Hetty Baynes

Hetty Baynes (born 1957) is an English actress. She began her career as a ballet dancer at the Royal Ballet School and made her professional debut at 12 in Rudolf Nureyev’s "The Nutcracker" at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. She began her acting career at just 17 as an acting ASM in repertory theatre. She was married to film director Ken Russell from 1992 to 1999.

She has sometimes been credited as Henrieta Baynes, Henrietta Baynes and Hetty Russell. [ [http://www.hettybaynes.co.uk/Henrietta_Baynes.html hettybaynes.co.uk] ]

Financial provision

In 2008 Baynes unsuccessfully sought financial provision as a "dependent" against the £2.3 million estate of the late Mary Spencer Watson, a distinguished sculptress, who had a lesbian relationship with her mother. Mr Dumont, her counsel, said in court that Ms Baynes was a very capable actress "who has performed widely on stage, television and in film", but it was very difficult for her to obtain parts. Her aim was to take a creative writing course and support herself through writing. He said she was now in "extremely straitened circumstances", with liabilities of £160,000. She was seeking an order from the court which will discharge her debts, purchase a three-bedroomed property in south London and a car, and would "provide a financial cushion to cover her until she has her life on an even keel" and can start to support herself and her 15-year-old son Rex from her marriage to Mr Russell. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2193978/Ken-Russell's-ex-wife-sues-over-lesbian-lover's-estate.html Ken Russell's ex-wife sues over lesbian's estate] , "Daily Telegraph", Anita Singh, 25 June, 2008] [ [http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5iAhWgjpqugV3ipkzezeA7IFBNUPQ Actress in battle over £2.3m estate] , Press Association, 25 June 2008]

Rejecting Baynes' claim, Mr Justice Lewison, said: "I find... that Mary made no firm commitment of any sort to Hetty...In my judgment, she exploited Mary's generosity at the end of 2005 and the early part of 2006 and brought pressure to bear on her to bail her out yet again...From December 2005 to the end of Mary's life, Hetty mounted a sustained campaign to persuade Mary to pay off her debts and provide for her future." Baynes said she intended to appeal against the decision: "I don't agree it is settled yet." [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7505724.stm Actress loses £2.3m estate claim] , BBC.co.uk, 14 July 2008]

elected theatre appearances

* "The Country Wife" (Plymouth & tour)
* "The Heidi Chronicles"
* "The Passing Out Parade"
* "The Admirable Crichton" (Greenwich Theatre)
* "Women Laughing" - Best Actress nomination for the Manchester Evening News Awards (Manchester Royal Exchange)
* "The Philanthropist" (Wyndham Theatre)
* "Little Eyolf" - Best Actress nomination for the Fringe Awards (Birds Nest)
*" Hand Over Fist" (Watermill)
* "See How They Run"
* "Theatre of Comedy "(Shaftesbury Theatre)
* "Buglar Boy" (Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh Festival)
* "Happy Event"
* "The Reluctante Debutant"
* "Hay Fever" (Windsor)
* "Le Bourgeois" Gentilhomme (Lyric, Belfast)
* "Chorus Girls" (Stratford East)
* "Suddenly Last Summer"
* "Three Sisters" (Thorndike Theatre)
* "Inadmissible Evidence" (Royal Court)
* "Othello" (Ludlow Festival) and
* "The Merry Wives of Windsor"
* "On the Rocks" (Mermaid Theatre).

elected television appearances

* "My Family"
* "Cutting It"
* "Cor Blimey"
* "The Bill" - A Time to Kill
* "Jonathan Creek" - Miracle in Crooked Lane
* "A Touch of Frost": Keys to the Car
* "Ken Russell’s Treasure Island"
* "The Vet"
* "Alice in Russialand"
* "Privateer 2" : The Darkening
* "The Secret Life of Sir Arnold Bax"
* "Minder" VII
* "Old Flames"
* "Christmas Present"
* "London’s Burning"
* "Harry’s Kingdom"
* "Bergerac"
* "The Piglet Files"
* "Drummonds"
* "Tropical Moon Over Dorking"
* "Wynne & Penkovsky"
* "Chance in a Million"
* "Dickens of London"
* "Running Scared"
* "Charters & Caldicott"
* "Marjorie and Men"
* "Crime Writers"
* "Just William"
* "Good Companions"
* "Winter Sunlight"
* Agatha Christie's "The Seven Dials Mystery"
* "Dombey and Sons"
* "Sense and Sensibility"
* "Nicholas Nickleby"
* "Benefit of the Doubt"
* "The Last Song"
* "Hunchback of Notre Dame"
* "Renoir My Father"
* "Red Dwarf" - Dimension Jump,
* "Footballers' Wives"

elected radio performances

* "Rumpole and the Vanishing Juror"
* Tim Merryman’s "Days of Clover"
* John Naismith's "A Memory Longer Than Death"
* Suzy in the Radio 4 soap opera "Citizens" (1987-1992)

elected film appearances

* "Coping with Cupid"
* "The Insatiable Mrs Kirsch" (which she co-wrote with Ken Russell)
* "Mindbender, The Life of Uri Geller"
* Herbert Ross’s "Nijinsky"
* "Ken Russell's Lady Chatterley"

External links

*imdb name|id=0063158|name=Hetty Baynes
* [http://www.hettybaynes.co.uk/ Official website]