Samantha Eggar Dies: The Collector, Doctor Dolittle, and The Molly Maguires actress was 86

It is with a heavy heart that we share the passing of Samantha Eggar, the 1960s and ’70s actress whose film credits include The Collector, Doctor Dolittle, The Molly Maguires, and more. She died on Wednesday, October 15, at her home in Sherman Oaks, California, after battling a five-year illness. She was 86.

The Hollywood Reporter announced her death, with Eggar’s daughter, the actress Jenna Stern, delivering the sad news.

Born March 5, 1939, in London, Eggar was a star of the stage until 1962 when she appeared opposite Donald Pleasance in the Robert Lynn-directed biographical crime drama Dr. Crippen, focusing on the real-life story of Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen, who was hanged in London in 1910 for poisoning his wife so he could be with his young lover. That same year, Eggar appeared in Ralph Thomas’ The Wild and the Willing, a romance drama centering on university students who form relationships and perform pranks with disastrous consequences all around.

In 1965, Eggar landed her first stand-out role with the thriller The Collector. Directed by William Wyler, the psychological drama focuses on a man who kidnaps a woman (Eggar) and holds her hostage just for the pleasure of having her there. In 1967, Eggar starred alongside Rex Harrison as Emma Fairfax in Doctor Dolittle. The musical bombed at the box office, but Eggar bounced back in 1970 with Martin Ritt’s The Molly Maguires, a period drama starring Sean Connery and Richard Harris. In The Molly Maguires, set in 1876 Pennsylvania, a group of Irish immigrant coal miners begins to retaliate against the cruelty of their work environment.

Other notable roles include the TV series Anna and the King, Double Indemnity, The Uncanny, David Cronenberg’s The Brood, Dark Horse, The Phantom, The Astronaut’s Wife, and more. Eggar also voiced Hera for Disney’s animated classic Hercules.

She is survived by her daughter, Jenna Stern; her son, Nicolas Stern, a producer; and other extended family members.

We here at JoBlo wish Ms. Samantha Eggar safe passage into the Great Hereafter, and peace to her family, friends, and fans. What’s your favorite movie starring Samantha Eggar? Let us know in the comments section below.

The post Samantha Eggar Dies: The Collector, Doctor Dolittle, and The Molly Maguires actress was 86 appeared first on JoBlo.