Eleanor Fazan


Eleanor Henta Fazan OBE was a British actress, dancer, and choreographer. She is best known for her roles in productions: Willow, Hot Fuzz and Lassiter. Fazan was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to dance.

Personal life

Eleanor Henta Fazan was born on 29 May 1929 in Kenya. She later trained in dancing with Sadler's Wells Ballet. Later she joined the Arts Educational School.
Fazan was married to the British composer Stanley Myers in 1955, and they had one son. She died on 20 January 2024, at the age of 94.

Career

In 1959, Fazan directed One to Another, a revue at the Lyric Opera House in Hammersmith written by Bamber Gascoigne, John Cranko, John Mortimer, N. F. Simpson, and Harold Pinter, amongst others. It starred Beryl Reid, Patrick Wymark, Joe Melia Sheila Hancock and Ray Barrett. In 1960 she was choreographer for The Lily White Boys, directed by Lindsay Anderson at the Royal Court. In 1961 she was the director of Beyond the Fringe, when it began its initial London run at the Fortune Theatre. In 1974, she made her Royal Opera debut on Der Ring des Nibelungen, directed by Götz Friedrich. She did phenomenal work at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where she contributed to numerous productions in the following years under the prominent directors Elijah Moshinski, John Copley, Friedrich and John Schlesinger in their productions of operas such as: Peter Grimes, Lohengrin, The Rake’s Progress, Macbeth, Samson, Otello, Attila, Ariadne auf Naxos, Semele, Idomeneo, re di Creta, Elektra, Les Contes d’Hoffmann and Der Rosenkavalier.
Meanwhile, she entered cinema as a choreographer as well as actress where she appeared in Oh! What a Lovely War, Heaven’s Gate, Willow, Cold Comfort Farm, Mrs Henderson Presents and Hot Fuzz. In 1993, she was awarded the Industry Award from British Film Institute.

Partial filmography

Source: British Film Institute
YearFilmRoleGenre
1950CinderellaCast memberFilm
1955Value For MoneyLeopard 'doll' in revue number Film
1955Two of a KindBettyFilm
1957Pink ScarfMrs WareFilm
1957A Santa for ChristmasDance directionFilm
1959Follow a StarChoreographyFilm
1960The Ladies' ManChoreographyFilm
1965The Day of RagnarokCast memberFilm
1965ScruggsCast memberFilm
1965The Intelligence MenCast memberFilm
1968Inadmissible EvidenceAnna MaitlandFilm
1969Oh! What a Lovely WarChoreographyFilm
1972Lady [Caroline Lamb |Lady Caroline Film]Dance movementFilm
1973O Lucky Man!Cast memberFilm
1973Savage MessiahMadame GaudierFilm
1973The Ruling ClassChoreographerFilm
1974Barry McKenzie Holds His OwnMusical stagingFilm
1974Great ExpectationsChoreographerTV film
1977Wombling FreeChoreographerFilm
1977Joseph AndrewsDancesFilm
1978The One and Only Phyllis DixeyMusical numbersTV film
1979YanksChoreographerFilm
1980Nearly a Happy EndingChoreographyTV play
1980Heaven's GateChoreographyFilm
1981A [Midsummer Night's Dream |A Midsummer Night's Dream]ChoreographyTelevision
1982The Scarlet PimpernelChoreographerTV film
1984LassiterChoreographerFilm
1984A Christmas CarolChoreographerTV film
1985King DavidChoreographyFilm
1986Babes in ToylandChoreographyTV film
1987Top of the BillChoreographyFilm
1988WillowChoreographyFilm
1990Mountains of the MoonChoreographyFilm
1991Performance: "Absolute Hell"ChoreographyTelevision
1992L'AmantChoreographyFilm
1994The InnocentChoreographerFilm
1995Cold Comfort FarmChoreographyFilm
1999OneginChoreographerFilm
2005Mrs Henderson PresentsChoreographyFilm
2007Hot FuzzChoreographerFilm