Linda Hayden

Linda Hayden (born 19 January 1953, Linda M. Higginson) is an English film and television actress. She is best known for her roles in 1970s British horror films and sex comedies.

This article is about the actress. For the mathematician, see Linda B. Hayden.

Linda Hayden
Born	Linda M. Higginson[1] (1953-01-19) 19 January 1953 Stanmore, Middlesex, England
Occupation	Actress

Career

Hayden was born in Stanmore, Middlesex. She trained with the Aida Foster stage school in dancing, singing and stage acting before making her film debut at the age of 15 in the controversial Baby Love (1968), playing a schoolgirl who seduces her adoptive family. She next featured in two horror films; playing Alice Hargood in Hammer's Taste the Blood of Dracula, (1970),[2] followed by a memorable performance as the demonically possessed Angel Blake in The Blood on Satan's Claw (1970), made by Tigon.[3] In 1972, she played a pregnant teenage hitchhiker in Something to Hide, driving Peter Finch to murder and madness.

She is the sister of the company actress Jane Hayden (b. 1957), who played a number of roles on films and TV in the 1970s.

Hayden appeared opposite Robin Askwith, her then-boyfriend, in the popular sex comedies Confessions of a Window Cleaner (1974), Confessions from a Holiday Camp (1977) and, with Fiona Richmond, in Let's Get Laid (1978); as well as the obscure cult film Queen Kong (1976). She also shared the stage with Askwith, in Richard Harris and Leslie Darbon's farce Who Goes Bare. Hayden and Richmond had previously appeared together in the thriller Exposé (1976), which was known as Trauma in the USA and House on Straw Hill in Australia, and banned in the UK as a video nasty. In a documentary on the DVD of The Blood on Satan's Claw, Hayden says that Exposé is the only movie she regrets making and was not the film she had made originally.

Following a brief role in The Boys from Brazil (1978), Hayden concentrated on stage and television work. In 1980 she appeared in the ITV series The Professionals as 'Gerda' in the episode 'Black Out' and as 'Annie,' Terry McCann's girlfriend in the Christmas special Minder on the Orient Express, 1985. She also took a role in the thriller Underground at Toronto's Royal Alexandra Theatre and London's Prince of Wales Theatre in 1983, as well as a 1997 episode of The Bill.

Now semi-retired, she featured as Mrs Brown in Martin Kemp's 2010 remake of Exposé, with Jane March playing Linda—Hayden's role in the 1976 original.

Filmography

Film

Title	Year	Role	Notes
Baby Love	1969	Luci
Taste the Blood of Dracula	1970	Alice Hargood	Hammer production
The Blood on Satan's Claw	1970	Angel Blake	Tigon production
Something to Hide	1972	Lorelei
Night Watch	1973	Girl in Car	Embassy Pictures
Vampira	1974	Helga
Madhouse		Elizabeth Peters	Amicus Productions
Barcelona Kill		Linda	La redada (original title)
Confessions of a Window Cleaner		Elizabeth Radlett	Columbia Pictures
Exposé	1976	Linda Hindstatt	House on Straw Hill (alternative title)
Queen Kong		The Singing Nun
Confessions from a Holiday Camp	1977	Brigitte	Columbia Pictures
Let's Get Laid	1978	Gloria
The Boys from Brazil		Nancy	20th Century Fox
Stalker	2010	Ms. Brown
Run for Your Wife	2012

Television

Title	Year	Role	Notes
The Charlie Drake Show	1968		2 episodes
Now Look Here	1971	Sally	4 episodes
Crown Court	1972	Linda Davies	Episode: "Traffic Warden's Daughter - Part 1"
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em	1973	Linda	Season 1, episode 1 "Getting a Job"
Marked Personal		Gillian Gibson	2 episodes
Village Hall	1975	Helga	Season 2, episode 3 "The Rough and the Smooth"
My Brother's Keeper		Jennie	Season 1, episode 1 "Pig in the Middle"
The Galton & Simpson Playhouse	1977	Henry's Secretary	Season 1, episode 2 "Swap You One of These for Another of Those"
Robin's Nest	1978	Jan	Season 3, episode 4 "Away from All What?"
Robin's Nest	1979	Millie Winters / Hartley Carstairs	Season 4, episode 1 "Should Auld Acquaintance?"
Mackenzie	1980	Krista	Season 1, episode 7 "Sole Agent"
The Professionals		Gerda Helm	Season 4, episode 7 "Black Out"
Dick Turpin	1981	Sal	Season 3, episode 4 "Dick Turpin's Greatest Adventure - Part 4"
Shillingbury Tales		Mandy Smith	4 episodes
Let There Be Love	1982	Annabelle	Season 1, episode 3 "Dad's the Word"
Cuffy	1983	Mandy	Season 1, episode 1 "Cuffy and a Carpetbagger Season 1, episode 6 "Cuffy and a Green Eye"
Just Good Friends		Sonia	Season 1, episode 1 "After All This Time"
Hart to Hart		Ute	Season 5, episode 7 "Passing Chance"
Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense	1984	Ellen Jarvis	Episode 8 "Black Carrion"
The Kenny Everett Television Show	1986		2 episodes
Mr. H Is Late	1988	Sunbather	Television short
The Upper Hand	1991	Diana Wilkinson	Season 2, episode 9 "A Friend in Need"
Shelley	1992	Mrs. Archer	1 episode
The Bill	1997	Wendy Pierce	Season 13, episode 112 "Performance Anxiety"

Television film

Title	Year	Role	Notes
Heydays Hotel	1977
Minder on the Orient Express	1985	Annie	Produced during season 6 of Minder
The Return of Sam McCloud	1989	Nancy Cratchett

References and notes

1. BFI biodata
2. "Taste The Blood Of Dracula 1970" BritishHorrorFilms.co.uk (Retrieved: 16 February 2010)
3. "Blood On Satan's Claw 1970" BritishHorrorFilms.co.uk (Retrieved: 16 February 2010)

External links

• Linda Hayden on IMDb