Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Murder Victim in "Frenzy" (1972) Passes Away of Old Age at 88

I am posting this in October of 2024.

But I have just found out that:

On September 16, 2024, the British actress Barbara Leigh-Hunt passed away at the age of 88.

Obituaries mentioned that her most famous movie role was likely that of murder victim Brenda Blaney in Alfred Hitchcock's "Frenzy" (1972.) But the obituaries left out just how horrific that murder was -- probably the most horrific in Hitchcock's career. The character was first raped and then strangled with a necktie, by the mysterious "Necktie Strangler."

Body-doubled nudity contributed to making this the first REAL R rated movie Hitchcock ever made, and his only one. ("Psycho" was given a years after the fact R rating even though the rating system didn't exist in 1960 when Psycho was made. In a re-release when the R rating was available in 1969, Psycho was given an M -- the equivalent of a PG.)

A dramatic fact to consider: Ms. Leigh-Hunt passed at the age of 88. When she filmed Frenzy in 1972, Leigh-Hunt was maybe 37, maybe 38. So say that Brenda Blaney died at 38. The psychotic sex killer Bob Rusk(played by Barry Foster) cut Brenda's life short by -- 50 years! That's one main reason why we put murderers away for life or execute them. The minutes necessary to kill a human being take DECADES of life away.

Following up:

Janet Leigh played the female victim in Psycho, Marion Crane, in 1960 at the age of 32. Leigh passed away at the age of 77 in 2024. So a "real life" Marion Crane, if 32 in 1960 was robbed of 45 additional years of life by "nice guy"(yeesh) Norman Bates.

Martin Balsam played the male victim in Psycho, Milton Arbogast, in 1960 at the age of 40. Balsam died at the age of 76 in 1996. So a "real life" Milton Arbogast, if 40 in 1960, was robbed of an additional 36 years of life by Norman.

I know, I know -- one can "clock out the real life ages" of movie murder victims indefinitely, but Marion Crane and Milton Arbogast were the unforgettable "first slasher victims" and real life people felt that Marion(Janet Leigh) in particular was REALLY KILLED. Honestly, I've read that.
The movie was that powerful.

Frenzy was less famous -- though well reviewed -- and the death of Brenda Blaney was profound in its cruel savagery.

But...honestly...I've thought of those three victims -- Marion, Arbogast and Brenda almost EXACTLY in terms of how "murder cuts a life short."

And I'm very glad that in real life Barbara Leigh-Hunt lived to the very lengthy age of 88.

Some tidbits in bowing out on the passing of Barbara Leigh Hunt.

ONE: Interesting: Janet LEIGH was the major victim in Psycho. Barbara LEIGH-Hunt was the major victim in Frenzy. For lack of a "Hunt", these two Hitchcock murder victims might have both been named Leigh. But...aha...there was ALREADY an actress named "Barbara Leigh" working in 1972, An American, a bit of a sexpot, who in the same Frenzy summer of 1972 worked in Sam Peckinpah's actually NICE -- killing free-- rodeo drama "Junior Bonner," starring Steve McQueen as an aging rodeo rider and a perfectly cast Robert Preston as his n'er do well pastit rodeo dad.

"Junior Bonner" was about as nice as "Frenzy" was nasty...and I remember both of them warmly from that summer of 1972.

TWO: Though critic David Thomson wrote that the explicit rape-murder of Brenda Blaney was "exploitative of the actress," Leigh-Hunt said she was fine with performing the scene and felt it was necessary to "show what this killer was capable of."

THREE: With the passing of Barbara Leigh-Hunt, as of 2024 practically the entire "main cast" of Frenzy is now dead -- odd since this was one of Hitchcock's two "most modern films" -- alongside the later Family Plot of 1976.


Gone from Frenzy but remembered (and none of them "big movie stars," but so what):

Jon Finch(the wrong man anti-hero)
Barry Foster (the vile villain)
Alec McCowen(the Scotland Yard man on the trail)
Vivien Merchant(the inspector's bad-cooking, smarter at crime solving wife)
Barbara Leigh-Hunt (the first on-screen victim of the Necktie Strangler)
Anna Massey(the second on-screen victim of the Necktie Strangler)
Bernard Cribbens(surly alliterative pub manager Felix Forsythe)
Billie Whitelaw (The attractive wife of a pub owner certain of Finch's guilt)
Clive Swift (The less attractive husband of the more attractive Whitelaw)

That's the main cast. All one. Oh, well...movies keep you immortal.