'Barefoot Contessa' Actress Elizabeth Sellars Has Passed Away at Age 98
Many think fondly of the Golden Age of Hollywood, when stars and starlets were more glamorous than gaudy, when films may not have been as colorful but were every bit as memorable.
As we close yet another decade and drift further from that time, the men and women who made that era what it was have slowly disappeared, leaving their mark on the entertainment world.
Actress Elizabeth Sellars is one of the most recent losses, though by all accounts she lived a very full life, passing away at 98 on Monday just before the new year.
While Sellars may not have been as big a star as some of her female cohort, she made an appearance in numerous movies and TV shows on both sides of the pond.
According to IMDb, she was born in Glasgow, Scotland, as “Elizabeth McDonald Sellars.”
Born on May 6, 1921, she made her first big appearance in a British film (“Floodtide”) in 1949 and a few years later popped up in Hollywood.
“She is an actress, known for The Barefoot Contessa (1954), The Long Memory (1953) and The Shiralee (1957),” her IMDb bio states.
Ending up in productions alongside Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner, and Marlon Brando, she eventually married Francis Henley. They were married for 49 years before he passed away in 2009, a decade before her.
Francis was a surgeon and professor, and he spent time in the Royal Navy. He was discharged in 1946 with the title “surgeon lieutenant commander,” according to the Royal College of Surgeons.
“In 1960 he married Elizabeth McDonald Sellars, a RADA-trained stage and film actress,” the website reads. “Francis Austin Henley died on 31 January 2009, aged 94.”
Both husband and wife lived to good old ages and are survived by their son, Raymond Alan Henley, who posted to let the world know of his stepmother’s passing.
“Elizabeth Macdonald, actress aged 98, died peacefully at home in France on 30th December,” the post on the Telegraph Announcements page read. “Wife of Frank Henley (d. 2009). Stepmother to Raymond.”
The loss is a sad one for family, friends and fans, but Sellars will always be remembered through her work. Do you have a favorite film or show that featured Sellars?
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