Ingrid Pitt, who shot to fame starring in a number of cult horror classics including 'Countess Dracula', has died at the age of 73.The Polish-born actress, often dubbed the 'Queen of Horror' for her roles in classic Hammer films, passed away at a South London hospital after collapsing a few days ago, reports the BBC.Doctors are reported to have told her that she was suffering from heart failure.Pitt''s daughter Stephanie Blake said that her mother''s death had come as a 'huge surprise'."She could be incredibly generous, loving, and she''ll be sorely missed," she said.Blake added that she wanted her mother to be remembered as the 'Countess Dracula' with the 'wonderful teeth and the wonderful bosom'. The star''s death comes just weeks after Roy Ward Baker, the director of Pitt''s movie 'The Vampire Lovers', died at the age of 93. Marcus Hearn, the official historian for Hammer, called Pitt a 'talented actress and fine writer'."She was partly responsible for ushering in a bold and brazen era of sexually explicitly horror films in the 1970s, but that should not denigrate her abilities as an actress," he said, adding: "All fans of Hammer and of British horror are going to miss her terribly".
