Holly Berman (Vive l'Emperor)

Berman was born in London in 1929. Her father, Sir Albert Berman (1890 - 1946) was a conservative mp and 2nd generation Austrian immigrant. Her mother Eleanor (1899 - 1958) was a former suffragette whose political ideolegy had taken a swift move to the right. Her parents both joined the british fascist party in 1935 and moved even further to the right. In 1937 she was sent off to board at the Kilgare Girls Academy in scotland. Whilst there she developed a talent for acting and dancing and in 1942 she joined the junior royal acting academy at stratford. In 1946 her father was killed during a bombing raid.

In 1947 she moved to the senior academy and soon began appearing in shakespearian plays within the area, playing juliette in the famous 1948 production of the famous play. She also appeared in numerous other productions before appearing as queen eleanors maid in Laurence Olivier's 1949 film of Henry V.

Due to her mothers diplomacy in November 1949 Holly married conservative mp Arthur Millburgh (1914 - 1977). The two were never really close and had little in common. Whilst Berman continued to appear in films, she gradually got bigger and bigger roles. However she wasnt getting the star billing she so desperatly wanted. In 1952 however she was spotted by Hollywood producer Burt Malone and immediatly left for hollywood. By this time she was already well known within british theatre going audiences and was a familiar face in the small british film industry.