Ingrid Pitt (1937-2010)

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Ingrid Pitt, from The House That Dripped Blood

Polish/German actress Ingrid Pitt (born November 21, 1937) has passed away. She died on November 23 in a London hospital at the age of 73. Pitt was best known for her work in Hammer Horror films.

Born Ingoushka Petrov in Poland, she was imprisoned in a concentration camp with her family during the second world war. Her first role was in 1964′s Sound of Horror, to be followed by a role in Doctor Zhivago as well as an uncredited appearance in Orson Welles’ Chimes at Midnight. Pitt appeared in 1968′s The Omegans in a part that somewhat foreshadowed her role in Countess Dracula. That same year, she had a small part in Where Eagles Dare, starring Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood.

Ingrid Pitt would become a cult figure when she appeared in various Hammer Film productions, like The Vampire Lovers in 1970 (playing Carmilla from Le Fanu’s novel) and Countess Dracula, where she played a countess who bathed in the blood of young virgins – a take on Elizabeth Báthory.

Trailer for Countess Dracula

Pitt also had a paret in the 1971 anthology The House That Dripped Blood, in the sgement “The Cloak”. In 1973, Pitt was seen in the horror classic The Wicker Man, starring Edward Woodward and Christopher Lee.

Ingrid Pitt in The Wicker Man (1973)

Pitt was also a writer; her output includes thrillers, the autobiography Darkness Before Dawn and The Bedside Companion for Vampire Lovers. She also had a black belt in karate and had a pilot’s license (one of her hobbies was fighter aircraft from WW2).

Ingrid Pitt leaves behind her second husband, Anthony Rudlin, and her daughter Steffanie, and a granddaughter.