Hillary Brooke
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| Hillary Brooke | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 8 1914 Astoria, New York, USA |
| Died | May 25 1999 (aged 84) |
Hillary Brooke (September 8, 1914 – May 25, 1999), was an American film actress best known for her work in Abbott and Costello and Sherlock Holmes films. She also played Lou Costello's love interest in the first season of the Abbott and Costello Show.
A former model, the tall (5'6") blonde was born in Astoria, New York but spoke with a cultured accent. Brooke developed this early in her career to separate herself from other sexy blonde actresses.
She appeared in Africa Screams (1949) and Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952) with the comedy team, and was a regular on The Abbott and Costello Show. She also co-starred in three Sherlock Holmes movies with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, including The Woman in Green (1945).
Her other film credits include Jane Eyre (1944); the Alfred Hitchcock thriller, The Man Who Knew Too Much; the 3D film The Maze; and the 1953 sci-fi B-movie classic Invaders from Mars.
In The Abbott and Costello Show, which was broadcast in the early 1950s but syndicated for decades afterwards, Brooke played the role of a straitlaced, classy fellow tenant of the rooming house where the two main characters lived. She was treated with deference by the duo and was not a target of pranks and slapstick. Like the other main characters, her character's name in the show was her real name.
She was also a regular on the 1950s TV series My Little Margie.
Brooke was married three times, the last to Ray Klune, an executive at MGM.
Brooke has a TV star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6311 Hollywood Boulevard.
