MELLY,  Andrée   [1932 - 2020]

References to Andrée Melly all too often seem to suggest that the most important fact about her was that she was George Melly’s younger sister. This neglects a varied and lengthy acting career in roles as diverse as Shakespeare at the Old Vic and a vampire in a Hammer horror film. Plus, significant for Tony Hancock fans like me, she was in the original cast of Hancock’s Half Hour.

She was born on 15th September 1932, the daughter of Francis Heywood Melly and his Jewish wife (Edith) Maud, née Isaac. At the time of her birth they were living at 22 Ivanhoe Road L17 but her arrival required a larger home and they moved a short distance to 14 Sandringham Drive L17.

By her early twenties she had performed in Romeo and Juliet and The Merchant of Venice at the Old Vic and whilst there worked with Peter Finch and Robert Donat. It was at this time that she came to some national prominence appearing as Tony Hancock’s girlfriend in the first two series of Hancock’s Half Hour. When she died in 2020 she was the last surviving cast member from the show. Her film career included appearances in The Belles of St. Trinians [1954] and as the vampire Mina in Brides of Dracula [1960]. In the 1970’s she was a regular panel member in the BBC Radio show Just a Minute. She also made frequent appearances in The Benny Hill Show - click here to see a YouTube clip in which she plays a nurse seeking a specimen from Benny Hill. If you are not a great Benny Hill fan her appearance is about 2 minutes into the clip)

In later years she lived with her actor husband, Oscar Quitak, in Ibiza. She died on 31st January 2020, aged 87.


22 Ivanhoe Road L17

The Melly's home at the time of Andrée's birth.

14 Sandringham Drive L17

The bigger house the Melly's moved to in the mid-1930's.

SOURCES AND FURTHER READING

I haven't found a great deal on Andrée Melly - the Wikipedia entry is quite basic. Her early family life is touched upon in the first volume of George Melly's autobiography Scouse Mouse.