Suffolk: Why film star swapped Hollywood for Ipswich

The well-known film and television actress of the 1940s lived in the town in the 1970s at 137 Valley Road.

Lake moved to Ipswich to promote her biography, ‘Veronica: The Autobiography of Veronica Lake’, which was released in the UK in 1969.

It is here that she met and married Royal Navy captain Robert Carleton-Munro in June 1972. 

The marriage lasted just one year, and Lake returned to the United States in June 1973.

The actress died at the age of 50 in July 1973 from hepatitis and an acute kidney injury.

Supposedly, Veronica was once asked : ‘Why Ipswich?' She answered, ‘Why not’.

Valerie Giles, an Ipswich resident, years ago shared more details about Veronica Lake’s time in Ipswich.

Veronica Lake in Ipswich, Newsquest (Image: Newsquest)

She then said: "In 1969, my father was a regular at the Thomas Eldred public house in Cedarcroft Road and another regular there asked my father if I would be interested in caring for a friend of his. 

"I went to 137 Valley Road and, to my great surprise, found that it was film star Veronica Lake. 

"She explained that she had come to England to appear on a television show to promote her autobiography.

"While in London she was admitted to hospital, and one of her nurses was the daughter of the chap who was a regular at the Thomas Eldred. That was the Ipswich connection.

"I visited Veronica’s house every day for around three hours, helping with a little housework and being her friend. 

"She rarely left the house, and I was always told to keep details about her a secret." 

Veronica moved from the house in Valley Road to a flat in Marlborough Court in Henley Road, before she returned to the hospital in London and then back to America.