Neagle Close is named after Dame Anna Neagle (1904–1986), born Florence Marjorie Robertson, a popular English stage and film actress.
Neagle was a successful box-office draw in the British cinema for 20 years and was voted the most popular star in Britain in 1949. She was known for providing glamour and sophistication to war-torn London audiences with her lightweight musicals, comedies and historical dramas. Almost all of her films were produced and directed by Herbert Wilcox, whom she married in 1943.
In the 1930s and 1940s Deacons Hill was a wealthy area of Elstree and many people associated with the film industry lived there. The most famous of these was the prolific film producer Herbert Wilcox and the actress Anna Neagle. They formed a personal and professional relationship in the early 30’s and helped to make Borehamwood the British Hollywood.
They lived in a house at the top of Deacons Hill Road called Hilltop, and from there in 1936 they watched as The British & Dominions Imperial Studios that Wilcox had built in 1929, went up in flames - it was never rebuilt. Anna was married to Herbert from 1943 until his death in 1977.
When the Studio Estate was built in the late 1980s on the site of the MGM backlot, names associated with Elstree Studios were chosen for the new streets.
Another road named in her honour, Anna Neagle Close, is situated in Forest Gate, London E7.
