Vanda Hudson

Vanda Hudson (born Wanda Maria Zaleska; 7 October 1933 – 2 April 2004^[1][2]) was a Polish-born British film and television actress, cabaret entertainer and model. She was noted for playing blonde bombshell roles.

Vanda Hudson
Hudson as Picturegoer cover-girl, 1958
Born	Wanda Maria Zaleska (1933-10-07)7 October 1933 Slaskie, Poland
Died	2 April 2004(2004-04-02) (aged 70) Hertfordshire, England
Occupation(s)	actress and cabaret artiste
Years active	1955–1971

Career

Born in Slaskie, Poland, Hudson emigrated to the UK in 1948 and after working as a cabaret singer found her first acting role in the 1955 BBC TV drama Miss Patterson.^[3]

From 1957–1969 she appeared in a dozen British films including Sapphire (1959), Bottoms Up (1960), Strip Tease Murder (1961) and Jungle Street Girls (1961), in which she sang "I'm Only a Girl" (Harold Geller/Perry Ford). In 1960 she appeared in the cult film Circus of Horrors in which she played a girl stabbed to death by a knife-thrower.

In 1959 she wrote a weekly column "Diary of a Glamour Girl" for Picturegoer magazine."^[4]

On TV she appeared in The Vise (1954) and The Avengers (1961).

In 1971 she appeared in cabaret in London at the Astor Club^[5] and in the review "Stand By For Take Off" at the Casino de Paris club.^[6][7]

Personal life

Hudson was married to Jan Pikulski with whom she had two sons, Julian^[8] and Lucian.^[9]

After retiring from show business she ran the restaurant "Turpin's" in Hampstead, London.^[1]

Filmography

• Greetings Cards (Pathé short newsreel, 1955) as self^[10]
• Seven Thunders (1957) as minor role (uncredited)^{[citation needed]}
• Innocent Sinners (1958) as minor role (uncredited)^{[citation needed]}
• Sapphire (1959) as girl at the Tulip Club (uncredited)^{[citation needed]}
• The Heart of a Man (1959) as Cha Cha (billing: Vanda)
• Libel (1959) as girl in street
• Bottoms Up (1960) as Matron (billing: Vanda)
• Circus of Horrors (1960) as Magda von Meck
• Ticket to Paradise (1961) as Gina
• Strip Tease Murder (1961) as Angelin (billing: Wanda Hudson)
• Jungle Street Girls (1961) as Lucy Bell
• Father Came Too! (1964) as Nell Gwynne
• Happening (1968) (billing: Wanda Hudson)
• A Promise of Bed (1969) as Susan Stress

TV appearances

• Miss Patterson (1955) as girl
• The Vise, S02E11, "Death Mask" (1954) as Toni
• The Avengers, S01E19, "Double Danger" (1961) as Lola Carrington