Valerie Leon is an actress and model who starred in cult Halloween classic, Blood From The Mummy’s Tomb (1971), writes York Membery.
The 81-year-old also appeared in two Bond films – The Spy Who Loved Me and Never Say Never Again – six Carry On films and a long-running series of TV ads in which she played a woman driven wild by a man wearing Hai Karate aftershave.
The widowed mother-of-two lives in west London.
What did your parents teach you about money?
My father Henry worked for a textile company, my mother Daphne was a housewife, and my three siblings and I had a comfortable upbringing in Hampstead.
But despite being pretty well off, my dad was economical in some respects. For instance, when we went out to a restaurant I had to choose a starter or a dessert – I couldn’t have both.
My father later got ill and we had to move to a flat – I think the stress of trying to keep us all in a certain lifestyle resulted in him having a fatal heart attack, aged just 62. His attitude to money has undoubtedly influenced me because I’ve always been careful.
Good times: Valerie Leon is an actress and model who starred in cult Halloween classic, Blood From The Mummy’s Tomb (1971) and two Bond films
Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?
Yes, when I started out in showbusiness I had to take other jobs. At one point I worked as a hat-check girl – hanging up coats – at a Soho restaurant, and that didn’t pay much.
I also struggled after the death of my TV executive husband Michael Mills [who produced the hit sitcom Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em in the 1970s] because the children were both still young.
Have you ever been paid silly money?
Except for the time I was paid to fly out to shoot a commercial in Japan, after appearing in Never Say Never Again with Sean Connery, not really.
Believe me, nobody got rich from being in the Carry On films, which paid notoriously badly.
Was your starring role in Blood From The Mummy’s Tomb a money-spinner?
I was just thrilled to be in a Hammer horror film, my one and only starring role, regardless of the fee – but it was a jinxed movie from the start.
Firstly, Peter Cushing had to leave the film after one day when his wife was taken ill.
Second, a crew member was killed in a motorbike crash.
And worst of all, the director, Seth Holt, had hiccups for a week and then dropped dead five weeks into the six-week shoot at Elstree Studios, which left us all heartbroken.
What was the best year of your financial life?
The 1970s were a pretty good time for me because I got to appear in everything from Carry On Matron and No Sex Please, We’re British, to The Wild Geese, Revenge Of The Pink Panther and The Spy Who Loved Me.
The best moment of my screen career? The time Roger Moore gave me an unscripted kiss while I was filming an episode of The Persuaders, which he was also directing. I’ve never forgotten that moment – I just closed my eyes and grinned like a Cheshire cat!
The most expensive thing you bought for fun?
A pair of ‘VL1’ number plates which I bought myself for a treat for about £6,000 in the 1980s.
Driving around in a car with personalised plates was great fun and they caught people’s eye. But that could be a downside if you were driving too fast because it was so easy a number to remember!
A decade or so later I changed cars, so sold the plate for around £12,000 – more than I got for my old motor.
Double act: Valerie pictured with Kenneth Cope in a scene from Carry On Matron
What was your biggest money mistake?
I bought a little studio flat in Kensington [west London] for £6,000 in the 1960s from the money I’d made acting and modelling, but sold it for just £25,000 when I married because I wanted to extend the kitchen.
Studio flats in the area can now go for £600,000 or more, so I rather wish I’d hung on to it and rented it out.
Best money decision you have made?
Appearing in a string of slightly risque but hugely successful adverts for Hai Karate aftershave on ITV from 1969 to 1975. They had an extraordinary impact – remember, there was only one commercial TV network back then – and opened the door to me doing Christmas pantos and other TV work.
Will you pass your money down or spend it all?
I’ll pass it on to my children and granddaughter.
Bond girl: Valerie with Sean Connery and a poster for her hit 1971 movie
Do you have a pension?
Yes, I receive the state pension and a small private pension. But I’m still working – for instance, with Brit Movie Tours on their Carry On film locations tour.
I’m also hoping to revive a stage show I put on a couple of years ago.
Do you own any property?
Yes, a four-bedroom house in west London which I bought for £80,000 in about 1990, that’s now worth more than £1 million.
Everything I need, such as the shops and the Tube, are within walking distance, so I’ll stay put for as long as possible.
If you were Chancellor what would you do?
I’d let nurses park for free when they go to work, and I wouldn’t tax them because they don’t get paid well. They perform such a vital community service –where would we be without them?
What is your number one financial priority?
To watch the pennies at a time when the pound in one’s pocket is worth ever less.
- For Valerie Leon memorabilia visit valerieleon.com.
