Candace Hilligoss | |
|---|---|
 Hilligoss in Carnival of Souls (1962) | |
| Born | Mary Candace Hilligoss August 14, 1935 Huron, South Dakota, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Iowa |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1962–1964, 1971, 1981, 2000 |
| Spouse | Nicolas Coster (div. 1981) |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | https://candacehilligoss.com/ |
Mary Candace Hilligoss (born August 14, 1935) is an American former actress and model. She gained fame for her role as Mary Henry in the independent horror film Carnival of Souls (1962).
Mary Candace Hilligoss [1] was born August 14, 1935 [2] in Huron, South Dakota, the daughter of L.F. Hilligoss. [3] She was raised in Huron, where she was active in school plays. [4]
After studying at Huron College [5] and the University of Iowa (where she acted in theatrical productions) [6] for three years, [7] she went to New York City to study acting with a scholarship [8] to the American Theatre Wing, studying under Sanford Meisner and Lee Strasberg. [9] She made her professional acting debut in summer stock in Pennsylvania. She acted at the Cape Cod Playhouse, appeared in a touring production of Idiot's Delight with Nina Foch, performed in television programs produced in New York, and worked as a dancer at the Copacabana nightclub. [7]
After college, Hilligoss attended the Barbizon Modeling and Acting School in New York. Following her graduation from there in 1956, she was one of five models who traveled to South America on a month-long tour to demonstrate then-new American fashions. [5]
She is best known for her portrayal of Mary Henry, a church organist haunted by specters, in Carnival of Souls (1962), a low-budget horror film that has developed a cult following. [10] She had been offered a role in the Richard Hilliard-directed horror film Violent Midnight (1963), but opted for the role in Carnival of Souls. [7] She stated that at the time, she took the role as a "take-the-money-and-run type of situation"; [9] she was paid approximately $2,000 for her work in the film. [11]
She also appeared in a supporting role in the horror film The Curse of the Living Corpse (1964), [12] which was shot in Stamford, Connecticut, while Hilligoss was living in New York. [13] In 1997, she was asked to appear in the remake of Carnival of Souls, but declined. [14]
Hilligoss was married to actor Nicolas Coster, with whom she had two daughters, Candace and Dinneen. [15] They divorced in 1981. [16] As of 1990, Hilligoss lived in Beverly Hills, California. [17] Her self-published memoir The Odyssey and the Idiocy – Marriage to an Actor was published in 2017.
In 2022, Hilligoss voiced an animated version of herself as she appeared circa 1962 in the CG animated short film Once Upon A Time on Mars.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | Carnival of Souls | Mary Henry | [18] | |
| 1964 | The Curse of the Living Corpse | Deborah Benson | [18] | |
| 1971 | South of Hell Mountain | Helen | Uncredited | |
| 2001 | Talk Fast | Herself | Documentary | |
| 2022 | Once Upon A Time on Mars | Astro-Gal | Voice, animated short film |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | Naked City | Mrs. Harris | Episode: "Hold For Gloria Christmas" | [19] |
| 1981 | Quincy, M.E. | Actress Kimberly / Victoria Sawyer | Episode: "Stain of Guilt" |
Huron is a city in and the county seat of Beadle County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 14,263 at the 2020 census, and it is the 8th most populous city in South Dakota.
Harold Arnold "Herk" Harvey was an American film director, screenwriter, actor and film producer, perhaps best known for his 1962 horror film Carnival of Souls.
Carnival of Souls is a 1962 American psychological horror film produced and directed by Herk Harvey and written by John Clifford from a story by Clifford and Harvey, and starring Candace Hilligoss. Its plot follows Mary Henry, a young woman whose life is disturbed after a car accident. She relocates to a new city, where she finds herself unable to assimilate with the locals, and becomes drawn to the pavilion of an abandoned carnival. Director Harvey also appears in the film as a ghoulish stranger who stalks her throughout. The film is set to an organ score by Gene Moore.
Susan Cabot was an American film, stage, and television actress. She rose to prominence for her roles in a variety of Western films, including Tomahawk (1951), The Duel at Silver Creek (1952), and Gunsmoke (1953).
Gladys Shields Pyle was an American educator and national record setting female politician during the first score of years post-ratification of Women's Suffrage Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, who set numerous national and state partisan electoral records before the age of 50, including at least a dozen national records related to her 1938 U. S. Senate election. Her most significant national electoral records are:
Brinke Stevens is an American actress. A native of San Diego, Stevens initially pursued a career as a marine biologist prior to becoming an actress, earning an undergraduate degree in biology from San Diego State University before studying marine biology at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Unable to find employment in the field of biology, Stevens began modeling in Los Angeles in 1980, and she worked as a film extra.
Faith Marie Domergue was an American film and television actress. Discovered at age 16 by media and aircraft mogul Howard Hughes, she was signed to a contract with Hughes's RKO Radio Pictures and cast as the lead in the studio's thriller Vendetta, which had a troubled four-year production before finally being released in 1950.
Harlan John Bushfield was an American politician from South Dakota. He served as the 16th governor of South Dakota and as a United States senator.
Cristina Raines is an American former actress and model who appeared in numerous films throughout the 1970s, mainly horror films and period pieces. She went on to have a prolific career as a television actress throughout the 1980s.
Merry Anders was an American actress who appeared in a number of television programs and films from the 1950s until her retirement from the screen in 1972.
Rosemarie Bowe Stack was an American model, best known for her appearances in several films in the 1950s.
Private Parts is a 1972 American horror film directed by Paul Bartel in his feature film debut, and starring Ayn Ruymen, Lucille Benson, and John Ventantonio. Its plot follows a troubled young woman who suspects a deviant serial killer is living in her aunt's dilapidated hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The film has been noted for its stylistic mixture of horror, dark comedy, and psychological thriller elements.
Mary Josephine Dunn was an American stage and film actress of the 1920s and 1930s.
Hex is a 1973 American Western supernatural horror film directed by Leo Garen and starring Keith Carradine, Cristina Raines, Hillarie Thompson, Dan Haggerty, Gary Busey, and Scott Glenn. Set in 1919, its plot follows a wayward band of motorcyclists who seek shelter at a rural Nebraska farm inhabited by two Native American sisters. When one of the motorcyclists tries to rape the younger sister, the elder places a curse on them, resulting in their subsequent deaths.
The Curse of the Living Corpse is a 1964 American horror film produced, written and directed by Del Tenney. The film is about a series of murders that haunt the family of a man who died leaving extensive instructions in his will to avoid him being buried alive. The film marked the feature film debut of actor Roy Scheider. It was originally co-billed with The Horror of Party Beach (1964). Both movies were filmed in black-and-white in Stamford, Connecticut by Iselin-Tenney Productions, a short-lived production company the director formed with Alan V. Iselin, the owner of a chain of drive-in theaters.
The Secret of the Blue Room is a 1933 American pre-Code mystery film directed by Kurt Neumann and starring Lionel Atwill, Gloria Stuart, Paul Lukas, and Edward Arnold. A remake of the German film Geheimnis des blauen Zimmers (1932), it concerns a group of wealthy people who stay at a European mansion that features a blue room that is said to be cursed, as everyone who has stayed there has died shortly after. Three people suggest a wager that each can survive a night in the blue room.
Sandra Peabody is an American producer, writer, acting coach, talent agent, and retired actress. Peabody is best known for her role as Mari Collingwood in Wes Craven's directorial debut horror film The Last House on the Left (1972), as well as her subsequent career as a producer of children's programming on cable television, which earned her accolades including an Emmy Award and a CableACE Award.
Sioux Kingsbury Grigsby was an attorney and politician in the United States state of South Dakota. Grigsby was born into a prominent pioneering family, Kingsbury family in South Dakota and set up a law practice which he would maintain for over 60 years. Grigsby served as state representative, state senator, and Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota from 1945 to 1949.
Helen Margarite Burgess was an American film and stage actress. Discovered by Cecil B. DeMille, she began her acting career in 1936 at age nineteen, playing Louisa Cody in DeMille's Western biopic The Plainsman. She would appear in four films as a contract player for Paramount Pictures before dying at age twenty from pneumonia.
Violent Midnight is a 1963 American exploitation slasher film directed by Richard Hilliard and starring Lee Philips, Shepperd Strudwick, and Jean Hale. It focuses on a small New England town plagued by a series of slashing murders focused around a women's college.
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