Reign of the Scream Queens: Ingrid Pitt

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While most of the ladies on this list spent a lot of time on camera screaming, today’s Scream Queen was mainly on the offensive, making both men and women scream for mercy. I’m going to talk a little bit about the seductively beautiful Ingrid Pitt who, thanks to her appearances in Hammer Film Productions, has become an iconic figure in the realm of horror.

Mrs. Pitt’s career began as most acting careers do, with work in the theatre that eventually leads to small and/or uncredited roles in films. Her first major role came in the form of the 1968 sci-fi B-movie, The Omegans. She also had a role in Where Eagles Dare with Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton. Then came two films that she is perhaps best known for, the Hammer films The Vampire Lovers (1970) and Countess Dracula (1971).

In The Vampire Lovers, Pitt portrayed the villainous Marcilla/Carmilla, a bloodthirsty vampire who seduces beautiful young women, murders them, and then moves to another town to strike again. The film featured Kate O’Mara, Peter Cushing, Dawn Addams, and a number of other popular actors from the United Kingdom. It has gone on to become a cult classic for horror fans.

In Countess Dracula, Pitt once again seduces young women, but this time it is to restore and maintain her youthful beauty. Pitt portrays the wicked Queen Elizabeth Nadasdy, a character loosely based upon Queen Elizabeth Bathory. She has her servants (and both of her male suitors) trick young virgins to come to her castle where she bathes in their blood.

Pitt then hopped over to Amicus Productions, a film production company that produced numerous horror films that competed with Hammer. For that company she appeared in The House That Dripped Blood (1971). As her career continued, Pitt moved away from horror in the 1980’s and began appearing in films like Who Dares Wins (1982), Octopussy (1983), and Hanna’s War (1988). Despite her absence from horror, she remained popular with horror fans.

Pitt also worked in television throughout her career. One of her most notable appearances include Doctor Who in 1972 in the story arc entitled The Time Monster. She played the Queen of Atlantis, Galleia. The arc featured Jon Pertwee (the Third Doctor), Katy Manning (Jo Grant, the Doctor’s companion), Nicholas Courney (the Brigadier) and Roger Delgado (the Master). She would return to the series in 1984 as the character Doctor Solow in Warriors of the Deep. Peter Davison was the Fifth Doctor and Janet Fielding and Mark Strickson portrayed his companions, Tegan and Turlough, respectively.

Pitt was also a writer and in her later years occasionally appeared in film projects including Hammer’s 2008 film Sea of Dust. Pitt’s writings included a number of novels like Cuckoo Run (1980), The Ingrid Pitt Bedside Guide To Ghosthunting (2003), and Dracula Who….? (2012). Pitt also wrote for a number of periodicals, published an autobiography entitled Life’s A Scream (1999), and submitted scripts for a number of films and television shows including Doctor Who.

Pitt had brains, beauty, and a talent for acting and writing. She passed away in 2010 in London, England. She’s a Scream Queen Icon and I hope that you’ve enjoyed this brief look at her amazing career. See you tomorrow!