British actress Hildegard Neil during the filming of the movie 'Marco Antonio y Cleopatra', Madrid, Spain, 1971. Photo: Getty Images
Of the many actresses to have tackled the part of Cleopatra, Hildegarde Neil — who starred in the role opposite Charlton Heston in the 1972 film Antony and Cleopatra — was one of the more convincing. In a box office bomb she was one of the film’s redeeming features, and the South African-born, British-based actress remained a sought-after performer. Trained at Rada in the early 1960s, she made her name on stage before becoming a small-screen regular. She played opposite larger-than-life character Brian Blessed in an ITV show Double Agent in 1969. They married nine years later. In 1997 she played the Fool in a film version of King Lear directed by Blessed, who also played the title role. By the ’90s Neil had more or less retired but returned to her craft for occasional character roles. Neil died on September 19, aged 84. — Agencies
