Eleanor Bron is an English stage, film and television actress and author. Bron was born in 1938 in Stanmore, Middlesex. Before her birth, her father Sidney had legally shortened the surname from Bronstein to Bron as an effort to enhance his newly-founded commercial enterprise, Bron's Orchestral Service. Her brother Gerry explained the change simply: "Bronstein's Orchestral Service was a bit of a mouthful." She attended North London Collegiate School and Newnham College, Cambridge: the latter she would later characterize as "three years of unparalleled pampering and privilege." Bron was the... longtime partner of noted architect Cedric Price until his death in 2003; they had no children. Her elder brother is record producer Gerry Bron. Bron began her career in the Cambridge Footlights revue of 1959, entitled The Last Laugh, in which Peter Cook also appeared. The addition of a female performer to the Footlights was a departure, having been until that point all-male, with female characters portrayed in drag. Her film appearances include the role of Ahme in the Beatles film Help!; her given name inspired Paul McCartney while composing "Eleanor Rigby".
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