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Monday, 19 July 2010
Hazel Penwarden - My fabulous great-aunt!
My great aunt Hazel has fascinated me from a very young age, not only for her joie de vivre, but also for her style, her ability to paint flowers with so much passion and fluidity and above all for her esteemed place within the world of theatre throughout the 50's, 60's & 70's! Hazel started as a shakespearean actress after graduating from RADA and went on to perform with some of the greats such as John Gielgud, Christopher Lee and who could forget the beautiful Richard Burton! I remember her opening up for me a suitcase of treasures she had collected over the years including an adorable little poem written for her by Richard Burton on a scrap of paper, I was overcome with what excitement she must have felt to be around such wonderful characters. It was another world back then, full of pomp and pageantry and more than anything unbridled talent. Here are couple of images I came upon of my aunt while wandering through the world of web - (in the bottom picture Hazel is on the bottom left hand side).
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That is so fascinating! I am your newest follower, I hope you'll visit me soon!
ReplyDeletehow lovely, thank you for following me! I will definitely give your blog a visit! xx
ReplyDeleteWow, that is really fascinating.
ReplyDeletethere is still so much I don't know about her and wish I did, I think it's about time I took her out for afternoon tea!
ReplyDeleteWow! How nice! When I was a teenager I had dreams of running away to London and studying at RADA! I bet your great-aunt wasn't just surrounded by personalities--I bet she was one!
ReplyDeletehttp://rubyslipperjourneys.blogspot.com
She was Emily and still is, she is so much fun and has a great philosophy for life. She hasn't really ever grown up - she's a sort of peter pan character, I love it!
ReplyDeleteHey Lulu
ReplyDeleteIs Hazel really your great Aunt? Hazel was my neighbour in London for many years!
Hello, yes she is! How great, so you lived in Sheen as well! Does your name start with T and end with McDonald? :-)
ReplyDeleteHa! No, I think that was someone who came to the address after we left in 1984 - say 'Hi' from Arthur to Hazel. I don't have time to set up a blog, but I'll try and work out how to send you an email you can pass on to her!
ReplyDeleteYou haven't mentioned either what a talented painter she is too! Or what a beautiful garden she has!
Incidentally, and funnily enough, a friend of mine says she parks her car outside the old place all the time when she is working down the road!
Ooh I will do Arthur - you can email me at lucymackay1980@yahoo.co.uk - in fact I have a photo of her from my wedding in March if you want to see - she still looks fabulous! You're quite right I didn't mention all her amazing artwork and beautiful garden, my parents have so many of her wonderful paintings - she really is an inspiration!
ReplyDelete