Valerie Hobson | |
|---|---|
 Hobson in 1934 | |
| Born | Babette Louisa Valerie Hobson (1917-04-14)14 April 1917 Larne, County Antrim, Ireland |
| Died | 13 November 1998(1998-11-13) (aged 81) Westminster, London, England |
| Years active | 1932–1954 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3, includingDavid Profumo |
Babette Louisa Valerie Hobson (14 April 1917 – 13 November 1998)[1] was a British[2] actress whose film career spanned the 1930s to the early 1950s. Her second husband wasJohn Profumo, a British government minister who became the subject of theProfumo affair in 1963.
Hobson was born at Sandy Bay,Larne,County Antrim, inUlster,Ireland, to Robert Gordon Hobson, who was aCommander in theRoyal Navy, and Violette née Willoughby.[3][4][5]
Before she was 11 years old, Hobson had begun to study acting and dancing at theRoyal Academy of Dramatic Arts.[6]
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In 1935, aged 18, Hobson appeared as Baroness Frankenstein inBride of Frankenstein withBoris Karloff andColin Clive. She played oppositeHenry Hull that same year inWerewolf of London, the first Hollywood werewolf film. The latter half of the 1940s saw Hobson in perhaps her two most memorable roles: as the adult Estella inDavid Lean's (1908-1991) adaptation ofGreat Expectations (1946),[7] and as the refined and virtuous Edith D'Ascoyne in theblack comedyKind Hearts and Coronets (1949).[8]
Hobson's last starring role was in the original London production ofRodgers and Hammerstein's musical playThe King and I, which opened at theTheatre Royal, Drury Lane, on 8 October 1953. She played Mrs. Anna Leonowens oppositeHerbert Lom's King. The show ran for 926 performances.[9]
In 1952, Hobson divorced her first husband, film producerAnthony Havelock-Allan. In 1954, she marriedBrigadierJohn Profumo, aMember of Parliament (MP), giving up acting shortly afterwards. Profumo was a prominent politician ofItalian descent.[citation needed]
After Profumo's ministerial career ended indisgrace in 1963, following revelations he had lied to theHouse of Commons about his affair withChristine Keeler, Hobson stood by him, and they worked together for charity for the remainder of her life, although she did miss their more public personas.[10]
Hobson's eldest son, Simon Anthony Clerveaux Havelock-Allan, was born in May 1944 withDown's Syndrome, and died in January 1991. Her middle child,Mark Havelock-Allan, was born on 4 April 1951 and became a judge. Her youngest child is the authorDavid Profumo, who wroteBringing the House Down: A Family Memoir (2006) about the scandal. In it, he writes that his parents told him nothing of the scandal and he learned of it from another boy at school.[11]
Hobson died in 1998, aged 81.[12][13] After her death, her body was cremated atMortlake Crematorium in accordance with her wishes. Half of her ashes were interred in the family vault inHersham, and the rest were scattered on 1 January 1999 by her sons David Profumo and Mark Havelock-Allan, near the family's farm in Scotland.[14]
Hobson was portrayed byDeborah Grant in the filmScandal (1989); byJoanna Riding inAndrew Lloyd Webber's stage musicalStephen Ward the Musical, which opened at theAldwych Theatre on 19 December 2013; and byEmilia Fox in the BBC miniseriesThe Trial of Christine Keeler in 2019.
