Louise Lambert

 

Louise Lambert was a British actress who was part of the English dubbing scene in Rome from at least as early as 1963 and into the 1980s. Louise’s forte was as a dubber of older ladies, and throughout her career she provided voices for a lot of colorful and memorable older character. Thanks to her impressive range and versatility, however, she could really do all sorts of parts, and so she also dubbed her share of younger characters and even the occasional leading lady. If her name and face do not ring a bell, then her voice probably will. Check out the video below for a few examples of some of Louise’s most famous dubbing roles:

Unfortunately – as is so often the case with the English dubbers of Rome – there is no biographical information available on Louise anywhere. All that is known about her is that she was British, and so we can only assume that she, like so many other aspiring actors, came to Rome, probably sometime in the early 1960s, in search of acting jobs.

And indeed, Louise did appear on-screen in a couple of films and television productions, though mostly in very brief and often uncredited parts. Her most high-profile role was probably as a journalist interviewing Marcello Mastroianni in Federico Fellini’s fake documentary Fellini: A Director’s Notebook (1969). She also appeared in a few international productions shot in or near Rome. The video below features clips from a few of Louise’s on-screen acting roles:

Louise as a journalist in Fellini: A Director's Notebook (1969).

In a tiny role together with Jessica Dublin in Fragment of Fear (1970), a British thriller shot on location in Italy.

As an ill-fated restaurant diner in Pulp (1972), a British production shot in Malta.

As Sherry Buchanan's American mother in the TV mini-series I ragazzi di celluloide (1981) in which Louise performs of all her own dialogue in Italian.

Louise's showiest on-screen role was a humorous part as an MI6 agent in the international TV mini-series La nouvelle malle des Indes (1981), in which she speaks all of her own dialogue in French.

A lack of on-screen roles may have been what propelled Louise onto the English dubbing scene, and she was active in this field from at least as early as 1963. This was the era of peplum and swashbuckler films, and the earliest dubbing credit I’ve been able to find for Louise is in The Black Duke (1963), a historical adventure film in which Louise provides the voice of real-life historical figure Caterina Sforza, played by Gloria Milland.

Louise's earliest known dubbing role so far is as the voice of Gloria Milland in The Black Duke (1963).

Her voice also pops up in various other mid 1960s peplum, western and Eurospy films in both leading, supporting and character parts, which demonstrates just what a versatile talent she was. And unlike some of the other British dubbers, such as Christopher Cruise and Veronica Wells, Louise’s British accent was not terribly pronounced, and she was easily able to adopt a Mid-Atlantic accent that made her fit well against the American voice dubbers. When called on, however, Louise could do pretty convincing Cockney and Scottish accents, and she was definitely one of the more adaptable dubbing actresses working in Rome throughout the 1960s and 70s.

 

An early leading role for Louise was as the voice of Wandisa Guida in Hercules Against Rome (1964).

Another notable leading role was as the voice of Ewa Aulin in the ultra-rare English dub of Deadly Sweet (1967).

Margherita Horowitz was an actress that Louise dubbed multiple times: in Death Laid an Egg (1968), The Last Snows of Spring (1973), Mark Shoots First (1975) and Suspiria (1977).

Nevertheless, it was as a dubber of old ladies that Louise was most in demand, and she provided the voice of countless older characters in a number of giallo, horror, crime, western, comedies and whatnot. Interestingly, it seems that while fellow old lady dubber Cicely Browne was frequently cast to dub the more sinister and nasty characters, Louise was preferred for the somewhat cozier parts such as doting aunts, kindly maids or kooky cat ladies. That said, she certainly dubbed her share of unpleasant characters as well. See the video below for some examples of the many old ladies dubbed by Louise:

Unfortunately, a lot of the roles dubbed by Louise were quite small, and when the Italian film industry began to decline in the late 1970s, with fewer films being produced, it became harder to make a living from dubbing. During this period, Louise began to do some work for a rogue dubbing group that was operating outside of the English Language Dubbers Association [ELDA]. This group appears to have only dubbed very cheap Nazisploitation, Eurocrime and sex comedies that very little money to spend on dubbing, and has become notorious for the shoddy quality of their work. For Louise, though, it proved a good opportunity to find more work. Unlike at ELDA, she was usually picked to dub main roles, and she adds a touch of class to these grubby dubs. Check out the video below for a few samples of her work with this disreputable dubbing group:

 

Louise’s work with this group looks to have lasted until 1979. After that, she kept working with ELDA until around 1983, at which point all trace of her stops. A lot of actors and dubbers chose to leave Rome around that time due to the decline of the Italian film industry, but whether or not that’s what happened with Louise, or if she simply chose to move on to something else is not known. In either case, the voice work she did while active was first-rate and has helped make a good many character parts in giallo, horror, spaghetti western etc. extra memorable.

An interesting piece of curiosity about Louise that should be mentioned is that she dubbed the prominent role of Jeanne (played by Maria Pia Luzi) in the ultra-rate English version of Alberto Cavallone’s obscure homosexual melodrama Afrika (1973), which is currently the only known Italian film (outside of animation) to actually include an English dubbing cast list in the on-screen credits! This was instrumental in identifying Louise’s voice and it’s a real shame there aren’t more Italian films to include such cast lists.

 

Louise's credited dubbing of Jeanne (Maria Pia Luzi) in Afrika.

Below is a list of all the English dubbing roles I’ve been able to collect for Louise so far. Her voice has only recently been identified and the list is of course highly incomplete, but as always, the dubbing filmographies are works in progress and will be updated as new roles are found.

 

English dubbing filmography:

 

- The Black Duke (1963) - voice of Caterina Sforza (Gloria Milland)

- Behind the Mask of Zorro (1964) - voice of Alisa (Mirella Maravidi)

- Hercules Against Rome (1964) - voice of Ulpia (Wandisa Guida)

- Hercules Against the Barbarians (1964) - voice of Til-San (Elisabeth Wu)

- King of the Mongols (1959; dubbed in 1964) - voice of Sajiri (Yumi Ichijo)

- The Last Gun (1964) - voice of Millie (Fanny Clair)

- The Terror of Rome Against the Son of Hercules (1964) - voice of Silvia’s Mother (Lea Monaco)

- 008: Operation Exterminate (1965) - voice of Kemp’s Accomplice (Dina De Santis)

- Giant of the Evil Island (1965) - voice of Bianca (Dina De Santis)

- Blood at Sundown (1966) - voice of Pleading Townswoman (Olga Solbelli)

- Kiss Kiss... Bang Bang (1966) - voice of Hillary Shakespeare (Susan Scott)

- The Knives of the Avenger (1966) - voice of Shuna (unidentified actress)

- Zorro the Rebel (1966) - voice of Mother Consuelo (Eleonora Morana)

- Blueprint for a Massacre (1967) - voice of Asha (Maria Mahor)

- Deadly Sweet (1967) - voice of Jane Burroughs (Ewa Aulin)

- The Dirty Fifteen (1967) - voice of Barbara Ferguson (Susy Andersen)

- Hate for Hate (1967) - voice of Miss Ferguson (unidentified actress)

- Hot Diamonds in Cold Blood (1967) - voice of Mrs. Van der Hoven (Audrey McDonald)

- The Magnificent Texan (1967) - voice of Corinne Wilkins (Anna Miserocchi)

- The Snow Devils (1967) - voice of Lisa Nielson (Ombretta Colli)

- Yongary, Monster From the Deep (1967) - voice of Soona and Icho’s Mother (Ju Jeung-ryu)

- Danger: Diabolik (1968) - voice of Lady Clark (Caterina Boratto) (original dub only)

- Deadly Inheritance (1968) - voice of Natalie (Alessandra Maravia)

- Death Laid an Egg (1968) - voice of Marco’s Secretary (Margherita Horowitz)

- Run, Psycho, Run (1968) - voice of Lady Florence (Margarita Robles)

- Twice a Judas (1968) - voice of Mrs. Barrett (Emma Baron)

- Double Face (1969) - voice of Liz (Annabella Incontrera)

- Tails, You Lose... (1969) - voice of Miss Phillips (Maria Teresa Piaggio)

- Zan, King of the Jungle (1969) - voice of Amazon Queen (Miranda Campa)

- Whirlpool (1970) - voice of Sarah (Pia Anderson)

- The Blonde in the Blue Movie (1971) - voice of Anne-Lise Jørgensen (Donatella Della Nora)

- Cross Current (1971) - voice of Mrs. Foschi (Liana Del Balzo)

- The Devil with Seven Faces (1971) - voice of Mrs. Horst (unidentified actress)

- The Fifth Cord (1971) - voice of Sofia Bini (Rossella Falk)

- The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire (1971) - voice of Maggie the Maid (unidentified actress)

- The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (1971) - voice of Aunt Agatha (Joan C. Davies)

- 7 Murders for Scotland Yard (1972) - voice of Lulu (Patricia Loran)

- All the Colors of the Dark (1972) - voice of New Neighbor (Maria Cumani Quasimodo)

- The Big Bust-Out (1972) - voice of Mother Superior (Maria Tedeschi)

- The True and the False (1972) - voice of Adalgisa Alberti (Maria Teresa Albani)

- What Have You Done to Solange? (1972) - voice of Mrs. Erickson (Maria Monti)

- Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972) - voice of Madam (Ermelinda De Felice)

- Afrika (1973) - voice of Jeanne Delouche (Maria Pia Luzi)

- Amarcord (1973) - voice of Art History Teacher (Fides Stagni)

- Dirty Weekend (1973) - voice of Norma’s Mother (Aleka Paizi)

- Gang War in Milan (1973) - voice of Carmela Crescimbene (unidentified actress)

- Girl in Room 2A (1973) - voice of Mrs. Grant (Giovanna Galletti)

- The Last Snows of Spring (1973) - voice of Mariolina (Margherita Horowitz)

- Mark of the Devil Part II (1973) - voice of The Abbess (Ellen Umlauf)

- Seven Deaths in the Cat’s Eyes (1973) - voice of Janet Campbell (Bianca Doria) 

- Story of a Cloistered Nun (1973) - voice of Nun (Clara Colosimo)

- Carnal Revenge (1974) - voice of Elisabetta Luciani (Fiorella Galgano)

- The Eerie Midnight Horror Show (1974) - voice of Mother Superior (Maria Teresa Piaggio)

- The Handsome Devil (1974) - voice of Nun (Franca Scagnetti)

- The Killer with a Thousand Eyes (1974) - voice of Old Woman with Dog (unidentified actress)

- My Darling Domestic (1974) - voice of Adele Marescalli (Carla Roinich)

- The Perfume of the Lady in Black (1974) - voice of Signora Accardini (Aleka Paizi)

- The Prey (1974) - voice of Bessie (Micheline Presle)

- Up With Us!! (1974) - voice of The Headmistress (Anna Maestri)

- The Voyage (1974) - voice of Adriana’s Mother (Barbara Pilavin)

- Autopsy (1975) - voice of Aunt Elvira (Maria Pia Attanasio)

- Deep Red (1975) - voice of Elvira (Liana Del Balzo)

- The Left Hand of the Law (1975) - Senator Leandri’s Secretary (Teresa Rossi Passante)

- Mark Shoots First (1975) - voice of Maria Clerici (Margherita Horowitz)

- The Sunday Woman (1975) - voice of Virginia Tabusso (Maria Teresa Albani)

- The Teenage Prostitution Racket (1975) - voice of Mother Superior (unidentified actress)

- Who’s Afraid of Zorro (1975) - voice of Rosita’s Mother (Flora Carosello)

- Young Dracula (1975) - voice of Olghina Franchetti (Valentina Cortese)

- Bloody Payroll (1976) - voice of Hostage (Luciana Scalise)

- Deported Women of the SS Special Section (1976) - voice of Kapo Helga (Erna Schurer)

- SS Experiment Love Camp (1976) - voice of Magda (Mara Carisi)

- Caligula’s Hot Nights (1977) - voice of Livia (Patrizia Webley) + various minor roles

- Suspiria (1977) - voice of Teacher (Margherita Horowitz)

- The Bloodstained Shadow (1978) - voice of Sandra’s Stepmother (Laura Nucci)

- Emanuelle and the White Slave Trade (1978) - voice of Susan Towers (Ely Galleani)

- The Eyes Behind the Stars (1978) - voice of Carol (Giovanna De Luca)

- Helga, She-Wolf of Stilberg (1978) - voice of Elisabeth Vogel (Patrizia Gori)

- The School Teacher in the House (1978) - voice of Signora Marullo (Clara Colosimo)

- Very Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind (1978) - voice of Emanuella (Maria Baxa)

- Cindy’s Love Games (1979) - voice of Barbara (Cindy Leadbetter)

- Midnight Blue (1979) - voice of Elena (Elisabetta Valgiusti)

- The Nurse in the Military Madhouse (1979) - voice of “Ginger Rogers” (Vittoria Di Silverio)

- Seven Deadly Females (1979) - voice of Celia (Verónica Miriel)

- Skin Deep (1979) - voice of Giuliano and Nora’s Mother (only heard on the phone)

- Terror Express! (1979) - voice of Mary (Rita Livesi)

- The House by the Cemetery (1981) - voice of Mary Freudstein (Teresa Rossi Passante)

- The Throne of Fire (1983) - voice of Mara, Siegfried’s Mother (unidentified actress)

 

Animation dubbing:

 

Robinson Crusoe (1974) - voice of Lap the Cat