Christine Norden, 63; British Actress Since 1944

Christine Norden, a British actress who went on the stage in 1944 and into films in 1945 after signing a contract with Sir Alexander Korda, the famous English director, died Wednesday in London at age 63, her agent said.

Vincent Shaw said Miss Norden died at West Middlesex Hospital after a heart attack that came two months after a double heart-bypass operation in July.

She was a member of the Old Vic Theater Company in London and also was seen on stage in Dublin with the Abbey Players before moving to New York in the early 1950s and becoming an American citizen.

Born Mary Lydia Thornton in the northern England town of Sunderland, she began her motion picture career after Korda placed her under contract to London Films and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Her films included “Night Beat,” “Mine Own Executioner,” “Idol of Paris,” “Reluctant Heroes” and “The Interrupted Journey.”

She made her Broadway debut in 1960 in the musical “Tenderloin” and later made headlines by being the first Broadway actress to appear on-stage topless in the 1967 comedy “Scuba Duba,” which also starred Jerry Orbach.

Miss Norden was also seen on television in its early years on “Playhouse 90,” “The Virginia Graham Show” and in several specials.

She last appeared on the British stage in a 1979 revival of “The Marriage Go Round,” and had a small role in the 1986 movie musical “Little Shop of Horrors.”