Andrée Melly (15 September 1932 – 31 January 2020) was an English actress.
Early life Melly was born on 15 December 1932 in Liverpool, Lancashire to Edith and Francis Melly. She made her stage début aged nine at the Little Theatre, Southport. After leaving Belvedere School, she attended the Swiss finishing school Mon Fertile, after which she acted in repertory theatre.
Career She performed at the Old Vic in Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice and T.S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral in her early twenties and worked with Peter Finch and Robert Donat at the theatre. In 1958, she appeared with the Jamaican actor Lloyd Reckord in the Ted Willis play Hot Summer Night, a production which was later adapted for the Armchair Theatre series in 1959Oliver Wake "Hot Summer Night (1959)", BFI screenonline and in which she was a participant in the earliest known interracial kiss on television. She continued to appear on British television until 1991. Her other stage work includes the original West End production of the farce Boeing-Boeing at the Apollo Theatre in 1962 with David Tomlinson and as Alice "Childie" McNaught in The Killing of Sister George at St Martin's in 1966.
Melly appeared in British films, including the comedy The Belles of St. Trinian's (1954) and the Hammer Horror film The Brides of Dracula (1960). Her role in the latter film was as Gina, a woman who is bitten by Baron Meinster, a vampire, turning her into another undead character.
She reported in an interview with the writer Oscar Martinez in the magazine Little Shoppe of Horrors that she had played the role of Dracula's bride because she wanted to explore varied characters. She had previously played, on BBC television, Joan of Arc, and Jo March in Little Women, and the first white woman who played opposite a black man in a romantic drama in the West End, Hot Summer Night. She also played a lesbian lead in The Killing of Sister George also in the West End, in keeping with unusual roles.
During the filming of The Brides of Dracula, she invited her older brother George Melly, who was writing the cartoon strip Flook (drawn by Trog) in The Daily Mail, to come to the film set to capture the filming of her climbing out of a coffin dressed as a vampire. George satirised his visit in his comic strip by having the character Flook visit a horror film studio that was employing his sister, who was playing a witch. The episode subsequently reappeared as a chapter on "My Little Sister" in George's fictional autobiography, I, Flook (1962), in which Andrée's character, Lucretia, is described as having "long ratty hair and not too clean", and "baleful malevolence" in her eyes.
When Oscar Martinez interviewed Melly and her husband, the actor Oscar Quitak, he called the interview "The Vampire Woman and the Hunchback" because Quitak had played a hunchback in another Hammer horror film, The Revenge of Frankenstein.
Melly played Tony Hancock's girlfriend in two series of the Hancock's Half Hour (1955–1956) radio series replacing Moira Lister. Although Melly's character was referred to under her real life name, she played the role with a French accent. With the death of Bill Kerr in 2014, Melly was the last surviving regular cast member of Hancock's Half Hour. From 1967 to 1976, she was a regular panellist in the BBC radio comedy Just a Minute. Along with Sheila Hancock, she was one of the most regular female contestants, appearing in fifty-four episodes between 1967 and 1976. In 1972, she chaired an episode. She was the first panellist to win points for talking for the prescribed 60 seconds without hesitation, repetition or deviation. She also appeared in several episodes of The Benny Hill Show.
Personal life One of her two brothers was the jazz singer George Melly. She latterly lived in Ibiza with her husband. The marriage produced two children.
Melly died on 31 January 2020 at the age of 87. Her husband survived her, dying on 31 December 2023.
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes 1952 So Little Time Paulette Film 1954 The Belles of St. Trinian's Lucretia Film 1956 The Secret Tent Ruth Martyn Film 1957 The Passionate Stranger (aka A Novel Affair) Marla Film 1958 Nowhere to Go Rosa, cocktail waitress Film 1960 Beyond the Curtain Linda Film The Brides of Dracula Gina Film The Big Day Nina Wentworth Film 1964 The Horror of It All Natalia Marley Film Boy with a Flute Caroline Laser Short film
Television appearances Year Title Role Notes1952 The Poppenkast Katryn Television film 1953 A Loan from Lorenzo Elizabeth Woodville, Queen of England Television film1954 The Maid of Domrémy Jeanne d'Arc Television film 1955 Cornelia Cornelia Taft Television film Theatre Royal (aka Lilli Palmer Theatre) Alycia Lawrence Episode: "The Orderly" 1956 Act of Violence Lenora Television film ITV Television Playhouse Georgie Harlow Episode: "Woman in a Dressing Gown" The Gambler Mlle. Blanche de Cominges Television film Plaintiff in a Pretty Hat Jennifer Wren Television film 1957 Assignment Foreign Legion Denise Television series. Episode: "As We Forgive" Hour of Mystery Sally Joss Episode: "No Charge for the Proof" 1958 Saturday Playhouse Hilda Crompton Episode: "My Flesh, My Blood" Little Women Jo March Television series. 6 episodes 1958–1959 Armchair Theatre Louise Beauchamp / Kathie Palmer 2 episodes: "Night of the Ding-Dong" (1958) and "Hot Summer Night" (1959) 1959 People of the Night Vera Television film Dangerous Ice Miss Sennet Television film The Men from Room 13 Caroline Television series. 2 episodes: "The Man Who Sold Romances: Parts 1 & 2" 1960 BBC Sunday-Night Play Mary Preston Episode: "Twentieth Century Theatre: Musical Chairs" Maigret Ernestine Television series.Episode: "The Burglar's Wife" 1961 A Life of Bliss April Summers Television series. 3 episodes You Can't Win Ella Television series. Episode: "To Wait Collection" 1962 Boeing-Boeing Jacqueline Television film Tales of Mystery Ilse Television series. Episode: "Ancient Sorceries" Zero One Tina Stavros Television series. Episode: "The Marriage Broker" Let's Imagine self Television series. Episode: "Being a Leading Lady" 1963 The Human Jungle Gloria Television series. Episode: "Run with the Devil" 1963–1964 ITV Play of the Week Melanie / Mary Boyce 2 episodes: "The Quails" (1963) and "A Case of Character" (1964) 1965 The Wednesday Play Alicia Episode: "The Navigators" 1967 Thirty-Minute Theatre The Wife Episode: "Teeth" 1968 The Sex Game Alison Watkins Television series. Episode: "Return Match" 1969 ITV Playhouse Leslie Amlett Episode: "Uncle Jonathan" 1970 The Doctors Lena Freeman Television series. 10 episodes ITV Sunday Night Theatre Joanna Episode: "The Insider"1971Gardeners' WorldnarratorTelevision series1971The Benny Hill Showvarious charactersTelevision series. Sketches: "The Grass is Greener" (24 March 1971); "New England 1635", "The Movie Shakers" (24 November 1971)1972He Said, She SaidselfTelevision series 1973 Spy Trap Susan Episode: "Salvage"1973The Benny Hill ShowBo Peep's sisterTelevision series. Sketch: "Naked Lust in Sinful Sweden" (27 December 1973) 1974 The Best of Benny Hill Interviewer ("The Grass Is Greener") Television film 1981 Tiny Revolutions Agnesa Kalina Television film 1984 The Fasting Girl Caroline Television film 1988 Turn on to T-Bag Queen Madeleine Television series. Episode: "The Two Musketeers" 1990 T-Bag and the Pearls of Wisdom Osiris Television series. Episode: "Tut Tut"1990–1991The Third WaveselfTelevision discussion series. 4 episodes.
Radio appearances The appearances below have been sourced from the BBC Programme Index. Year Title Role Notes (dates are first broadcast)1952Mistress Macham's ReposeMariaBBC Home Service, 6 April 19521955–1956Hancock's Half HourAndréeBBC Light Programme, 33 episodes1955Manservant and MaidservantSarahBBC Home Service, 11 January 19551955Waters of the MoonTonettaBBC Home Service, 9 June 19551957The Repair of HeavenAllan McClellandBBC Third Programme, 9 April 19571959Unaccompanied ChildJaneBBC Home Service, 20 September 19591959RhinocerosDaisyBBC Third Programme, 12 September 19591960Dead Men's EmbersJane ClearyBBC Home Service, 8 May 19601960Woman's HourselfBBC Light Programme, 12 July 19601960Home For the DayBBC Home Service, 10 September 19601962A Girl in a GardenGwenBBC Home Service, 28 August 19621962London MirrorselfBBC Light Programme, 10 March 19621962MedeaCreusaBBC Third Programme, 12 December 19621963Don't Listen, LadiesMadelineBBC Home Service, 8 July 19631966Woman's HourselfBBC Light Programme, 18 January 19661967–1976Just a MinuteselfBBC Radio 4, 54 episodes1968Play SchoolselfBBC Radio Two, 2 episodes1969Story TimeBBC Radio 4, 4 episodes1969Saturday-Night TheatreBBC Radio 4, Episode: "The Lady of Lyons", 18 October 19691970–1973Petticoat LineselfBBC Radio 4, 8 episodes1971Right or Wrong?selfBBC Radio 2 & Radio 4, 7 episodes1971Saturday-Night TheatreCatherineBBC Radio 4, Episode: "The Hidden Face", 23 January 19711974Husband of the YearselfBBC Radio 2, 23 February 19741975Many a SlipselfBBC Radio 4, 22 December 19751976Twenty QuestionsselfBBC Radio 4, 14 July 19761989With Great PleasureselfBBC Radio 4, 30 July 1989
Theatre appearances The appearances below have been sourced from Theatricalia.