Born in
Gourock,
Scotland as
Melissa Stribling Smith, she started out in 1945 as a member of the Ealing Studios Amateur Dramatic Society, turning professional in 1948 and appearing that year with repertory companies at Croydon, Worthing and Windsor. Her screen career began with a small role in the film
The First Gentleman, also in 1948. Her last appearance was in the film
Paris by Night (1988) with
Charlotte Rampling. Stribling is best known for playing the role of Mina Holmwood in the
Hammer Films production
Dracula (1958), starring
Peter Cushing and, in the title role,
Christopher Lee. In the film, her character is the victim of a vampire in what has been seen as an erotically charged performance. Dracula and Mina showing sexual pleasure in this way has often been described as a first in British cinema. The film's director,
Terence Fisher, remembered her asking him how to play the scene. He replied by saying that she should imagine that she'd had "one whale of a sexual night" and that it should show on her face. Fisher said that she produced a satisfied little
facial expression that spoke volumes. ==Family==