Eileen Essel is a popular British actress who has played in films and in the theater. World fame came to her only in the last years of her life after the release of full-length films "Duplex", "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", "Fairyland".
Actress Biography
Eileen Essel was born in London. She was born in 1922. She began her creative career at the famous Oxford Theater, for many years remaining an exclusively theatrical actress.
In her youth, Eileen Essel conquered the audience with a brilliant game in British and foreign plays. In 1958, having worked at the theater for more than ten years, she became the wife of the English playwright Gerald McLarnon. The actress gave birth to a son Fergus from him, and over time she began to teach dramatic art in English theater universities.
In the early 2000s, her star lit up in the cinema and on television. Only this time, they began to recognize her not only in the UK, but far beyond its borders, because immediately several paintings with her participation successfully passed in the world box office. She was best known for the role of the old and grouchy neighbor of a young couple in the comedy Danny de Vito "Duplex", which she performed in 2003.
Eileen Essel died on February 15, 2015. The cause of death was a long illness of the actress. She was 92 years old.
Duplex
In the Duplex film, the heroine of our article played one of the main roles - Mrs. Connelly. Together with her on the set, Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore shone.
This is an American "black" comedy that talks about a young married couple: writer Alex and his wife Nancy. After a long and unsuccessful search, they find the apartment of their dreams - a duplex in Brooklyn. This is a special type of real estate that is designed for two families, but this does not bother them at all. In addition, their elderly neighbor is Mrs. Connelly, who has the right to live on the second floor of their two-story apartment.
Over time, it turns out that this neighborhood will not be without loss for anyone. In this film, Eileen Essel brilliantly plays a bitchy pensioner who by all means seeks to ruin the lives of young people. Alex and Nancy at some point realize that they are not able to cope with the problem on their own. Then they hire a killer who should solve the problem with the old woman.
But when the killer attacks Mrs. Connelly, she stubbornly resists, and in the end she plunges into his shoulder a harpoon belonging to her deceased whaling husband. Unable to withstand the neighborhood with a pensioner, the main characters leave the duplex, but soon find out that their neighbor died.
But then it turns out that in reality she turns out to be a lively and very prudent woman who, together with her realtor son and one policeman, pulls money from young couples, making them furious, forcing them to leave urgently, selling enviable real estate at a bargain price.
The film ends with inspiration coming to the writer Alex, he writes a book called Duplex, which describes all the adventures of his family. The novel becomes a bestseller.
"Wonderland"
In 2004, Eileen Essel plays in Mark Forster’s drama "Fairyland" with Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet.
This is the biography of the English writer James Barry, who became famous all over the world thanks to his fairy tales about Peter Pan. The picture tells in detail the difficult and sometimes tragic fate of the writer, telling about what he had to face before he came up with one of the most cheerful and romantic heroes of modern literature.
Eileen Essel in the film gets the small but memorable role of Mrs. Snow.
"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"
In 2005, the heroine of our article played in another picture with Johnny Depp. This is Tim Burton’s musical science fiction comedy “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” about the boy Charlie Bucket, who lives in the city next to the chocolate factory, where the mysterious Willy Wonka works.
Once the main character gets a ticket to this enterprise, which for many years they didn’t let anyone in, and after the tour they promise to provide him with chocolate for life.
Essel plays one of Charlie's grandmothers named Josephine. In Russian dubbing, she was voiced by Svetlana Starikova.
