Yvonne Furneaux, a Golden Age legend, has passed away. Per The Hollywood Reporter, Furneaux died on July 5 at her North Hampton home. Her son, Nicholas Natteau, would confirm to the publication that the cause was complications from a stroke.
One of Furneaux's most prominent roles came in the form of The Mummy, which also featured Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Despite the movie's "campy horror" trappings, Furneaux learned one of her most valuable lessons shooting the movie from her co-stars. "If you don't take a film like The Mummy seriously and put your heart and soul into it, then you can bring it down," Furneaux said in the book, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing and Horror Cinema.
Throughout her career, Furneaux enjoyed an international appeal, starring in Italian, French, German, and Spanish films. One of her first breakout showings was in the 1955 hit, Le Amiche. The film would go on to be Michelangelo Antonioni's breakout movie. She also starred in the likes of La Dolce Vita, which proved to be a hit for director Federico Fellini. Furneaux possessed that special "kingmaker" quality, elevating any film she appeared in.
A Royal Academy of Dramatic Art graduate, Furneaux proved that she could hang with the best of them from The Count of Monte Cristo to Repulsion.
Yvonne Furneaux, An Icon In The Golden Age Of Filmmaking, Has Passed Away
"RIP Yvonne Furneaux. Among the splendid La dolce vita cast, Furneaux's performance was the one that moved me the most. Her beauty graced the screen in other great films such as In nome del popolo italiano," said one X (formerly known as Twitter) user, honoring Furneaux's varied filmography.
The House of Hammer podcast would also go on to write a heartfelt post about Furneaux's passing. "Just learned of the sad passing, earlier this month, of Yvonne Furneaux. Here in Hammer's The Mummy, she was truly remarkable. RIP."
"Yvonne Furneaux was an accomplished actress with serious background & training who became a glamorous figure in European cinema of the 50s & 60s, where she worked with masters like Fellini, Antonioni, Polanski & Chabrol but also made her mark in entertaining genre pictures. RIP."
