Eleanor Henta Fazan OBE (29 May 1929 – 20 January 2024) was a British actress, dancer, and choreographer.^[1][2] She is best known for her roles in productions: Willow, Hot Fuzz and Lassiter. Fazan was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to dance.^[3][4]

Eleanor Henta Fazan was born on 29 May 1929 in Kenya. She later trained in dancing with Sadler's Wells Ballet (currently known as 'The Royal Ballet'). Later she joined the Arts Educational School.^[3]

Fazan was married to the British composer Stanley Myers in 1955, and they had one son. She died on 20 January 2024, at the age of 94.^[5][6][7]

In 1959, Fazan directed One to Another, a revue at the Lyric Opera House in Hammersmith written by Bamber Gascoigne, John Cranko, John Mortimer, N. F. Simpson, and Harold Pinter, amongst others. It starred Beryl Reid, Patrick Wymark, Joe Melia^[8] Sheila Hancock and Ray Barrett.^[9] In 1960 she was choreographer for The Lily White Boys, directed by Lindsay Anderson at the Royal Court.^[10] In 1961 she was the director of Beyond the Fringe, when it began its initial London run at the Fortune Theatre.^[11] In 1974, she made her Royal Opera debut on Der Ring des Nibelungen, directed by Götz Friedrich. She did phenomenal work at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where she contributed to numerous productions in the following years under the prominent directors Elijah Moshinski, John Copley, Friedrich and John Schlesinger in their productions of operas such as: Peter Grimes, Lohengrin, The Rake’s Progress, Macbeth, Samson, Otello, Attila, Ariadne auf Naxos, Semele, Idomeneo, re di Creta, Elektra, Les Contes d’Hoffmann and Der Rosenkavalier.^[3]

Meanwhile, she entered cinema as a choreographer as well as actress where she appeared in Oh! What a Lovely War, Heaven’s Gate, Willow, Cold Comfort Farm, Mrs Henderson Presents and Hot Fuzz. In 1993, she was awarded the Industry Award from British Film Institute.^[3]

Source: British Film Institute^[1]