Valerie Hobson, with her large expressive eyes and supremely lady-like manner graced films in England and the United States for twenty years.

She was born Babette Valerie Louise Hobson in Larne, County Antrim, Northern Ireland on April 14, 1917. Although as an adult she was a very beautiful woman, as a child she felt that she was plain in comparison to her sister. "I was a very plain wishy-washy child. Large wistful eyes. A real gumdrop. My sister could never believe this pasty-faced mouse was her sister. Everybody called me Monkey." Hobson's childhood was marred by having a father who was also a chronic gambler and the sense of insecurity and the threat of poverty never left her.

As a young girl Hobson wanted to be on the stage "I danced from the age of two and I can't remember when I didn't have a hankering for the stage. At the age of nine, I couldn't wait any longer." On a trip to the dentist's in London with her nanny, Hobson auditioned with impresario C.B. Cochran who advised Hobson to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, to which her parents agreed. Her training lasted for a year before she switched to ballet, but a bout with scarlet fever at the age of 14 (and a growth spurt which took her height to 5'6") ended that dream and she returned to RADA. At the age of 15 she was dining at Claridge's with her mother when she was approached by Oscar Hammerstein who asked her to audition for his show at the Drury Lane Theatre Ball at the Savoy. The show gave her the opportunity to show her comedic talents and she was immediately spotted by film talent scouts. In 1932 Hobson made her first film appearance in an unbilled role in His Lordship (1932), directed by Michael Powell.

In her late teens she was signed by Universal Pictures in Hollywood where she would appear in two horror classics – as Elizabeth Frankenstein, wife of Dr. Frankenstein in The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and as Henry Hull's wife in Werewolf of London (1935). Ironically, Universal signed Hobson because they were interested in casting her as Estella in Great Expectations (1934) but Jane Wyatt got the role and Hobson's small part ended up on the cutting room floor. She would play the part twelve years later in David Lean's classic 1946 adaptation. Her tenure at Universal only lasted about a year and she quickly returned to England where she was put into starring roles such as August Weekend (1936). Her pre-war films included Zoltan Korda's Technicolor drama about the British Raj, Drums (1938, aka The Drum) which made her a star. Now a popular leading lady she was teamed with Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson in Q Planes (1939).

Director Michael Powell, who had directed her first film and was her favorite director, used Hobson in several films - The Spy in Black (1939) and Contraband (1940) in which she co-starred with Conrad Veidt. Powell utilized Hobson's lively personality by casting her as a heroine. David O. Selznick tried to woo Hobson back to Hollywood in 1942 by promising her all sorts of roles, but by then, Hobson had married producer Anthony Havelock-Allan and did not wish to leave him or England.

After the war in Europe ended, Hobson appeared in her most famous role – Estella in David Lean's adaptation of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations (1946), which was produced by her husband's Cineguild Productions. In Dickens' story, Estella is raised by her twisted aunt to break the heart of Pip (John Mills) and it was not a role that Hobson enjoyed. As Sue Harper wrote in her book Women in British Cinema: "The older Estella (Valerie Hobson) has a frigid composure which was the result of Lean's direction. Hobson reported that he was 'cold' to her: 'whatever talents I may have had he nullified'. Her demeanor was, Lean said, 'exactly what's needed, someone without any heart of feeling at all. Splendid.' Hobson herself felt that the role was never properly fleshed out in Dickens' novel but was still disappointed in Lean's characterization. The part may not have been what she had hoped, but it did elevate her profile and she found her popularity soaring.

Hobson followed up this success with her turn as Edith D'Ascoyne in Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) and The Rocking Horse Winner (1950). In 1954, at the age of only 37, she made her final film Knave of Hearts (1954). She also made her last appearance as an actress in that year when her career went full circle and she starred in The King and I opposite Herbert Lom, at the Drury Lane Theatre - the same theater where her career began. As her obituary in the Daily Telegraph noted, "She remarked then that she was unlikely in a lifetime to be offered as good a part and it was therefore an opportune moment for a last bow."

Hobson's personal life was full of tragedy. Her first son, Simon was born in 1944 with Downs Syndrome, which left Hobson, in her own words, in a near "zombie" state in which she rarely spoke for a year. By 1952 her marriage to Anthony Havelock-Allan had broken up due to his affairs, including one with actress Kay Kendall. Hobson would eventually marry cabinet minister John Profumo, but later in her life admitted "I never really loved Jack. I married him as a safe haven for myself and my children." Her marriage to Profumo took a dramatic turn in 1963 when he was caught having an affair with call girl Mandy Rice-Davies. After lying about the affair to the House of Commons, Profumo resigned. He and Hobson would remain married, devoting themselves to charities for children with Downs Syndrome (Hobson cared for her son until his death at 46) and helping to fund leprosy workers.

Valerie Hobson passed away on November 21, 1998 from a heart attack at the age of 81. She was survived by her two sons, Mark Havelock-Allan and David Profumo, and her husband.

by Lorraine LoBianco

SOURCES:
Encyclopedia of British Cinema by Brian McFarlane Screen World Presents the Encyclopedia of Hollywood Film Actors by Barry Monush
http://www.leninimports.com/valerie_hobson.html
http://www.powell-pressburger.org/Obits/Hobson/Guardian.html
Women in British Cinema by Sue Harper
http://www.screenonline.org.uk
The Internet Movie Database