Hy Hazell

Hyacinth Hazel O'Higgins (4 October 1919 – 10 May 1970), stage name Hy Hazell, was a British actress of theatre, musicals and revue as well as a contralto singer and film actress. Allmusic described her as "an exuberant comic actor and lively singer and dancer". A pretty brunette, with long legs, she was billed as Britain's answer to Betty Grable.
Upon the abbreviation of her name, Getty Images quotes this:-
"The English Actress, Hy Hazell, who has come to Australia to star in "Lock Up Your Daughters", says her name was originally Hyacinth: "It was Nigel Patrick who abbreviated it," she explained. "It was when I was with him in Italy during the war-and the troops used to call" (out).
Early life and theatre career.
Born in Streatham in South London on 4 October 1919, although the British Film Institute cites 1920 and "The Oxford Reference" cites 1922). As a teenager, Hy Hazell started life as a performer in the chorus of the West End production of Rodgers and Hart's "On Your Toes" (1937). She later had a long and successful run of leading roles in musicals, including "Expresso Bongo" at the Saville Theatre in 1958, as heartless Dixie Collins; as Mrs Squeezum in the Mermaid Theatre's "Lock Up Your Daughters" in 1959 (playing for almost 2,000 performances); as ex-Cochran girl Kay Connor in "Charlie Girl" at the Adelphi Theatre from 1965 ; and as Mrs Peachum in a notable "Beggar's Opera" by the Prospect Theatre Company in 1968.
'Theatricalia.com' lists these appearances:-
Past productions
A Talent to Amuse
1969 – 1970, Phoenix Theatre, London.
Miss Miniver, Ann Veronica
17th April – May 1969, Cambridge Theatre, London.
The Beggar’s Opera
1968 – 1969, Apollo Theatre (Shaftesbury Avenue), London.
The Confederacy
19th – 24th October 1964, Cambridge Arts Theatre.
Mollie Plummer, No Strings
30th December 1963 – March 1964, Her / His Majesty’s Theatre, London.
Dixie Collins, Expresso Bongo
started 31st March 1958, Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham and Saville Theatre, London.
Esmeralda Leigh, Dead On Nine
started 24th August 1955, Westminster Theatre, London.
Anne Etherton, Ten Men And A Miss
18th June – 13th October 1951, Aldwych Theatre, London and Opera House, Manchester:(Also, Golders Green Hippodrome London).
Films.
She was in British films "Meet Me at Dawn" (1946), "The Yellow Balloon" (1953), and B-movies like "The Body Said No!" and "The Lady Craved Excitement" (both 1950), the latter part allowing her to sing. Within the British tradition of having glamorous young women play the principal boy in pantos, she became a favourite. She established a reputation as "English pantomime's most distinguished post war principal boy". For years she was extremely popular in this seasonal form of theatre.
Death.
Hazell was playing Golde in "Fiddler on the Roof" in London's West End. On Sunday, 10 May 1970, (when there was no performance), she died accidentally, by choking to death whilst eating a steak at a friend's house. An inquest found that her blood showed a very high alcohol level: "A high enough level to account for some carelessness about eating and possibly the swallowing of food and therefore to have been almost a certain reason for her choking."