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Helen Horton

Acting Born Sep 28, 1923 Chicago, Illinois, USA 24 credits

Biography

Helen Virginia Horton (November 21, 1923 – September 28, 2007) was an American actress. She was born in Chicago and had a brief career in New York. She married Hamish Thomson and lived near London. She worked extensively in British television, radio and theatre, and had three children; her granddaughter is the English actress Lily James. Horton voiced the ship's computer, "Mother", in the 1979 film Alien.

Horton attended Northwestern University where she became lifelong friends with Patricia Neal (Helen Benson in The Day the Earth Stood Still). She was well thought of in the drama department and was cast as Viola, the lead role in Twelfth Night, with Neal cast as Olivia, in a university production of the Shakespeare play.

In September 1945, Horton and Neal took a shared apartment in New York and looked for work. They both got parts in a production of Seven Mirrors at the Blackfriars Theatre.

Horton took over from Vivien Leigh as Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire after the play's London run was completed and it began to tour the United Kingdom. When Neal mentioned the connection to Leigh, she remarked "No one takes over for me, dear. When I leave a play, it's over."

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Known for

Agatha Christie's Poirot

as Julia Olivera
Film

Sansho the Bailiff

as Grace Torrence
Film

Alien

as Mother (voice)

Full filmography

  • Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989) as Julia Olivera
  • Minder (1979) as Judge's Wife
  • Tales of the Unexpected (1979) as American Passenger
  • Tales of the Unexpected (1979) as Martha
  • BBC Play of the Month (1965) as Grace Torrence
  • Alien (1979) as Mother (voice)
  • Danger Man (1960) as Helen
  • Van der Valk (1972) as Mrs Lovell Wallace
  • The Benny Hill Show (1969)
  • Out of the Unknown (1965) as Brenda Claffern
  • Espionage (1963) as Mrs Quade
  • Superman III (1983) as Miss Henderson
  • Centre Play (1973) as Nancy
  • Two's Company (1975) as Clare
  • The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (1987) as Nurse at Playhouse
  • Phase IV (1974) as Mildred Eldridge
  • The Razor's Edge (1984) as Red Cross Lady
  • Endless Night (1972) as Aunt Beth
  • The Chairman (1969) as Susan Wright
  • Let's Be Happy (1957) as Sadie Whitelaw
  • Never Take Sweets from a Stranger (1960) as Sylvia Kingsley
  • Hurricane (1961) as Mrs. Van Diemen
  • The Mark of the Hawk (1957) as Barbara Craig
  • The Woman He Loved (1988) as Martha