Veronica Carlson, best known for her performances in classic Hammer Horror films including Dracula Has Risen From The Grave and starring alongside Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, has died aged 77.
Her daughter Carly Love announced her death on her Facebook page on February 27 and shared that the actress died from natural causes, at her home in Bluffton, South Carolina.
Veronica was originally a model before being spotted by Jimmy Carrera when she posed in a white bikini.
The Hammer Horror producer then gave her a first role in a film, with her starring alongside Christopher Lee in 1968.
While Veronica gained the moniker 'scream queen' for her performances in the horror movies, she increasingly found herself at loggerheads with studio demands.
With each horror flick there came a demand for more racy performances and as producers demanded that she stripped off, Veronica said that she was too much of a "nice middle class girl" to agree to this.
Eventually this would spell the end of her career with Hammer Horror.
Veronica told The Actor's Notebook about that time, saying: "It was never my intention, because I thought I was really going places."
She continued: "The film industry changed for one thing. There was a lot of nudity introduced and I wasn't into that, because I'd had a very strict upbringing.
"I wouldn't think of taking my clothes off. But it seemed at the time that was going to be the only option."
In 2001, Veronica spoke about how she overheard Peter Cushing and director Terry Fisher discussing how her character would be killed in the film.
She said: "The very first day of shooting involved killing me on the cellar stairs.
"I was all dressed for the role, and Terry Fisher was discussing how I should be killed – which was slightly unsettling as I had not met either of them properly."
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