reminisced, ‘One of the things I remember was going into make-up on the first morning and there, on a bench to one side, was a great selection of dismembered hands and arms, all very realistic, made out of latex. You knew you were in the Hammer Films’ studio!’

Other actors to have worked for both of these iconic British institutions include Shirley Eaton, Bob Monkhouse, Leslie Phillips and Kenneth Connor who all turn up in Hammer’s breezy farce, Weekend with Lulu (1961). Daily Film called it ‘Zestful British-made comedy’ which feels the least anybody could have expected from such a talented cast.

The sheer joy of (l-r) Leslie Phillips, Shirley Eaton and Irene Handl in Weekend with Lulu. 

Incidentally, Fenella Fielding, so memorable as Valeria Watt in Carry On Screaming! (1966) starred in Hammer’s 1963 remake of a famous horror classic, but can you name it?

Occasionally, actors become so well-known as a single character that seeing them in any other role gives a fascinating insight into their range. For example, the much-loved Desmond Llewelyn is chiefly remembered for playing Q in 17 of the ‘official’ Bond films between 1963 and 1999. But he was also on Hammer’s slightly less than secret service for four movies including The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) and The Pirates of Blood River (1962). And the woman who helped him wrangle 007 in most of his Bond movies, Lois Maxwell – so perfect as the original Miss Moneypenny – also worked at Hammer before transferring to British Intelligence, and she excels in both Mantrap (1953) and Lady in the Fog (1952).

Whilst we’re mulling over 50s noirs, cast your mind back to Hammer’s Murder by Proxy (1955). Monster Movie Music called it a ‘minor masterpiece’ and enthused, ‘Any movie that starts off with a song like THIS is going to capture my attention each and every time!’ But which legendary British singer delivers the atmospheric number that so evocatively sets the scene for this Terence Fisher thriller? We remind you of her name below!

Belinda Lee and Dane Clark star in Murder by Proxy, but can you recall which singer opens the movie?

And before moving on from Lady in the Fog, we must mention the Cisco Kid himself, Cesar Romero. For many he remains the definitive Joker, that wonderfully larger than life rascal who ran amok in Gotham throughout the live action Batman TV series of the 1960s. He made such a huge impression in the part it’s lovely to see him in other roles (he’s the best thing in 1939’s Charlie Chan at Treasure Island) and watching him in Lady in the Fog proves to be a treat.

Talking of definitive performances, in the minds of many, Joan Hickson became the quintessential Jane Marple when she played her for the BBC, beginning with the three-part mystery, The Body in the Library in 1984. Indeed, she so embodied St. Mary Mead’s most famous resident that decades earlier, when she appeared on stage in Appointment with Death, Agatha Christie told her, ‘I will call you to play my 'Miss Marple' one day…’

So it’s great to find Hickson turning up as Mrs Hardcastle in The House Across the Lake (1954), and even more of a pleasure to see her as the no-nonsense northerner, Mrs Haldane (‘Aunt Nora doesn’t want to see us? Don’t talk so daft!’) in Hammer’s comedy-thriller, Celia (1949). It would be 35 years until she’d pick up Miss Marple’s knitting needles, but Mrs Haldane shares many of the detective’s qualities, including dogged resolve, more than a healthy dollop of curiosity and an ability to see through criminals’ carefully crafted facades. ‘Mark my word,’ she confides to her husband after the evil Lester Martin has attempted to throw them off the scent. ‘There’s something very funny going on there…’ 

Miss Marple would have been proud!

Hammer star Joan Hickson, seen here as Jane Marple. At the age of five she was taken to a pantomime and recalled she was ‘utterly entranced’ by the experience, and knew immediately her future lay in performing.

Angela Lansbury played Christie’s spinster sleuth in The Mirror Crack'd (1980) and hopes were high that it would prove the first in an ongoing series. Despite a terrific cast and an engaging mystery, planned sequels failed to materialise (a further four had been mooted) although soon after she became Jessica Fletcher in the long-running US show Murder, She Wrote. But it’s always fabulous to see Lansbury shine in her pre-Cabot Cove days, such as when she was quite literally on board Hammer’s fabulous The Lady Vanishes (1979) playing the eponymous Miss Froy.

Peter Sallis also played one of Agatha Christie’s most famous creations, the heroic Hercule Poirot, in BBC Radio 4’s 1986 adaptation of Hercule Poirot's Christmas. Of course, he remains much better known for starring as Clegg for over thirty years in Last of the Summer Wine, and for providing the voice of Wallace in Nick Parks’ Oscar-winning Wallace & Gromit films. Audiences grew so used to enjoying him in these gentle pieces of entertainment that it’s almost a shock to meet him in a couple of Hammer horrors, namely The Curse of the Werewolf and Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970).

A pre-Poirot Peter Sallis (right) seen here with John Carson in Taste the Blood of Dracula.

Lingering in the world of Agatha Christie, A Haunting in Venice (2023) became the third movie to topline Kenneth Branagh as Poirot. It also featured Jamie Dornan, the Irish actor whose breakout role in the gripping series, The Fall, was followed by global hits such as The Tourist and the Fifty Shades movies. But before getting tied up in that trilogy, he starred in the intriguing horror, Beyond the Rave (2008). If you’ve not caught it, Dornan gave a brief overview of its premise at the time of its launch: ‘…my character, Ed, is going to Iraq to fight in the war, and he’s got one last night to have a bit of a blow out and find his girlfriend, who hasn’t been returning his calls… He finds her at this rave, and the rave is run by vampires – of course!’

Well, of course! It’s a Hammer production – we wouldn’t expect anything less! Incidentally, Sadie Frost played Lucy Westenra in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), directed by Francis Ford Coppola, so she had prestigious previous with the undead, and Beyond the Rave marks her sole contribution to Hammer.

The studio’s following film, Let Me In (2010) gave us Chloë Grace Moretz who’d recently unleashed Hit Girl in her breakout role in Kick-Ass (2010), and its next movie, The Resident (2011) benefits hugely from having Hilary Swank lead the cast. Already a double Oscar-winner by this point, she’s joined by an actor who would become a cult legend as Negan in The Walking Dead and its spin-offs – Jeffrey Dean Morgan. They work well together (‘Swank and Morgan also have a very tangible chemistry’ – Eye For Film) and, of course, it didn’t hurt that Christopher Lee joined in the fun as the (apparently…) empathetic August.

Writing for Coffee Addicted Writer, B.J. Burgess had qualms about The Resident but stated, ‘It has the perfect cast, setting, and atmosphere…Hilary Swank [seen here with Jeffrey Dean Morgan] does a superb job as the heroine…’

It goes without saying that years earlier, Lee had portrayed Count Dracula opposite Peter Cushing as his arch enemy, Van Helsing. Both men played major roles in the Star Wars franchise, but can you name any other actors who straddled the worlds of Hammer and the Force?

David Prowse is probably the first name to spring to mind. Best known as Darth Vader (although James Earl Jones supplied his voice) in the first three Star Wars blockbusters, many fans of archive TV might also remember him as the Green Cross Code Man. The Bristol-born former weightlifter and trainer-to-the-stars also appeared in three Hammer productions, including two where he brought Frankenstein’s creature to life:  The Horror of Frankenstein (1970) and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974). Bonus point if you can name his other appearance for Hammer – answer below!

The poster for Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell put Prowse front and centre. Starburst called the movie ‘engaging, fun and it really got the atmosphere of classic Hammer’.

Michael Sheard is one of those actors that many would struggle to put a face to, despite enjoying his performances in pretty much all of his films and TV shows, from Grange Hill to Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). For Star Wars fans, though, he will forever be Admiral Kendal Ozzel from The Empire Strikes Back (1980). But a long time ago, in a bus station far, far away…. he played the Depot Manager in Hammer’s Holiday on the Buses (1973).

Perhaps the most surprising ‘crossover star’ in this category is Daisy Ridley, who achieved global fame as Rey in the sequel trilogy. She can be seen towards the end of Hammer’s The Quiet Ones (2014) and although it’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance, they all count!

Her real-life great-uncle was Arnold Ridley, and although he wrote the play The Ghost Train, memorably used as the basis for the 1941 Arthur Askey movie of the same name, he was immortalised as Private Godfrey (‘May I be excused, sir?’) in 1968 when Dad’s Army first hit our screens. But did you know that in the previous decade he’d played another medic in Hammer’s recently restored noir, Stolen Face (1952)? It’s tricky to spot him in the role of the earnest and dapper Doctor Russell – watch out for him in some of the film’s early scenes and you’ll find a solid performance, wholly different to his portrayal of Charles Godfrey.

Don’t tell him, Caldicott! Arthur Lowe as Charters with Cybill Shepherd as Amanda in The Lady Vanishes.

He wasn’t the only member of Walmington-on-Sea’s home guard to serve in a Hammer production. Captain Mainwaring himself, or rather, Arthur Lowe, starred in The Lady Vanishes and cameoed in Man About the House (1974). And here again he couldn’t stay far away from his Dad’s Army nemesis… Bill Pertwee, so memorable as the vindictive Chief ARP Warden, Hodges, plays a postman in the movie which also features Spike Milligan in a rare film appearance.

His fellow Goon and comedy legend, Peter Sellers, doesn’t feel like a Hammer star but it was one of the studio’s features that gave him his big break in the late 1950s. That in itself feels strange to say – after all, The Goons was an established radio show by the mid-50s, and he’d already played memorable characters in films like The Ladykillers (1955) and The Smallest Show on Earth (1957). But Hammer’s Up the Creek (1958) was arguably the first big screen venture to showcase his unique style that fused dramatic authenticity with unerring comic understanding.

Looking back on the birth of the production, its director, Val Guest, was in no doubt that the future megastar remained a ‘discovery’ at this point in his career. ‘I saw a comedian on television called Peter Sellers,’ he told authors Tom Johnson and Deborah Del Vecchio, ‘and I thought he was fabulous. I wrote Up the Creek with John Warren and Len Heath as a vehicle for Peter, and took it up and down Wardour Street. Nobody wanted to know about it – nobody would even admit they’d heard of Sellers…’

Guest shrewdly pitched the project to James Carreras, telling him it wasn’t just a shot in the dark because, ‘Peter was going to be a big star’. Hammer being Hammer somehow sensed the potential and the movie was added to its roster. Up the Creek turned out to be a comic gem and a commercial success, meriting a hastily arranged follow-up. But as The Radio Times Guide to Films pointed out, ‘this sequel suffers from… the absence of Peter Sellers’.

By 1960 he’d become an international star and ‘smaller’ comedies like the sublime Two-Way Stretch (1961) kept him busy until the smash franchise-starter The Pink Panther (1963) sent his stock higher than the Italian Alps.

A publicity shot for The Pink Panther with Peter Sellers (left) as Clouseau and David Niven as Sir Charles Phantom, the notorious Lytton.

It would be a bit of a swizz to place Herbert Lom on this list. Yes, he starred opposite Sellers in several Panther movies, but he’s too well known as the eponymous The Phantom of the Opera (1962) to warrant inclusion. However, the third regular of the series, Burt Kwouk, who made such a mark as Cato, the relentless gooseberry / fighting force from the second Clouseau movie onwards, can certainly be added. He appeared in a number of Hammer features and anyone only familiar with his broader characterisations should check out Passport to China. His portrayal of Jimmy is spot on, and his character’s shock, anger and fear at being targeted by the authorities creates one of the film’s subtle but effective highlights.

But we must return to Walmington because one of Dad’s Army’s semi-regulars, Wendy Richards, played Walker’s girlfriend in several episodes of the series, before moving to Walford and becoming one of the original EastEnders. Yet before she joined ‘the Square’ she made a brief appearance in Hammer’s hit comedy, On the Buses (1971) which also starred Pamela Cundell, best known for playing Mrs Fox in… You guessed it, Dad’s Army. It’s a small world…

It’s perhaps worth noting Wendy Richards also appeared in Carry On Matron (1972) and Carry On Girls (1973), bringing us full circle in our tour of unexpected stars of Hammer productions.

We’ll end by giving the answers to the trio of teasers posed above… Fennella Fielding starred in Hammer’s The Old Dark House (1963) and David Prowse’s non-Frankenstein film for the studio was Vampire Circus (1972). And finally, the chanteuse who opens Murder by Proxy was the brilliant, Grammy-winning singer, Cleo Laine. Congratulations to anyone who knew the answers to all three questions!