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The Telegraph (22/Jul/2004) - Obituary: Georgine Darcy

(c) Telegraph (22/Jul/2004)

Georgine Darcy

Georgine Darcy, who has died at Malibu, California, aged 68, was a dancer and model who made no claims for herself as an actress, but played a memorable part in Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 film which is now often cited as one of the greatest thrillers ever made.

In the picture, James Stewart plays L B Jefferies, a photographer confined to his apartment with a broken leg, who becomes obsessed with the snatches of city life he observes across the courtyard from his window. A newlywed couple, a possibly suicidal woman, a songwriter and a jewellery salesman who may have murdered his wife are all observed through his telephoto lens in an examination of voyeurism. Georgine Darcy's character - whom he comes to know as "Miss Torso", and of whom Jefferies' girlfriend (played by Grace Kelly) becomes jealous - is a blonde who spends her days dancing and entertains a string of suitors in the evenings.

Georgine Darcy was 17 when Hitchcock chose her from dozens of publicity stills of young models to play the part. "I had absolutely no idea who Alfred Hitchcock was," she said. "I considered myself a dancer and photographer's model and not an actress. I think he was impressed with my portfolio as I paid the extra, and had photos taken of me in colour." On meeting her, Hitchcock suggested she find an agent, but she ignored the advice - to her cost. She was paid $350.

Georgine Darcy was born at Brooklyn, New York, on January 14 1936. Her mother, whose priority was for her daughter to earn "a fast buck", urged her to become a stripper. After furious arguments, Darcy enrolled in ballet class and took sporadic modelling jobs. She left home aged 16, travelling from New York to the West Coast by bus, eventually arriving in California. There she became friends with the actresses Irish McCalla and Malia Nurmi, who went on to become the horror star Vampira.

Hitchcock kept in touch with Georgine Darcy after Rear Window, declaring: "If you go to Europe and study Chekhov, I could make a big star out of you." But she again ignored his advice, and settled into a mediocre career. Her most noticeable roles came as Gypsy, the secretary to Pat O'Brien on Harrigan and Son on television in the early 1960s, and in the undistinguished films Don't Knock the Twist (1962), with Chubby Checker; Women and Bloody Terror (1969); and The Delta Factor (1970).

When she was 19, Georgine Darcy had a short-lived marriage, and is survived by her second husband, the actor Byron Palmer, to whom she was married for 30 years.

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