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Catriona MacColl

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Catriona MacColl
MacColl in 2010
Born (1954-10-03) 3 October 1954 (age 70)
London, England
OccupationActress
Years active1978–present
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1982; div. 1987)​

Catriona MacColl (born 3 October 1954) is an English actress who has worked extensively in both film and television across Europe. She is best known for her work in Italian horror films, as she has appeared in Lucio Fulci's Gates of Hell trilogy; City of the Living Dead (1980), The Beyond (1981) and The House by the Cemetery (1981).

Early life

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MacColl was born in London on 3 October 1954.[1] In her youth, she trained professionally as a ballerina from the age of five, attending the Royal Ballet School.[2] As a young adult, MacColl suffered a foot injury that prevented her from continuing her career path in dancing.[2]

Career

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MacColl is recognised for her work on European television and film, mainly in Italy.[citation needed] She has gained somewhat of a cult status,[citation needed] by horror fans, because of her career as an Italian horror actress.

MacColl began her career in the late 1970s, making her debut in the French romantic drama Le dernier amant romantique, in which she received a small role. In 1979, she received her first leading role in Lady Oscar, a historical drama directed by Jacques Demy based on the manga Rose of Versailles by Riyoko Ikeda.[citation needed] According to MacColl, because Lady Oscar was not widely released in Europe, her career stalled:

"I met all kinds of incredible French directors and of course they all knew Jacques. And they would all say: 'Oh, you’re the girl who played the lead in the Demy film that never came out?' So, they all knew who I was, but that really didn’t help me."[3]

Following her part in the drama Le fils puni, she appeared in the first of director Lucio Fulci's 'The Gates of Hell Trilogy', City of the Living Dead, playing the role of Mary Woodhouse, with Christopher George. MacColl was hesitant to do City of the Living Dead, because the script was badly written. "It seemed to me like a series of special effects without a story," she said in an interview in 2011. She called her agent to seek his advice. He told her to "take the film, because nobody is going to see it anyway." MacColl says her agent turned out to be wrong about that.[3]

In her second role in the trilogy, The Beyond, [citation needed]she plays the role of Liza Merril, a young woman who inherits an infamous hotel in Louisiana only to discover that beneath it lies one of the seven doors to Hell. MacColl has stated that The Beyond is her favorite film of the trilogy, because she enjoyed working with the cast and crew, especially David Warbeck, and because it was filmed in New Orleans. The final film of the trilogy was The House by the Cemetery, in which she played Lucy Boyle,[citation needed] the mother and wife of a family who move into an old house, unaware that someone or something lives in the basement. MacColl did not originally plan to work in films with such a violent nature, as she had thought that they would not attract an audience, but is proud of the worldwide recognition the trilogy has received, as well as its growing fanbase over the years.

MacColl was asked by Fulci to appear in The New York Ripper, but she declined.[3]

She has also appeared in such films as Hawk the Slayer (1980), Afraid of the Dark (1991), A Good Year (2006), and most recently, the 2011 anthology film The Theatre Bizarre. She also starred in the Swiss short comedy film Employé du mois.[4]

MacColl has had a successful career in television. In 1978 she made her television debut in the French series Il était un musicien. Her credits include the mystery series Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, the short-lived BBC series Squadron, the mini-series The Last Days of Pompeii, Dempsey and Makepeace, The Hardy Boys, and the French soap opera Plus belle la vie.[citation needed]

Personal life

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MacColl was married to actor Jon Finch from 1982 to 1987[5] and lives in France.

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1979 Lady Oscar Oscar François de Jarjayes
1980 Hawk the Slayer Eliane
1980 City of the Living Dead Mary Woodhouse Credited as Katherine MacColl
1981 The Beyond Liza Merril Credited as Katherine MacColl
1981 The House by the Cemetery Lucy Boyle Credited as Katherine MacColl
1988 Trois places pour le 26 Betty Miller
1988 Mangeuses d'Hommes Deborah Also known as: Man Eaters
1989 Jeniec Europy Lady Lowe
1991 Afraid of the Dark Blind Woman
1998 A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries Mrs. Smith
2004 Saint Ange Francard Also known as: House of Voices
2006 A Good Year English Woman
2011 The Theatre Bizarre Mere Antoinette
2013 Chimères Michelle
2013 The Love Punch Wedding Guest
2014 Horsehead Catelyn

Television

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References

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  1. ^ "Catriona MacColl". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  2. ^ a b MacColl, Catriona (2015). "Beyond and Back: Memories of Lucio Fulci" (Blu-ray). Disc 2. Grindhouse Releasing.
  3. ^ a b c "Catriona MacColl interview". THE FLASHBACK FILES. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  4. ^ "Check Out Chimeres Creator Olivier Beguin's Short Employee of the Month Right Now!", dreadcentral.com. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  5. ^ "Jon Finch". The Daily Telegraph. London. 14 January 2013.
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