Anna Massey

Anna Massey, the daughter of actors Adrianne Allen and Raymond Massey, made her film debut in the 1958 drama "Gideon of Scotland Yard," directed by John Ford. While her career would span another five-plus decades, her most famous role came just two years later, as a woman who unwittingly becomes friends with a murderer in Michael Powell's voyeuristic thriller "Peeping Tom." In 1972, Massey put in similar duties in master-of-suspense Alfred Hitchcock's "Frenzy," as a barmaid who is strangled to death by a serial killer. Continuing the thrills and chills, Massey was the victim of more foul play (by her own brother Daniel Massey, no less) in 1973's "The Vault of Horror." Starting in the mid-1970s Massey began appearing with increasing frequency on British television, with roles in numerous top-notch literary adaptations--including "Hotel du Lac" (based on the novel by Anita Brookner) on the program "Screen Two," "The Pallisers" (based on the series of books by Anthony Trollope), and "Anna Karenina" (based on Leo Tolstoy's classic novel), to name a few. Through the 1990s and 2000s, Massey found some choice roles on sitcoms, not the least of which were "Nice Day at the Office" and "The Robinsons." During this time, she also appeared in the cult classic film "The Machinist" and the visually-wondrous romance "Angels and Insects" in supporting roles.