Eileen Bennett

{{Infobox person

| name = Eileen Bennett

| image = Cropped_Photo_of_Eileen_Bennett.jpg

| caption =

| birthname = Eileen Mary Bennett

| birth_date = {{birth date|1919|7|8|df=y}}

| birth_place = London, England

| death_date = {{death date and age|2025|3|9|1919|7|8|df=y}}

| death_place =

| occupation = Actress, model

| years_active = 1939–1943

| spouse = Thomas Hammond West Jr.

| children = 2, including Nicholas Hammond

| alma_mater =

}}

Eileen Mary Bennett (8 July 1919 – 9 March 2025) was a British film and West End stage actress who was active in the industry in the late 1930s and early 1940s. She was the mother of actor Nicholas Hammond.

Early life

Eileen Mary Bennett was born in London, England on 8 July 1919.{{cite news |title=Eileen Bennett, actress who starred with George Formby on screen and lit up the West End in the war |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2025/03/14/eileen-bennett-george-formby-west-end-stage-cinema/ |access-date=15 March 2025 |publisher=The Telegraph |date=14 March 2025}} She attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and started her career as a model.{{cite news|title=Sequel to Fantasia|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/720825701|publisher=Evening Standard|date=6 April 1942|page=6|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=22 September 2022}}

Film career

Bennett made her uncredited screen debut in the 1939 film The Outsider. Later that year, she played Eve in the thriller Trunk Crime. 1939 also saw her deputise as a television announcer for Jasmine Bligh when she was on leave.{{Cite journal |last=Corbishley |first=H |date=April 1939 |title=Scannings and Reflections |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Television-UK/30s/Television-and-Short-Wave-World-1939-04-S-OCR.pdf |journal=Television and Short-Wave World |volume=12 |issue=134 |pages=209–210 |via=World Radio History}} Bennett was described as "Britain's new screen star" in 1942.{{cite news|title=Untitled|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/787198437|publisher=Coventry Evening Telegraph|date=3 August 1942|page=6|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=22 September 2022}} She had significant roles in the comedy Much Too Shy (1942) and Thursday's Child (1943).{{cite news|title=Eileen Bennett|url=https://www.georgeformby.co.uk/ladies/bennett/biog.htm|publisher=The George Formby Society|accessdate=22 September 2022}}

Personal life and death

Bennett married Thomas Hammond West Jr. during World War II. The couple had two sons: David Hammond, and actor Nicholas Hammond. Bennett turned 100 on 8 July 2019, and she died on 9 March 2025, at the age of 105.

Filmography

class="wikitable"
style="background:#B0C4DE;"\|Year !style="background:#B0C4DE;"\|Title !style="background:#B0C4DE;"\|Role
rowspan=5\|1939 \|The Outsider \|Uncredited
Q Planes \|Uncredited
The Gang's All Here \|Cigarette seller
Trunk Crime \|Eve
Cæsar's Friend (TV movie) \|Marcella
1941 \|He Found a Star \|Sleepy
rowspan=3\|1942 \|Back-Room Boy \|Uncredited
Breach of Promise \|Uncredited
Much Too Shy \|Jackie Somers
1943 \|Thursday's Child \|Phoebe Wilson

class="wikitable"

style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Year

!style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Title

!style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Role

rowspan=5|1939

|The Outsider

|Uncredited

Q Planes

|Uncredited

The Gang's All Here

|Cigarette seller

Trunk Crime