Samantha Eggar, the voice of Hera in Disney’s Hercules, died at the age of 86. She passed away at her home, a representative for her daughter confirmed. The Oscar-nominated actress was perhaps most well-known for her role in The Collector.
Eggar’s career in television started in 1961 when she appeared on Rob Roy. She would continue to get roles on television before she pivoted to film in 1963’3 Doctor in Distress. Her big breakthrough role came when she landed The Collector. In the coming years, she would also appear in Return from the Ashes (1965), Walk, Don’t Run (1966), Doctor Doolittle (1967), and The Molly Maguires (1970).
She shared about working on Doctor Doolittle, saying, “I loved it. Absolutely LOVED it. It took a year to make and then I was pregnant again with my delicious daughter Jenna Louise. We filmed Dolittle in three different locations. I was able to spend the whole time with Anthony Newley, Herb Ross and Nora Kaye, who became godparents to my daughter.”
She also shared about working with Rex Harrison on the film: “I danced and I sang. That was bliss. Even Rex Harrison. I got on terribly well with Rex. I mean, Rex could be a monster. He had a wicked, wicked sense of humour. He made me laugh on so many occasions. But he did have a notorious reputation for being cruel…and he WAS cruel, apparently, to a lot of people.”
The 1970s saw Eggar turning to television as she also raised a family. She appeared on programs like Anna and the King (1972), Love Story (1973), and Baretta (1976), along with horror films including The Dead Are Alive (1972), A Name for Evil (1973), and The Uncanny (1977). Eventually, she would lend her voice to M in the James Bond video game series, for which she voice-matched Dame Judi Dench. In 1997, she voiced Hera in Hercules for Walt Disney Animation Studios.
In the 1990s, Eggar also appeared in films like Ragin’ Cajun (1990), Dark Horse (1992), Inevitable Grace (1994), The Phantom (1996) and The Astronaut’s Wife (1999). In 2000, she moved to New York and appeared as Charlotte Devane on All My Children. Her final role was as Whale in Metalocalypse in 2012.
Samantha Eggar is survived by three sisters, daughter Jenna and her husband Brennan, producer son Nicolas Stern and his wife Mindy, and three grandchildren.
