Hetty Baynes

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Henrietta S.L. "Hetty" Baynes (born 1956) 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; they had one son, Rex. She has also been credited as Hettie Baynes, Henrieta Baynes, Henrietta Baynes and Hetty Russell.

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Financial provision [edit]

In 2008 Baynes unsuccessfully sought financial provision as a "dependant" against the £2.3 million estate of the late Mary Spencer Watson, including the family home in Purbeck, Dorset. Miss Spencer Watson, a sculptress, had had a lesbian relationship with Baynes' 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.[1]

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."

The judge was critical of her conduct. She appealed against the decision, but on 7 May 2009 the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and decided that as Spencer Watson had not been maintaining her, Baynes had no claim for provision.[2]

Selected theatre appearances [edit]

  • 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 (Bird's 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).

Selected television appearances [edit]

Selected radio performances [edit]

Selected film appearances [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Singh, Anita. "Ken Russell's ex-wife sues over lesbian's estate", Daily Telegraph, 25 June 2008
  2. ^ "Actress loses £2.3m estate claim", BBC.co.uk, 14 July 2008

External links [edit]

Authority control
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