Candace Hilligoss
{{short description|American actress and former model (born 1935)}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Candace Hilligoss - Carnival of Souls.jpg
| caption = Hilligoss in Carnival of Souls (1962)
| birth_name = Mary Candace Hilligoss
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1935|08|14|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Huron, South Dakota, U.S.
| occupation = Actress
| alma_mater = University of Iowa
| spouse = Nicolas Coster ({{abbr|div.|divorced}} 1981)
| yearsactive = 1962–1964, 1971, 1981, 2000
| children = 2
| website = https://candacehilligoss.com/
}}
Mary Candace Hilligoss (born August 14, 1935) is an American former actress and model. She gained fame for her role as Mary Henry in the independent horror film Carnival of Souls (1962).
Life and career
=1935–1946: Early life=
Mary Candace Hilligoss{{cite news|title=Honor Pupils Listed In Huron Public Schools|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17850365/candace_hilligoss/|work=The Daily Plainsman|date=May 4, 1947|location=Huron, South Dakota|page=10|via = Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} was born August 14, 1935{{cite web|work=AllMovie|url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/candace-hilligoss-p32386|title=Candace Hilligoss|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701103019/https://www.allmovie.com/artist/candace-hilligoss-p32386|archive-date=July 1, 2019}} in Huron, South Dakota, the daughter of L.F. Hilligoss.{{cite news|title=S.D. Lass Making Hit in Washington Theater Circles|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17826462/candace_hilligoss/|work=Argus-Leader|agency=Associated Press|date=July 6, 1960|location=Sioux Falls, South Dakota|page=8|via = Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} She was raised in Huron, where she was active in school plays.{{sfn|Weaver|2003|pages=146–147}}
After studying at Huron College and the University of Iowa (where she acted in theatrical productions){{cite news|title=Candace Hilligoss Has Play Role|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17850766/candace_hilligoss/|work=The Daily Plainsman|date=April 22, 1956|location=Huron, South Dakota|page=15|via = Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} for three years,{{sfn|Weaver|2003|p=146}} she went to New York City to study acting with a scholarship{{cite news|last1=Champlain|first1=Charles|title=The Reincarnation of 'Carnival of Souls'|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-04-19-ca-2117-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|date=April 19, 1990|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180227033601/http://articles.latimes.com/1990-04-19/entertainment/ca-2117_1_industrial-film|archive-date=27 February 2018}} to the American Theatre Wing, studying under Sanford Meisner and Lee Strasberg.{{sfn|Weaver|2003|p=147}} She made her professional acting debut in summer stock in Pennsylvania. She acted at the Cape Cod Playhouse, appeared in a touring production of Idiot's Delight with Nina Foch, performed in television programs produced in New York, and worked as a dancer at the Copacabana nightclub.{{sfn|Weaver|2003|p=146}}
=1947–1961: Modeling=
After college, Hilligoss attended the Barbizon Modeling and Acting School in New York. Following her graduation from there in 1956, she was one of five models who traveled to South America on a month-long tour to demonstrate then-new American fashions.{{cite news|title=Huron Woman To Model In South America|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17850999/candace_hilligoss/|work=The Daily Plainsman|date=December 19, 1956|page=8|via = Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}
=1962–2001: Acting career and later life=
File:Carnival of Souls (1962) by Herk Harvey.webm
She is best known for her portrayal of Mary Henry, a church organist haunted by specters, in Carnival of Souls (1962), a low-budget horror film that has developed a cult following.{{cite web|url=http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/bay-city/index.ssf/2015/03/cult_horror_classic_david_lync.html |title=Cult horror classic, David Lynch-influence 'Carnival of Souls' screens at Bay City's Masonic Temple |website= MLive.com |date=18 March 2015 |access-date=4 October 2015}} She had been offered a role in the Richard Hilliard-directed horror film Violent Midnight (1963), but opted for the role in Carnival of Souls.{{sfn|Weaver|2003|p=146}} She stated that at the time, she took the role as a "take-the-money-and-run type of situation";{{sfn|Weaver|2003|p=147}} she was paid approximately $2,000 for her work in the film.{{sfn|Weaver|2003|p=152}}
She also appeared in a supporting role in the horror film The Curse of the Living Corpse (1964),{{sfn|Weaver|2003|p=156}} which was shot in Stamford, Connecticut, while Hilligoss was living in New York.{{sfn|Weaver|2003|p=152–53}} In 1997, she was asked to appear in the remake of Carnival of Souls, but declined.{{sfn|Weaver|2011|p=90}}
Hilligoss was married to actor Nicolas Coster, with whom she had two daughters, Candace and Dinneen.{{sfn|Weaver|2003|p=154}} They divorced in 1981.{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/82/Nicolas-Coster.html |title=Nicolas Coster Biography |website=filmreference.com |access-date=4 October 2015}} As of 1990, Hilligoss lived in Beverly Hills, California.{{cite web|work=The New York Times|date=April 19, 1990|author=Champlin, Charles|title=The Reincarnation of 'Carnival of Souls'|access-date=December 27, 2016|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-04-19-ca-2117-story.html}} Her self-published memoir The Odyssey and the Idiocy – Marriage to an Actor was published in 2017.
In 2022, Hilligoss voiced an animated version of herself as she appeared circa 1962 in the CG animated short film Once Upon A Time on Mars.
Filmography
=Film=
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes ! class="unsortable" | {{abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
|---|
| scope="row"| 1962
| Mrs. Harris | Episode: "Hold For Gloria Christmas" | style="text-align:center;"|{{sfn|Hilligoss|2016|p=240}} |
| scope="row"| 1981
| Actress Kimberly / Victoria Sawyer | Episode: "Stain of Guilt" | style="text-align:center;"| |
References
{{reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite book|last=Hilligoss|first=Candace|year=2016|title=The Odyssey and The Idiocy, Marriage to an Actor, A Memoir|publisher=First Edition Design Publishing|location=Ridge Wood Heights, Florida|isbn=978-1-506-90116-9}}
- {{cite book|last=Weaver|first=Tom|year=2003|title=Double Feature Creature Attack: A Monster Merger of Two More Volumes of Classic Interviews|publisher=McFarland|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|isbn= 978-0-786-48215-3}}
- {{cite book|last=Weaver|first=Tom|title=I Was a Monster Movie Maker: Conversations with 22 SF and Horror Filmmakers|publisher=McFarland|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|isbn= 978-0-786-46265-0|year=2011}}
External links
{{Commons category|Candace Hilligoss}}
- {{IMDb name|id=0385010|name=Candace Hilligoss}}
- [http://www.bmonster.com/profile18.html Interview with Candace Hilligoss]
- [http://www.candacehilligoss.com/ Official web site of Candace Hilligoss]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilligoss, Candace}}
Category:University of Iowa alumni
Category:American film actresses
Category:American stage actresses
Category:American television actresses
Category:People from Huron, South Dakota
Category:People from Greater Los Angeles
Category:Actresses from South Dakota
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:21st-century American women
Category:Articles containing video clips
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